[Reader-list] News Items posted on the net on Multipurpose NationalIdentity Cards-6

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear Taraprakash,

Thank you for your comment. I totally agree with your views, that people of
the subcontinent have a right to have a proof of their existence.

I think any statement which asserts that, in a Nation state every legitimate
person must have a right to legitimate identity, is based on two underlying
assumptions. First being, that the idea of identity is stable and it can be
mapped and the second, that the State is a -just- State. That, it will, in
the discharge of its duties to accord identity to legitimate citizens will,
act in the most benign fashion. This is not to suggest that if a State is
not  perceived of as -just- then it loses its moral right to give a
certificate of citizenship but to caution that if perhaps the case then, any
such exercise will be bound to result in a deepening of existing social
divisions.

Hence, in a situation where we in India are still grappling with gross
mismanagement of earlier forms of identity documents, like ration cards, we
need to consider seriously, whether we are prepared to deal with yet another
exercise to completely digitize personal information of around one billion
people.

You may like to read a Times of India news report indicative of malaise I
have mentioned above-
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/rssarticleshow/msid-3208865,prtpage-1.cms

Further more, just as it is a matter of great ease, if our personal
information is stored in a digital database, which could then easily be
manipulated in any form, we must not forget that it is also matter of great
ease with which is could be deleted.

Hence, if a Name and a number in some National identity database becomes the
sole criteria to ascertain and determine the identity and citizenship of a
person on legitimate grounds, then we must not be surprised at all in the
face of a Kasab like case.

I completely empathize with the frustration of the Indian Government. We all
know, that Kasab is Pakistani. We all know that his father has said so.
Respectable Pakistanis like Asma Jehangir have said so. The Mumbai police
has said so. And Kasab himself has said so.

Which begs the question that how could we possibly determine whether Kasab
is a Pakistani or not, when the official Government position is that his
name do not figure in the national database. That no national identification
number has been issued in his name. That he does not posses a national
citizenship document.

If this being the case- then would it be right for us in India to go for a
national identity card or perhaps should we try to spend more time thinking
about the process through which we can have a more informed debate about the
idea of identity first, and then maybe move forward to establish regimes
that are involved in the operational or logistical end of the identity
discourse.

Regards

Taha


On Wed, Dec 24, 2008 at 5:49 AM, taraprakash <taraprakash at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Taha and all. The issue of identity card should also be approached from
> a different angle. Pakistan government has recently come up with the
> statement that Kasab is not registered as a citizen in the country and that
> the state did not issue him any identity card.
> Earlier, CPI(M) refused to accept the fact of many deaths during Nandi Gram
> and Singur crisis. Since many of those killed were not registered on any
> official document, it was difficult to prove many deaths. I believe the same
> happened in Nithari case of cannibalism. Around 10 years back another
> scandal was brought to the light in UP. Some people had managed to obtain
> death certificates for their relatives so that these fraudsters could
> misappropriate their land. Many officially dead people had to go through
> long court cases to prove that actually they were not dead.
>
> Many in Indian sub-continent do not exist officially. I believe it is their
> right to have a proof of their existence, should such a need arise.
>
>
> Regards
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Taha Mehmood" <
> 2tahamehmood at googlemail.com>
> To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 6:08 PM
> Subject: [Reader-list] News Items posted on the net on Multipurpose
> NationalIdentity Cards-6
>
>
>
>> http://pib.nic.in/archieve/lreleng/lyr2002/rmay2002/07052002/r0705200210.html
>> 7th May, 2002
>>
>> NATIONAL IDENTITY CARDS
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> A proposal to issue Multipurpose National Identity Cards (MNICs) to Indian
>> citizens, including the people residing in the border areas of the country
>> is receiving Government's attention. These cards, apart from providing a
>> credible identification system, may have multifarious uses.
>>
>> The issue of MNICs would involve creation of an identification system for
>> more than one billion citizens, streamlining the existing machinery for
>> the
>> registration of birth and deaths at the grass root level and choices of
>> institutional as well as technological options for the creation of an
>> integrated data base of personal identities capable of being continuously
>> updated. The Government would finalize its decision only after an in-depth
>> examination of all relevant issues and after making necessary
>> preparations,
>> including the legal backing to the scheme.
>>
>> Issuing National Identity Cards under the provisions of the Citizenship
>> Act,
>> 1955 is one of the options available.
>>
>> The issue of National Identity Cards was discussed and endorsed in the
>> conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security held on 17th November
>> 2001.
>>
>> The information was given in the Lok Sabha by the Minister of State for
>> Home
>> Shri Ch. Vidyasagar Rao in a written reply today.
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>