FIR against Tribune reporter: Shooting messenger, ignoring message is govt culture, says Congress

The Congress asked the government to wake up from its “deep slumber” and investigate the stories of data breach and take measures to secure the Aadhaar data. At a press conference, party spokesperson Shobha Oza said the UPA government had envisioned Aadhaar as a document of Unique Identity for citizens and a “solid tool” for inclusiveness, but the Modi government and the BJP have made a mockery of Aadhaar. “The Unique Identity architecture was purely designed to create a right to obtain a unique identity, enrolment process for demographic and biometric information so that welfare schemes can be more inclusive and there is no leakage, but the Modi government’s sheer highhandedness and brazen attitude towards Aadhaar, coupled with an underlining motive to use the data for citizen surveillance, is defeating that very purpose,” she said.

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Oza said that the Modi government, instead of taking cognizance of the media report and investigating it, is further indulging in dismissing it and launching a witch-hunt against the reporter. “It is shocking that the BJP, called this news report fake on the very day it was published, without even acknowledging a cause of concern and launching an investigation. The UIDAI in its statement said that there was no data breach, but they have lodged an FIR in the case. Instead of being a responsive government, the Modi government has become a dismissive government and more so an oppressive government, which has launched an all-out attack against those who are simply highlighting loopholes in the scheme,” she said.

The Congress argued that multiple breaches and security lapses have been reported to the UIDAI. “What is frustrating about the UIDAI’s perpetually defensive position is that many researchers and concerned persons have been trying to report security issues with Aadhaar for a long time. The Modi government needs to start listening to those who are pointing out critical flaws instead of issuing blanket denials and template answers,” she said.