Big Govt reAChed into our wAllets, homes And lives

THE YEAR WHEN AADHAAR ALMOST TOOK OVER OUR LIVES

Dying in India became a complicated matter this year, as the Central government made it mandatory to provide the Unique Identification Number or Aadhaar for obtaining a death certificate. Its rationale – to prevent identity fraud. That’s a good objective, and Aadhaar does seem like a good idea – but one which is clearly being over-used. Civil society and privacy activists dragged the government to court over Aadhaar. In response, the deadline for Aadhar linkage to bank accounts and phone numbers has been extended to March 31, 2018, from December 31, 2017.

NATIONAL ANTHEM – STAND OR ELSE. OR CAN YOU SIT?

Standing to sing the national anthem is routine in school. In 2016, the Supreme Court acting on the petition of a Bhopal resident ordered that the anthem be played before the screening of films in public theatres. In October Justice DY Chandrachud of the SC observed that sitting while the song played must be allowed. But in between 2016 and 2017, much water had flowed under the bridge. A wheelchair-bound person was called a Pakistani at a Guwahati cinema. A group of men and women in Chennai, who had decided on principle not to rise when the song played, were heckled. Whether one sits or stands is hardly the issue anymore. In the hyper-nationalistic mode that India finds herself in today, it doesn’t seem as if the pressure on citizens to enact their nationalism will go away anytime soon.