May 2023 Archives

The Dangers of NATGRID and the Proliferation of 360-Degree Profile Databases

This mindless proliferation of personal data has had so many effects that these systems should have been shut down by the Supreme Court during the Aadhaar judgment.

India is rapidly digitising. There are good things and bad, speed-bumps on the way and caveats to be mindful of. The weekly column Terminal focuses on all that is connected and is not – on digital issues, policy, ideas and themes dominating the conversation in India and the world.

The country seems to be in the grip of an epidemic of 360-degree profile databases. After nearly a decade of Aadhaar, the grand plan to interlink various identity databases is now complete. These profiles provide even the most granular demographic and socio-economic data – religion, caste, education, marital status, etc – of citizens at the click of a button.

These efforts began with the National Intelligence Grid or NATGRID, which was envisioned after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks as a counter-terrorism measure and was initially supposed to interlink 20 population databases in the first phase. This would allow information sharing between different agencies. But over the years, databases related to financial information, telephone numbers, tax records and criminal records have all been interlinked, allowing intelligence agencies to get a 360-degree profile of every Indian. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) now plans to “scale up” surveillance by offering real-time 360-degree profiling.

Unfortunately, NATGRID is not the only 360-degree profile database out there. The National Population Register is also a 360-degree profile database, and so are the State Resident Data Hubs. The Social Registry – which will automatically track when a citizen moves between cities, changes jobs, buys new property, and when a member of a family is born or dies – planned by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is also a 360-degree profile database. As is the Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System being implemented by the e-courts committee, the income tax department’s project insights and the Telangana Police’s Integrated Information Hub or Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems.

Every database out there is now interconnected and collects even the minutest information about us. This interoperability, allowing the interlinking of various databases, is powered by the unique ID: Aadhaar. Just entering the Aadhaar number – or other ID cards which are linked to Aadhaar – allows government officials to get all of our details. What we have here is the proliferation of our identity information across government databases, allowing the creation of complete profiles of the population.

It doesn’t matter what kind of database is out there and what its purpose is, it automatically becomes a surveillance database for the intelligence establishment. The creation of these population databases to track people from their birth to death has always been made clear by the MHA. There is no law at the moment to allow this or any of the other 100 databases for which the government collects data and shares it with the surveillance complex. The upcoming data protection Bill also does not plan to regulate this setup – in fact, it gives complete exemptions to it.

The idea of 360-degree surveillance is not just in the interest of the intelligence establishment anymore. The state governments want to know everything about you to decide whether you deserve welfare or not. State governments can also abuse this data to extract tax from everyone. These systems of 360-degree profiling have been active for a long time and the Supreme Court didn’t address this issue entirely during the Aadhaar judgment.

Before NATGRID was even built, states had their own STATEGRIDs. This model of 360-degree profile governance was active in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh much before the rest of the country. It is not limited to policing and intelligence agencies, but to how governance in this country has been transformed. The state knows everything about us and wants to use it to govern us, while not disclosing entirely how it intends to govern us or with what data. This increased proliferation of identity information and 360-degree profiles has been abused for voter deletions, electioneering and harassment of the general public by police departments.

Andhra Pradesh’s State Resident Data Hub interlinks all government services including electricity bills. Photo: Author provided

This mindless proliferation of personal data has had so many effects that these systems should have been shut down by the Supreme Court during the Aadhaar judgment. Instead, there are plans being made to share all of this data with the private sector – which the apex court prohibited – to promote private sector profits. The proliferation of these systems is going to harm our society in ways we are unable to fully understand yet.

Whether it is rejecting welfare, deleting our voter information, forcing us to pay extra taxes, or being subjected to policing harassment through digital policing and surveillance, it doesn’t matter what the occasion is – the tool and system are the same. Some people could argue that all of these systems are different and there is no one master database with all of our personal information. But all of our personal information is interlinked and interoperable across every government system, resulting in a host of effects.

This setup is not going away with any surveillance reforms, Supreme Court judgments or any future data protection Bill. Surveillance of the population is now an accepted norm, no matter how it is abused by any political establishment – the BJP or others. We as a society have accepted the effects of these 360-degree profiling databases and this issue can’t be addressed unless the larger public demands change. Of all places, we see their effect more in our election with surveillance of the population being used to influence voters.

Srinivas Kodali is a researcher on digitisation and hacktivist.

SEBI’s Quest to Obtain Ownership Details From Offshore Regulators on Adani FPIs Hits a Roadblock

SEBI wrote to Adani Group 11 times, between February 12 and April 22, seeking documents from various listed and unlisted entities, including shareholding details and background of offshore entities, a news report said.

New Delhi: The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s investigation into the allegations against Adani Group by US-based Hindenburg Research appears to have hit a roadblock as it has not been able to obtain information from overseas regulators on the ultimate beneficial ownerships of certain foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), Business Standard reported, citing people aware of the matter.

