Speakers at the event held at the Mumbai Press Club discuss issues related to the linking of Aadhaar details with bank accounts, passports and ration cards
Citizens, journalists and activists express their growing dissent towards Aadhaar and UIDAI at the event
How will you make Aadhaar cards for those who are citizens of India but don't have homes? Won't these people be treated as citizens of the country? These were some of the questions asked by speakers at a meet organised by the Break Aadhaar Chain group at the Mumbai Press Club on Friday. A number of citizens, journalists, and activists came together at the event to express their growing dissent towards Aadhaar and UIDAI.
ADVERTISEMENT
At a time when a lot of negativity is brewing against the unique identification system, the Break Aadhaar Chain group has filed a petition against Aadhaar in the Supreme Court to prove that the entire system is unconstitutional. While the speakers at the programme brought to light various faulty aspects of the system, the main focus of the event was linking Aadhaar details with bank accounts, passports, ration cards and other documents.
As part of the programme, participants even recited poetries based on the faulty aspects of the identification system. One such poem was about Yamraj asking for an Aadhar card to let the departed souls leave the real world and get to the next one. Some of the speakers even brought out the patriarchal and sexist side to the system. "Aadhaar is creating a digital caste system," said one of the female speakers. "A woman cannot get a card until her husband validates that she is his wife. Aadhaar is not an identity card, nor is it similar to a social security number."
"There is no such thing such as a unique biometric," said J T Dsouza, a technocrat, who has been dealing with biometrics since 1997. "Earlier I thought that it was a good thing to have a centralised system. The database where all the information is stored need not be hacked. There are simpler ways of getting the information out. If admins are added to the system, they can easily edit and add names/information. With Aadhaar, each linkage is actually a leakage." Meanwhile, Break Aadhaar Chain demonstrations were held in Delhi, Bangalore and Jharkhand. The Mumbai leg of the chain came to an end with some good-humoured singing and playing of musical instruments based on the faults in the identification system.
Download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
