Many Aadhaar holders in Meghalaya to send ‘OPT OUT’ letter to UIDAI

The Meghalaya Peoples Committee on Adhaar had a public meeting today at the Khasi National Dorbar, Mawkhar Shillong from

The meeting was attended by more than a thousand people who jam packed the hall, the verandah, compound and even the footpaths of Mawkhar Main Road outside the venue hall.

The meeting was chaired by Auguster Jyrwa (Ex GS KSU) and the meet began by a minute silence to condole the death of a young girl in Jharkhand who was allegedly died of starvation for want of Adhaar.

Those who spoke in the meeting are Rev. K.Pyrtuh, Rev PBM Basaiawmoit, Donald Thabah General secretary KSU and Kong P.Sohshang from west khasi hills district. Kong P.Sohshang had been facing harassment and ridicules from various quarters for her stand against the dangers of the project Adhaar.

The meeting resolved the following:
1. The people welcome the 9 Judge Bench verdict on the Right to Privacy and repose their faith in the judiciary especially the Supreme Court and pray that the pending cases and the final verdict to be pronounced soon will be in favour of the people and that the Adhaar project be done away with and settle the issue once and for all.

2. The meeting strongly urged upon the Authorities not to confuse matter or force people to enroll into UID, but to abide by the various interim orders of the Supreme Court which had from time to time passed orders that Adhaar is not compulsory but voluntary.

Opt Out Letter (English)

Opt Out Letter (Khasi)

3. The Meeting resolved to start an Opt-Out campaign for those who had already enrolled in Aadhaar but who wish to withdraw their consent and with draw from the Central Data Storage which they believe that both their Bio-metric and Demographic Information are stored. The Opt-Out campaign is based on an informed opinion that the adhaar project is inherently flawed/dangerous and it is also based on the fact that now Privacy is a Fundamental Right as guaranteed in Part III of the Constitution of India so therefore the Adhaar Project infringes upon this Right and as citizens we resolved to protect our Right to Privacy by opting out of Adhaar. A sample Opt-Out Letter was drafted both in English and Khasi and distributed so that people can read, understand and decide. The Meghalaya Peoples Committee on Adhaar had fixed 30 October as a date to collect all those individual opt-out letters and send them to authorities concerned and the Committee firmly believed that this opt-out campaign will have long lasting impact on the fight against intrusion by the Power of the State on individual citizens. Individuals who wish to withdraw their consent are requested to come to KSU office at Jaiaw Shillong on the 30 October 2017 and submit their opt-out letters from 11am to 3pm.

Rev.K.Pyrtuh

Rev PBM Basaiawmoit

Bah Auguster Jyrwa