Identification of individuals using biometrics has been implemented in our country after the launch of the Aadhaar Card. Some parts of our body have measurements such as fingerprints, eyeball length, etc. which are individual-specific. These are called biometric measurements. As a result, it is much easier to identify individuals accurately if specific biometric information is known. Collection and storage of biometric data through Aadhaar numbers have already started in our country. The argument in favour of Aadhaar was that for anyone living in the country, it will become much easier to get a proof of identity. Hence the various facilities and subsidies provided by the state will be easier to distribute. Moreover, crime control and prevention can be done more efficiently. In the beginning, it was said that Aadhaar will be optional. With time, it can be seen that Aadhaar has become almost compulsory in every aspect of life. From banks to ration cards, from education to health services, Aadhar has become the only tool for determining identity. Now the situation is such that Aadhaar is no longer optional. All benefits available to the citizens of the country are accessible only on the condition of having a Aadhaar card.
The question is why Aadhaar? Why have such a huge biometric database? Why is so much importance given to citizen identification when it comes to the delivery of public welfare services? Simple logic dictates that all those who live in India, are entitled to all government opportunities and services. If we look at the timeline carefully, we can see that only after making Aadhar virtually compulsory has the state started the process of creating a Citizens registry (or NRC as we know it). In the name of this identification process, various discriminatory laws have been implemented, and conflicts between communities have been provoked thereby disturbing the equilibrium in our social structure. Politically, as the BJP government moves closer to its goal of establishing a reactionary and fascist Hindu state, Aadhaar or the biometric identification process has become a powerful weapon in their hands. Such compulsory biometric identification processes can become a danger to people, in two ways.
Firstly, whoever speaks against BJP’s repressive politics or divisive policies can be quickly identified. As we can clearly understand, the economic policies of the BJP Govt may seem to be contradictory but they are acting as middlemen for the big capitalists like Adani, Ambani, and Tata. The policies are directed towards providing indirect state aid to these big conglomerates and to help them become competitive in the world market. For this, its internal state policy must be discriminatory and dependent on severe economic exploitation. The dissidents against these government policies, overt or covert, must be monitored, and intimidated, if necessary, by making use of various anti-people laws. Aadhar is one of the tools of the BJP government for crushing dissent.
Secondly, individual human beings have certain fundamental rights which are recognized in every democratic country. An individual’s right to privacy and individual liberty are considered inviolable by the state. These are supposed to be symbols of advancing human civilization. However, it is not gauranteed that these individuals’ rights will be protected. A huge amount of biometric data has been collected for Aadhar. Since the data protection laws in our country are not that strong, quite often the data is stolen and personal information is sold illegally. It is not always possible for the government to repair the weaknesses of the data collection and storage system. Since the responsibility of data storage has been placed in private hands, it may not be even possible. There are precedents of the government itself using personal information without the consent of the individuals. As a result, apart from overall surveillance of the citizens, examples can be found where the past and the current police state have used personal data of their citizens for intimidation and for market-driven needs.
Apart from this, there are some other legislative directives that are related to Aadhaar. For example, Criminal Identification Bill (2022). This is a more draconic law superseding the law in force during British rule. Under the old law, those who have been sentenced to imprisonment for more than one year or are under trial for more than one year as criminals have their fingerprints, footprints, and photographs collected and stored. Under the new law, anyone arrested or in police custody will have their biometric data and biological samples including DNA samples taken. If necessary, behavioural characteristics will be recorded in addition to physiological parameters. In the case, of individuals who are sentenced to more than seven years in prison, the state is given a license to collect these data forcibly if needed.
Not only people who are convicted, or are arrested, the new law also allows for the collection of such data from people who, in the government’s view, may commit a crime in the future or may be of aid in police investigation. Police constables and jail wardens have been granted the power to collect information for identification purposes. Earlier, only judicial magistrates could only give an order for biometric data collection. Under the new law even acting magistrates and executive magistrates can grant such permissions. The information obtained can be preserved by the state for up to 75 years. The Supreme Court in 2017 unequivocally guaranteed fundamental rights to all citizens including jail inmates. This is effectively cancelled under the new law in 2022. The measure of a person’s dignity is her right over her own body.