The capital markets regulator on Saturday, April 29, told the apex court that it has formed only a prima facie view on the various allegations made in the Hindenburg report. And, it would need more time to arrive at a final conclusion, the newspaper reported.

Therefore, it sought six months more to complete its probe on this matter.

SEBI wrote to Adani Group 11 times, between February 12 and April 22, seeking documents from various listed and unlisted entities. Some of these documents include minutes of audit committee meetings, reasons for availing or granting loans along with the details on tranche-wise payments, shareholding and director details and background of offshore entities, the daily reported.

Also read: Explained: Factors Behind Changes in Stock Prices of Adani Group Firms

Offshore funds

Apart from FPI regulations, SEBI is investigating possible violations on related-party transaction disclosures, public shareholding norms, and insider trading, the report added.

“Establishing ultimate beneficial ownerships for FPIs is a very complex exercise. Several jurisdictions allow omnibus structures where the end beneficiaries are not required to be captured or are based in some other geographies. This entails writing to different regulators, some of whom may not be entitled to share information due to different pacts,” a person in the know of the matter told the business daily.

Sources told the newspaper that SEBI has written to various regulators in several jurisdictions over the past few weeks on the Adani matter.

“Some of the information sought includes bank statements from offshore financial institutions, background of the offshore-related entities, licences received by them and letters submitted by Adani group companies to the offshore regulators,” the report said.

“SEBI submits that the investigation would also require obtaining bank statements from multiple domestic as well as international banks. As the bank statements would also be for transactions undertaken more than 10 years ago, this would take time and be challenging. This process of seeking bank statements from the offshore banks would entail taking assistance from offshore regulators, which may be time consuming and challenging,” the markets regulator said in its submission to the apex court.

Interestingly, in July 2021, much before Hindenburg released its report, SEBI had written to the custodians of FPIs owning shares in six Adani Group firms, seeking information on their “ultimate beneficiary owners”. These funds included Albula Investment Fund, Cresta Fund, and APMS Investment Fund.

Also read: SEBI Has No Information on Who Subscribed to Adani Group’s Rs 20,000-Crore Share Sale: Report

MoUs with offshore regulators

Business Standard said that SEBI has memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with offshore regulators for exchange of information. For tax-related matters, information exchange is usually done under the double taxation avoidance agreements.

“The MoUs work in most cases. However, it also depends on the extent of data sought. Not all regulators are very forthcoming with providing voluminous information. It requires multiple requests and follow-ups, which can be a cumbersome process,” a legal expert told the newspaper.

Sources told the daily that the details sought by SEBI are to reconfirm certain transactions and connections among entities.

The significance of FPI holdings in the Adani matter

After Adani Group said that ‘Vinod Adani and Adani should be seen as one’, The Wire had analysed how this statement could possibly indicate Vinod Adani’s influence on the management of the company, in terms of ownership. And, how this raises questions on the company’s free float status.

Free float refers to the shares of a company that can be publicly traded and are not restricted (i.e., held by insiders). It helps investors as it provides a more accurate representation of the stock’s true value. This is also required to mitigate manipulation and insider trading.

According to data from Trendlyne, in the case of Adani Group, a few offshore investment funds hold most of the free float. However, the ownership of these funds is unknown because Mauritius is a tax haven.

And, interestingly, several of these funds are related. For instance, at least four of these funds, namely Cresta Fund, Albula Investment, APMS Investment Fund, and LTS Investment Fund, have the same address: Edith Cavell Street, Port Louis, Mauritius, shows OpenCorporates.

Note that listed companies are required to maintain a minimum public holding (or free float) of 25%. Being listed is critical as it allows a company to raise money from the market.

However, if these rules are not met, there are implications on these companies’ public listing status.

For instance, on March 15, stock exchanges froze the promoter shareholding of Patanjali Foods after the company failed to meet the 25% public shareholding within the stipulated time period.

The Morning Context had reported that “if you remove these [offshore] funds, the effective [public] shareholding in Adani Enterprises comes down to only 10%.” In Adani Transmission, the “effective public float is about 7-8%”.

Watch | The Tirelessness of Being Teesta: How CJP Has Been Combating Communalism For 30+ Years

Here, we go beyond the headlines and beyond Teesta herself to witness up close and personal, the various works of her organisation: Citizens for Justice and Peace.

On September 2, 2022, then Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit pronounced the interim bail order of Teesta Setalvad in the Gujarat riots larger conspiracy case. Since her release, Teesta has continued with her years-long work of providing justice and peace.

Here, we go beyond the headlines and beyond Teesta herself to witness up close and personal, the various works of her organisation: Citizens for Justice and Peace.

