The Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 : People under the legal supervision of Hindurashtra

Twelve Rajya Sabha MPs from the opposition were suspended throughout the session for insulting the ‘non-existent democracy’ by indulging in ‘ruckus’ in the last concluded Winter Session of Parliament. The only possible thing the opposition could do was to cry out against the deprivation of parliamentary ‘freedom to debate’. The Modi government, which only has a trifle majority in the Rajya Sabha, (BJP alliance – 119 seats, opposition parties – 118 seats) with its suspension move this time, has reduced the noise of the cry. The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed in both the houses of the Parliament on December 20 and 21, even as the opposition parties continued to protest against the suspension.

“This amendment is being introduced to eliminate the ‘frauds’ by which a person votes twice. By linking Aadhaar card with voter id, we can eliminate bogus votes and create a ‘fair electoral system’. And the opposition parties are ‘hindering’ this” – This is the impression that the fascist Modi government has created.

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Prior to the enactment of this Law, on December 18, the Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary held a meeting with the Election Commissioners of India. This proves that the Election Commission, like many other government agencies such as the CBI, the ED & the NIA, was a puppet of the saffron fascists. Election commissioners used to call other officials if they need any information. Though this unusual meeting stirred strong opposition, the Modi government was not bothered.

Aadhaar Linking: Legal History of Monitoring

What is Aadhaar? Why is it created? Aadhaar Act, 2016 – Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 – is said to be enacted for the following purpose: “Subsidies and benefits do not reach the poor people of the country properly. Therefore, Aadhaar was created to prevent corruption and malpractices.” This explanation makes it clear that Aadhaar is not something for all people.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was formed by the then Congress government in 2009 with Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder of Infosys, as its Chairman. The question arose whether Aadhaar was legal, since UIDAI was established without any statutory backing. Later, Aadhaar Bill was introduced as a Money Bill in 2016.

Aadhaar became legally valid after the majority verdict of the Supreme Court in a public interest litigation that challenged the constitutional validity of Aadhaar. It was also ruled that Aadhaar should not be made mandatory for all; but only for subsidies and government schemes and no one should be affected by the lack of Aadhaar. Further the Court ruled that Aadhaar was not mandatory to open a bank account, enrollment in school and for getting a SIM card.

The same Court also passed a verdict in later days that made “Aadhaar mandatory” while responding for a PIL. Aadhaar had already brought 99% of the people within its purview by the time the court reached a verdict. Aadhaar, which was illegally mandated from 2010 to 2019, was legalised by the Supreme Court’s decision.

The key to our privacy in the hands of Saffron – Corporate coterie!

The question that whether Aadhaar is safe has not yet been answered. A link for obtaining BJP membership is sent to a person from Lawspet Assembly Constituency, Puducherry. As soon as he clicks on it, he learns that the link goes to the WhatsApp group that connects all the voters in Lawspet. How could the BJP knew which constituency and which booth he belonged? The question arose as to how the BJP knew his address from Aadhaar which he used to buy a SIM card. He belongs to the CPM’s Youth Organization (DYFI). He filed a PIL in March 2021. The court was ‘shocked’ and adjourned the case seeking clarification from the Aadhaar Authority.

Since its inception, the Aadhaar has several flaws and illegalities. The election laws have now been amended to link this flawed Aadhaar with the voter id. Voter id is a public document. Anyone including agents of all political parties can use the information in it. But Aadhaar includes personal biometrics like fingerprints and iris recognition scan. It is a private document containing a person’s identity and information. It is unconstitutional to make it a public document.

The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was tabled in the Parliament on the morning of December 20, 2021 and was passed by that evening itself. “Public opinion should be sought before introducing a law. We, the representatives of the people, were not consulted. The law has been enacted in the name of ‘Electoral Reforms’ without seeking feedback from any political party or people” said recognition T R Baalu, MP, parliamentary committee leader of DMK.

“It is not mandatory to link Aadhaar with voter id” the Modi government says. But this amendment, which does not have the details on when can the authorities ask for the Aadhaar and in what context people can refuse to provide Aadhaar, will make Aadhaar mandatory. The Supreme Court has already said that Aadhaar is not mandatory for availing essential services. But what’s happening in reality? Aadhaar is mandatory for buying SIM cards, registration of properties, buying gas cylinder, admission to school etc. Aadhaar card is being asked even for corona vaccine. Though the Modi government said that the Aadhaar is ‘not mandatory’, it has made Aadhaar mandatory for everything.

