Monday, July 21, 2014

Time To Scrap Aadhaar Project Has Come

Aadhaar initiative is one of the most draconian and unwanted initiative that has been forced upon Indian citizens by our respective governments. Whether it is Congress or BJP, both have been wasting public financial resources upon an illegal and unconstitutional project like Aadhaar.

What is really surprising is the fact that all this is happening despite the fact that the Supreme Court of India has declared that Aadhaar cannot be made compulsory by Indian government. However, government departments and authorities in India are openly flouting this direction of the apex court and are committing contempt of court.

There was a dire need for the Modi government to scrap the Aadhaar project. However, Modi government preferred to keep the project alive for reasons best known to it. Experts believe that although the Modi government has allocated a big sum for Aadhaar project yet it cannot legally spend the same upon Aadhaar project till legal and technical infirmities are removed first. Otherwise, it would be another round of booty sharing of hard earned public money.

Legality of Aadhaar project has already been questioned before many courts including the apex court of India. Till now the real intentions of Indian government has come to light. The façade of public and welfare services is no more applicable to Aadhaar project as there is no element of welfare activities in the Aadhaar project. In fact, Indian government is hiding truth from Indian citizens in this regard and is all committed to violate our civil liberties.

There is no doubt that privacy is a basic human right that no government can take away. However, Indian government is not respecting this human right and is indulging in illegal and unaccountable e-surveillance and snooping. Instead of ensuring privacy rights in India, India is supporting countries like US for illegal e-surveillance upon Indian citizens.

Modi government must not fool Indians by portraying Aadhaar as a welfare project and must scrap the same till proper constitutional and legal safeguards are put in place. Indians must not enroll for Aadhaar no matter whatever arm twisting tactics are adopted by the Indian government in this regard.