Yet another Bill with Draconian Provisions
It is becoming more and more
clearly apparent that the BJP
government led by Narendra Modi
is not content with its draconian
powers available with already
existing draconian laws in its armour
to silence its opponents of all hues,
It has been making efforts to
empower its governmental agencies
with more powers for surveillance
of public with further more laws.
The personal Data Protection Bill-
2019 to be examined by the select
committee but not by the standing
committee of the parliament is a
clear example for the cruel intentions
of the BJP government.
The draft bill was neither
circulated well in advance before its
presentation in the parliament not
the comments and submissions
were made during the drafting were
made public.
With the false façade of
protection to hoodwink the people
the BJP government intended to do
away with personal freedoms. It
intends to encroach upon the critical
human rights and undermine them.
It is recognized that privacy is
intrinsic to life, liberty and therefore
is a basic right. But the BJP
government in the name of
‘protecting’ the sovereignty and
integrity of India, public order and
friendly relations with foreign
countries etc aims to empower any
agency of the government to call
for personal data, to spy on all of
its citizens through so-called
personal data protection bill.
Throughout the world various
rights organizations and whistle
blowers have been disclosing that
in this present day digital world of
technological development, data
(personal) is being misused for the
profit making of capitalist business
as well for surveillance of the people
20
by various governments. In the
journal Monthly Review an article
written by Johan Bellamy Foster
and Robert W. Mc Chesney and
documents released by Edward
Snowden in 2013 have revealed
the surveillance mechanism
employed by the US National
Security Agency and its capability
to break in to any encryption using
super computers that could crack
algorithms and thus hacking in to
nearly all messages; and that they
intercept the information as it
travels over fiber optic cables from
one data centre to the other.
Recently messaging platform
WhatsApp said that some Indian
journalists and rights activists were
among those spied using
technology by an Israeli company,
which by its own admission only
works for government agencies
across the world. Gooogle has
alerted 12,000 users, including 500
in India, regarding “government
backed” phisting attempts against
them.
The globally accepted rules
say that the handlers must abide
to the individual’s consent to
disclose personal data and the
protection of privacy of individuals is considered to be the utmost
responsibility of the government
and to regulate the data processing
procedure.
But the BJP government chose
to spy on people by removing any
personal data protection with the Bill
by drawing massive exemptions for
government surveillance and data
handling. By claiming the right to
demand “non-personal” data a
provision in the Bill has been
inserted to grant discretion to
exempt any government entity or
department to collect data without
the consent and that the social
media platforms have to provide
processes for “voluntary” verification.
Thus it is mooted to chill freedom
of expression.
On the whole the BJP
government has decided to spy on
any or all of its citizens to achieve
its political gains and to implement
its “Hindutva” agenda with the aid
of such draconian provisions in
personal data protection Bill-2019.
The democratic forces in the
country shall fight against these
authoritarian actions of the
government and strive to protect
their democratic and basic rights
and personal freedoms.
contd from page 17 small or big. They have to rise
above their individual interests and
aspirations. If you have to get rid
of a big tyrant, all you have to do is
put someone at the helm who’ll be
able to do it. This applies to Kashmir
as well.
When it comes to the Congress,
they took a very fluid and ambiguous
stand. They tried to save themselves.
Having said that, I feel, in these
circumstances, even if we get a little
support from some corner, we
should honour that as well.
with India if they are treated this
way? Who’ll want to get beaten up
every day or be caged?
Everyone’s fed up in Kashmir.
There’s nobody in Kashmir who
won’t say that Kashmiris aren’t
being suppressed and oppressed.
Barring a few parties, none of the
national parties were vocal in their
opposition to the August 5 decision.
Were you disappointed?
All the parties should stop
thinking of whether their party is
Class Struggle