[Reader-list] UID India

Mon Jun 14 13:55:33 IST 2010

Yes letting the UID pass without a debate would be a big loss, I am pretty
sure that none of the politicians understand the implications of the UID, at
best they must be of the opinion that such an enumeration would help their
political mandate, the political class which wants a caste census and not a
resource census would rejoice at the thought of having a number which can
give them all details.  If you ask me true individual freedom does not lie
in obscurity, it lies in affirmation and being able to do things in spite of
being enumerated, believe me there are other tools of personal
identification and the government in most cases need not even tell us of
their existence.

Each time we enter or exit a public place a picture of ours is captured does
it mean we are terrorists, each single time we use the atm every single
detail is captured (Does it mean we are fraudsters), Air travel, train
travel is logged (Does it mean restrictions on travel), living in India we
are not able to reach northeast, Andaman's many other sanitised zones. We
are not living in a free world and any rejection of UID which looks open and
transparent will lead to other covert means of identity capture because the
state needs to know.... the kind of world frenzied in terror we are living
in demands something like that. 

Peace

Shashi 

-----Original Message-----
From: jude d'souza [mailto:jude.dsouza at gmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, June 14, 2010 11:31 AM
To: reader-list at sarai.net
Cc: Bipin Trivedi; Shashidhar
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] UID India

Dear Shashidhar

I do appreciate your point on the culture of fear that the media has found
profitable to propagate. As you rightly state, any minor form of dissent
raises hackles and has the mainstream media baying for blood.
It is precisely in this condition that identity tracking can take its most
virulent forms. Why would you believe that the UID would not be a tool for
control and subjugation within this environment ?

Of course there are a number of regulations that keep getting passed by the
day, often passing by without a majority of the people being even aware of
them. I sincerely hope this would one day change.

As for letting the UID pass by without debate, I believe that would be a
very, very sad day for Indian democracy. True individual freedom is really
something worth fighting for.

