Union minister of state for tourism, KJ Alphons, hit out at Aadhaar detractors on Sunday, stating that people opposed their government when it sought “basic details” but had no qualms in stripping before the “white men” at airports abroad.
“We have no problem in giving our fingerprint and getting naked before the white men. But when your own government asks for basic details, there is a big ruckus saying it is an intrusion in privacy,” the minister said in a function at the state capital.
The minister stuck to his statement later in the day and said he had only laid out “bare facts”. “What I said is a fact. When I went to the US I had to undergo the whole body scan twice. I used the word striping for this. The whole body scan is like stripping,” he said.
Alphons said he intended to highlight the “double standards” of those who voiced reservations against Aadhaar but willingly gave away personal details when applying for a visa.
“I was just pointing out the double standard of some of our people. When their own government asks for basic details they create a big uproar. But have no problems while filing US visa applications when one has to part with details of at least two generations. I was just drawing a parallel between the two,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Alphons maintained that the biometric information submitted to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was completely secure.
“There is no need for any concern. We have given permission to only government agencies to access information,” he said.
Dismissing the allegations of data leak through the Narendra Modi App as “totally baseless”, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said. “Don’t believe such fake stories. The opposition has no real issue to confront the government so it rakes up such non-issues,” Alphons said.
On Saturday, French security expert ‘Elliot Alderson’ had claimed that Prime Minister’s app was sharing private information of users to a third-party US company.
Alphons also attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who had echoes the French security expert’s views. “Only Rahul can make such allegations. People will reject such baseless allegations summarily,” the minister said. (HT)