The right to privacy is clearly mentioned in our country’s constitution. Anyone connected with the judicial process has been given the power to violate basic civil rights. From this, we can understand that the state does not care about protecting the rights of its citizens. As mentioned above, in the name of crime prevention the state has collected fingerprints and retina scans of millions of its citizens without having the technical infrastructure or the legal structure to keep the data secure. The actual need of the state is to bring under surveillance individuals with the potential of dissent and opposition to government policies in order to predict their future activities which can then be crushed with the help of the police and the army. That is the primary reason behind the implementation of Aadhar and the Criminal Identification Bill (2022).
It may seem that all these laws are only to curb anti-government movements. Of course, since 1947 every ruling party has had the tendency of using the enormous power of the state machinery to bulldoze and destroy anti-government movements instead of trying to understand the socio-economic problems which give rise to such movements. Government policy has always been to make laws and create restrictions to hide the symptoms of the disease without treating the underlying cause. We need to understand the political philosophy behind this. We need to ask what the main function of the state should have been in a poor country like ours, riddled with divisions based on caste, class, and religion. We need to ask what the real motives behind keeping repressive British-era laws unchanged or in some cases making them more draconian to suppress the citizens’ right to question or to protest. It is relevant to discuss the various anti-people repressive laws passed during the Congress regime. All the laws implemented by the previous governments were either imperial laws from the British era or in aid of the Congress policy of indirect repression. In the BJP regime, the repression has become more direct. The suppression takes various forms, sometimes socio-cultural, sometimes creating situations of boycotting people of certain communities, and sometimes even placing opponents in jails.
The BJP government is not just using biometrics to label free-thinking citizens as traitors, they are also skillfully using various repressive laws passed during the Congress governments against parliamentary opposition parties. We have seen various opposition political parties become victims of the government vendetta. Using the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002, the BJP-influenced central investigative agencies have tried to extend central influence in states like Maharashtra, Delhi, and even West Bengal. Funds of individuals and organisations are frozen for 6 months based on mere suspicion. In recent times allegations of embezzlement have been brought against the NGO run by social worker Teesta Setalvad and, also against a staunch critic of BJP and journalist Rana Ayub. None of them are involved in any so-called conspiracy against the government. These people are staunch supporters of the Constitution and are in favour of the constitutional status quo. PMLA is being widely used as a weapon against anyone opposed to the BJP. We can see how the frequent raids of CBI, ED, etc are forcing political parties in opposition-ruled states in going back on their anti-BJP stance, take refuge in the BJP camp, and adopt the pro-Hindutva stance of the BJP. On one side BJP does not have to fight a political and constitutional battle in achieving its goal of establishing Hindu Rashtra. They just need to arm-twist the corrupt non-BJP political parties using their pet central investigative agencies. On the other hand, any outbreak of dissent in common people can be nipped in the bud using the massive surveillance framework. BJP with its neo-Hinduism philosophy is going to be of service to the free market economy. That is why it is necessary to have anti-people laws, it is necessary to deny rights to the citizens.
In such a situation, we need to –
- Build a political struggle against the BJPs project of building a Hindu Rashtra
- Establish in public that the corrupt non-BJP state governments are not political alternatives to BJP
- Replace the politics based on sectarian divisions with one based on equity and secularism
- To prepare the ground for demanding that the economic policies should not be directed towards helping the profiteers but towards protecting the rights of the common people
- To organize a public campaign to demand the repeal of all the anti-people laws.
This article was published in the October 2022 issue of Matribhumi journal – the mouthpiece of
Azad Gano Morcha
Cover photo courtesy – https://thelogicalindian.com/news/anti-caa-unrest-deaths/?infinitescroll=1 [Retrieved On: 11/02/2023]