‘Colleagues Making False Allegations’: Veteran Leader Nand Kumar Sai Quits Chhattisgarh BJP

In a now-deleted video, Sai, a former chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, said the Chhattisgarh chief minister’s post was denied to him in 2003 “as part of a conspiracy”.

New Delhi: The former chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes Nand Kumar Sai quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday, April 30, accusing his colleagues in the Chhattisgarh unit of “hurting his dignity by making false allegations”.

According to The Hindu, Sai said he was resigning from all posts in the BJP and also the primary membership of the party. He not only served as the Chhattisgarh BJP chief between 2003 and 2005 but was also the BJP’s president of the undivided Madhya Pradesh unit president from 1997 to 2000. He also served as a member of both houses of parliament.

“From the beginning of the formation and existence of the Bharatiya Janata Party till today, I have fulfilled all the responsibilities and duties assigned to me by the party with full dedication and devotion. I express my gratitude to the party for this, but for the last few years, with the aim of tarnishing my image in the Bharatiya Janata Party, my political rivals of my own party have continuously hurt my dignity by making false allegations and other activities against me,” the letter says, according to the newspaper.

The leader from the Sarguja belt also posted a video in which Sai said that though he played an instrumental role in dislodging the Congress government led by Ajit Jogi in 2003, the chief minister’s post was denied to him “as part of a conspiracy”. The video was later deleted.

According to The Hindu, BJP state president Arun Sao said the party was making efforts to “address misunderstandings, if any”. He added, “He is a very senior leader and has worked for a long time in the party. Definitely, we will speak to him and if there is any misunderstanding, we will remove it. We are trying to contact him but have been unable to do so. Senior leaders of the party will also speak to him.”

The newspaper added that there is speculation that Sai might join the Congress on Monday. Congress leaders are welcoming this speculation, the report added.

ED Raids Five Properties of Church of North India Over Money Laundering Charges

Various office bearers of CNI were found to be involved in the ‘gross misappropriation of church properties through sale or renting out at much lower prices by showing the properties as deteriorating and encroached,’ the probe agency said.

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has carried out searches under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at five locations across the country in connection with misappropriation of church funds.

The searches were carried out at the properties of the Church of North India (CNI) in Pune (Maharashtra), Pachmarhi (Madhya Pradesh), Jalandhar (Punjab), Indore (Madhya Pradesh) and Kolkata (West Bengal).

According to the Times of India, a first information report was registered against P.C. Singh, chairman of the Board Education Church of North India, Jabalpur, by the Economic Offence Wing in the city.

On the basis of the FIR, the ED initiated its investigation against Singh under various sections of Indian Penal Code.

During the searches, various incriminating documents have been recovered and seized, said an official release, the report added.

Also read: How the Enforcement Directorate Has Become an Excessive Directorate

Various office bearers of CNI, including Singh and former managing director of a trust under CNI, were found to be involved in the “gross misappropriation of church properties through sale or renting out at much lower prices by showing the properties as deteriorating and encroached,” an ED official told the newspaper.

The probe agency said that a one acre land with a building at the Satpura National Park and Pachmarhi hill station was rented out for a period of 15 years at Rs 12,500 per month to a private entity named Satpura Resorts Private Limited.

On March 15, 2023, the ED carried out searches at six premises related to Singh in Jabalpur, Mumbai, Ranchi and Nagpur. Three days later, on March 18, the probe agency searched three premises in Ranchi.

Singh was arrested by the ED on April 12 and was produced before the PMLA special court in Jabalpur on April 13. The court had granted ED the custody of Singh till April 27.

The ED said, per the report, it has revealed multiple instances of diversion of crores of rupees meant to be paid to the trust under CNI against the sale of properties.

Karnataka Elections: Congress Is Ahead, But Is it in a Safe Zone?

Even if the Congress is ahead of the BJP in most pre-poll surveys, it faces one disadvantage. Its votes are spread more thinly across the state than that of BJP’s.

As Karnataka enters the last phase of electioneering, the popular narrative is that the Congress is likely to trump the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly polls. Most pre-poll surveys indicate a clear lead for the Congress over the BJP, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi unleashes his personal firepower in the final week of campaigning.

The BJP candidates have been waiting for Modi’s appearance like farmers look to the sky for rains in a drought year. C.T. Ravi, a former minister in the Karnataka cabinet and the BJP candidate from Chikmagalur assembly seat, candidly says Modi will bring an extra 1-2% vote swing in the BJP’s favour over the next seven days. “Modi’s presence will absorb some of the anger that may exist against our us,” says Ravi.

The BJP’s self goals in terms of its inability to stem the exodus of senior party leaders must surely work in the Congress’s favour.