Cheers

Jude

On Mon, Jun 14, 2010 at 9:49 AM, Shashidhar
<shashidhar at butterfliesindia.org> wrote:
> Not doing something for the fear of the state doing something is beyond
me, we subscribe to so many state regulations without ever blinking an eye
lid and if you ask me the task of the UID project would never be the
identification of rioters.  India today is getting swept by hoards of masses
from neighbouring countries, you can deny the existence of any such aliens
but a casual walk in the slums of Delhi, Bombay or any other city will tell
you of a different story.
>
> Identity is becoming a norm, we are living in a world where the media is
projecting every single situation as a potential terrorist threat, let the
media get more proactive, let them spread peace and good will, let there be
trust in the world and we will see the erosion of the need for such
identities.
>
> Shashi
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net 
> [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of jude d'souza
> Sent: Monday, June 14, 2010 9:07 AM
> To: Bipin Trivedi; reader-list at sarai.net
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] UID India
>
> Dear Bipin
>
>
> Forget the spiel of helping others..
>
> Would you like to walk into a cinema theatre to watch your favourite 
> movie and be asked to swipe ur UID to keep out the gratuitous groping 
> and then realise that u had just been to a rally where the police had 
> allowed you to peacefully demonstrate only if you would oblige with a 
> little card swipe or a fingerprint impression ?
>
> And when you realise what a wrong strategic decision that rally had 
> been, would you breathe easy every time the hero in the movie is 
> tapped over the shoulder or has midnight raps on his door?
>
> I suspect you would not .. neither would any of "us" .. nor would 
> "they" .. so for your own good, think for yourself .. and do not miss 
> propaganda for truth .. or bullc*@# for fact ..
>
>
> J
>
>
> On Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 10:01 PM, Bipin Trivedi <aliens at dataone.in> wrote:
>> Dear Dsouza,
>>
>> I have series of posting in this list on UID project benefit, why it is
necessary and hope you must have read it.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Bipin
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net 
>> [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of jude d'souza
>> Sent: Sunday, June 13, 2010 10:28 AM
>> To: reader-list at sarai.net
>> Subject: [Reader-list] UID India
>>
>> This has been posted earlier, but won't hurt reaching more people
>>
>>
>> http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Confidential_plans_for_1.2_billion_ID_cards
>> :_Creating_a_Unique_ID_for_every_resident_in_India,_Nov_2009
>>
>>
>> It is really disgusting to see that this document has been kept out 
>> of reach of the RTI Act, especially since it is of such significance ..
>> Also, there seems to be absolutely no debate on the real implications 
>> of the project and its Nazi-style high handedness .. While the UK has 
>> moved to axe their proposed scheme calling it, "intrusive, bullying 
>> and ineffective", there is no reason why the same description would 
>> not apply to India's version of the scheme .. Especially given our 
>> spectacular regard for individual privacy and rights ..
>>
>>
>> http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_uk-govt-moves-to-axe-national-id
>> entity-card-scheme_1394364
>>
>>
>> While on the document, it is shocking to say the least .. Quite 
>> blatantly (and hilariously), it is mentioned that "The UIDAI is only 
>> in the identity "business"." Like every "business", what is very 
>> clear is its 'revenue model' ..
>>
>> "By providing identity authentication, the UIDAI will be taking on a 
>> process that costs agencies and service providers hundreds of crores 
>> every year. The Authority will charge a fee for its authentication 
>> services, which will offset its long-term costs."
>>
>> A line like this would have had a nation in furore, considering that 
>> a government plans to make money out of citizens' personal data .. 
>> But seems like our media watchdogs have been served healthy 
>> tranquiliser doses to let this one pass by ..
>>
>> Again not to mention the demeaning reduction of every person's 
>> identity to a number .. "The UID will be a random number." .. Worse 
>> since they seem to be targeting the "poor and rural" initially ..
>> Obviously the weakest line of attack first, as is obvious in their 
>> claim .. "the Authority expects initial enrolment to be fairly rapid 
>> in both large and small rural areas" ..
>>
>> The Big Brother-ness gets worse from there on "It may be mandated 
>> that at the time of joining school (first standard) it is necessary 
>> for children to have a UID or to enrol for one. This way the child 
>> can be tracked for progress and targeted for direct benefits." .... 
>> "concept of Universal Child Tracking  the ability to track every 
>> child and ensure their all round development  is gaining ground " .. 
>> Is this language really fair to pass by ? Is this compatible with 
>> ideals of 'individual freedom' that the West loves to dole out to us, 
>> and that we lap up hungrily when it is convenient?
>>
>> It is indeed instructive to listen to what Charlie Skelton, the 
>> Guardian reporter who attempted to infiltrate the secretive 
>> Bilderberg Group at last years meeting had to say .. Leave it to him 
>> for the last words .. It is up to all of us to act upon this .. now ..
>>
>>
>> "I have spent the week living in a nightmare possible future and many 
>> different terrible pasts. I have had the very tiniest glimpse into a 
>> world of spot checks and unchecked security powers. And it has left 
>> me shaken. It has left me, literally, bruised.
>>
>> I can tell you this from personal experience: the onus upon the 
>> individual to carry with them some external proof of their identity 
>> is transformative of his or her status as a human being. The identity 
>> card turns you from a free citizen into a suspect. It is a spanner 
>> with which to beat the individual around the head. It is the end of 
>> everything. And how much easier to put all that information inside a 
>> microchip so you don't have to carry around that pesky card all the 
>> time. How much more efficient!
>>
>> Listen. I don't care if you don't love liberty. For the love of
>> yourself: fight identity cards. Don't let them happen. STOP IDENTITY 
>> CARDS. Stop identity cards. And while you're about it: stop identity 
>> cards."
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> " .. perhaps in the same sense I want a civilisation in which 
>> 'progress' is not definable as making the world safe for little fat 
>> men." Orwell _________________________________________
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>
>
>
> --
> " .. perhaps in the same sense I want a civilisation in which 
> 'progress' is not definable as making the world safe for little fat 
> men." Orwell _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
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--
" .. perhaps in the same sense I want a civilisation in which 'progress' is
not definable as making the world safe for little fat men." Orwell