10 Jul India Gov’t Insists Aadhar is Not “Orwellian”
Last Friday, India’s Modi Government objected to criticisms calling Aadhar “Orwellian”.
Critics had been saying that the compulsory and invasive nature of the scheme is akin to totalitarianism. However, the government insists the system is a necessity for ensuring subsidy for the poor.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan argues that the scheme resembled the totalitarian state in the 1984 novel by George Orwell, saying that the obligatory nature of the scheme will destroy Article 21, or the “right to life and dignity”
KK Venugopal, the newly appointed Attorney General for India strongly objected to the use of words such as “concentration camp” and “totalitarian state” in court by Aadhar opponents, but justices of the bench said that they would allow everything except unparliamentary and impermissible language.
Source: India Times
