Campaigning against the Centre’s move to get all citizens mandatorily link their mobile phone connections and bank accounts with their Aadhaar ~ also known as the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) number ~ many human rights activists and feminists protested against this “forced measure” by switching off their mobile phones for half an hour from 11 a.m. on Saturday.
They also said this protest campaign against such a “forced seeding” of 12-digit unique biometric identification or Aadhaar numbers with their personal accounts and numbers received “enthusiastic support” from a large number of people and civil society members ~ including students, youths, professionals, academics, women and elderly citizens ~ from across the country.
The campaign was led by activists’ groups including “Say No to UID”, “Aavaz” and “Rethink Aadhaar”.
The campaigners on Saturday also sent protest messages and emails to telecom service providers and various authorities including Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in this regard, sources said.
The activists said they would carry on similar protests until the Supreme Court’s hearing on the issue in coming days.
Speaking to The Statesman, Kamayani Mahabal ~ a human rights activist who has also filed a petition in the Bombay High Court against the government’s move to make Aadhaar mandatory for various schemes ~ said, “Support has poured in from all quarters for our today’s protest, including from senior citizens and differently abled who have also been harassed and deprived of services in the name of Aadhaar.”
Kamayani also said, “Many responded to our campaign, they switched off their mobile phones. The youth played a key role in it, they also campaigned vigorously on social media. We also signed petitions against the forced Aadhaar push, which garnered remarkable support too”.