Everything, from groceries to cow dung, has been brought under e-commerce. If we search for a specific product on an Android phone, ads about that product chases us everywhere, irrespective of the site we surf. If we watch a video, videos relating to that come to our faces without our permission for days. When Aadhaar is linked with hospital, bank account, school, college, licenses, vaccine, credit card, G-mail, YouTube, Facebook etc, it becomes a linchpin to all the data about an individual.

With this, it is now easier for corporates to know a man’s wishes, needs and what should be talked to him to make him buy a product. With these details, the corporates could accurately conceptualise the voters through the media, the internet and social media in order to bring their henchmen to power.

Aadhaar – Voter id linking: A foundation to fascist tyranny!

The Modi-Amit Shah fascist clique, which works in a full swing in setting up a Hindurashtra by 2024, will use these electoral reforms to cut off the roots of the opposition and make them orphans. If Aadhaar containing personal information is linked with the voter id, the data will go into the hands of the BJP. By getting the details about the individuals who received benefits and subsidies from the government, they can even be intimidated to vote for the BJP. By knowing what a voter is looking for on Facebook, what he reads, and what he likes, he can be wooed to vote for a particular political party by targeting him with certain announcements.

This amendment will be used to intimidate the ‘unwanted’ voters who reject the BJP and to remove them from the electoral rolls. In particular, the amendment would serve to launch a precise attack on the electorate who did not vote for the BJP, just as the BJP planned to take away the citizenship of those it did not want through the National Population Register (NPR) and throw them into the fascist camps.

In 2015, the scheme to link voter id with Aadhaar was first implemented in the country in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The Election Commission, which had given up its responsibility to decide on who the voter was, said that the voter should prove himself by linking Aadhaar card with the voter id. Lakhs of voter ids which did not match with the Aadhaar details were removed. No verification was carried out in person or even through letters before the voter id was deleted. They were just removed as unwanted. The move to remove the voters was only dropped on the orders of the Supreme Court. Now many judgements, from Babri Masjid to Maridhas, are evidences for the judiciary’s morality. If someone goes to the Court, it is doubtful that justice will be served.

In 1935, citizenship was revoked for non-Aryans in Hitler’s Germany. Lakhs of Jews were made refugees and were sent to the detention camps. The world, in later years, was shocked to see how they were tortured and murdered. In 1938, a law was enacted forcing the compulsory registration of Jews. Through this, the population of Jews was counted and all their habitations and places of business were plundered. Hitler made only Jews to get registered in Germany. But Modi is making the entire country to register.

RSS – Sangh parivars, who killed thousands of Muslims during Gujarat riots, had electoral rolls. Using the electoral rolls, they identified the houses of the muslims and looted, killed and raped them.

If the BJP-RSS get the Aadhaar details, not only data about Muslims, but also Christians, Dalits, atheists, Communists and other political party members will be in their hands. Where are we working? In which school do our child study? What disease do we have? Who is our doctor? All these informations will be in their hands. We can’t escape anywhere. The fascist mob will follow us!

“Parliament is a pigsty”, said Comrade Lenin. Many people keep wallowing in this pigsty saying, ‘Parliament is sacrosanct’ and ‘The sewer should be cleaned’. Those who said so have lamented that they had not been given the right to comment on the Citizenship Amendment Act, the Farm laws and the Amendment to the Election Laws. They plead with the fascist Modi government to include in the act, a clause on who should not be allowed to use personal information, if aadhaar card is linked with voter id.

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The aim of the Modi-Amit Shah fascist clique is to regain power in 2024 and fulfil its Hindurashtra dream. They are preparing for it through legal and illegal means. Modi is destroying the parliamentary democracy by bringing all voters into the surveillance ring and cutting off the roots of the opposition parties. The opposition parties are just lamenting and watching it.

Either we should kneel before the fascists or fight against them. There was no other way inbetween. We must stand firm in the reality that the fascists cannot be subjugated by parliamentary cries or court appeals. There is no history of fascists lasting for a very long time. It is a must of the times, for the fascists to kneel before the power of the people. The “Delhi Chalo” farmers’ agitation against the Farm laws is the latest evidence of that. And the only way to bring down the saffron – fascist mob including the RSS – BJP & Ambani – Adani is to fight against them by building an anti-fascist people’s alliance of all the working people.

Tamil