A village haat outside Hubli where women bitterly complained about gas cylinder prices. Photo: Special arrangement

There is little doubt that the momentum is with the Congress, which can often be seen in the somewhat weak body language of BJP leaders and workers who are just hoping that Modi will somehow work a miracle before campaigning ends on May 8. A senior BJP minister and a candidate in Bengaluru did not even disguise this sentiment when he said, “Modiji will come and turn voters in our favour in the coming week.” He clearly seemed to imply that without Modi’s intervention, things were not going all that well for the BJP.

This underlying theme played out consistently as one travelled from Bangalore to Hubbali via Mysore, Hasan, Chikmagalur and Shimoga.

Deepak Doddaiah, the BJP candidate from Mudigere constituency in Chikmagalur, said in no uncertain terms that Modi’s public meetings in the last leg of campaigning will make a difference. Even ordinary BJP workers seemed to echo this sentiment. It is almost as if they have all been reflexively programmed to say that Modi will come and rescue them. Most BJP leaders seemed acutely aware that the party is facing severe anti-incumbency, made worse by the perception of this being the most corrupt government in a long time. The term “40% sarkara” has caught on like a wild fire. The BJP cannot brush this under the carpet.

The question now, is how much difference will Modi make? Most pre-poll surveys show the Congress crossing 40% vote share (it had 38% in 2018) and touching the majority mark of 113 seats out of a total of 224 seats in the assembly.

However, the Congress may face some unexpected headwinds. The grand old party’s most popular leader. Siddaramaiah, told a group of visiting journalists that the party must get more than 120 seats to be safe. He admitted that anything less than 120 seats for the Congress could attract horse trading by the BJP and JD(S) combine. This fear is quite palpable among the Congress leaders, who admit they can’t match BJP’s money power in the event the Congress lead is somewhat slender.

Also read: Karnataka: In Quest For Majority, Congress and BJP Look to Weaken Each Other in Their Strongholds

Senior Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar said he was also worried about the voters’ list having undergone a change in many areas where an unusually large number of voters are missing. “We are keeping a close watch on this,” he said.

Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai put up a brave face and asserted that the BJP will get a majority and the pre-poll surveys would be proved wrong. Bommai admitted to us that the “Congress had succeeded in spreading the impression of corruption and misgovernance against us but our work in the rural areas will speak for itself.” Bommai specially talked of his government’s sustained programme to build roads and other village infrastructure in Scheduled Caste-dominated areas. “This will definitely bring us dividends,” Bommai said.

Asked about the likely damage caused by senior leader Jagadish Shettar’s exit from the BJP, Bommai brushed it aside, saying Shettar may not save his own seat in Hubli.

At Shettar’s home, there is still a Modi picture hanging. When asked why it was still there, he said he was not so small-minded as to remove it immediately. Photo: Special arrangement

However, when we met Shettar at his home in Hubli, he seemed confident that he would not only win his own seat comfortably but also bring up to 5,000 votes away from BJP in over two dozen other constituencies dominated by the Lingayat community which has strong presence in many parts of Karnataka. Traditionally, 60% to 70% of the Lingayats voted for the BJP in Karnataka. But Shettar asserts this time a good chunk of Lingayats will move away from the BJP.

This claim is predictably pooh-poohed by Bommai, a Lingayat leader himself. The BJP is depending on its tallest Lingayat leader B.S. Yediurappa and Bommai to hold on to its traditional Lingayat vote base. However, Shettar’s humiliation by the BJP central leadership and his much publicised exit from the party will certainly do some damage, say most observers. How much of the BJP’s traditional Lingayat vote base splinters is a very critical factor in this election. It would decide whether the Congress is able to hit a comfortable majority of 120 seats plus.

The other important factor for the Congress will be whether the JD(S), which is controlled by former Prime Minister Deve Gowda’s family, will end up helping the BJP. “In many constituencies the JD(S) has fielded weak candidates against the BJP to hurt the Congress,” says Yathindra, the sitting MLA of Varuna constituency in old Mysore. This time Yathindra has vacated his seat for his father, Siddaramaiah. Varuna is a prestigious battle where the BJP and JD(S) will both try to defeat the Congress stalwart.

Senior Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar is also convinced that there is a hidden deal between the BJP and JD(S). He cites as evidence the fact that Modi generally refrains from criticising the JD(S), which is contesting in 200 seats.

If the JD(S) hurts the Congress more than it does the BJP, then the Congress tally even after an improved performance may fall short of a safe majority which is 120 seats out of 224. A three-way fight with hidden deals can result in complex outcomes, depending on which of the two dominant parties get hurt more by the less significant third player. In this sense, JD(S) remains the joker in the pack. Even recent electoral history shows JD(S) has just enough vote base to cause a hung assembly. Surveys suggest the voter this time might give a decisive mandate.

Also read: Why the Karnataka Assembly Elections Are a Do-or-Die Battle for the Congress

Even if the Congress is ahead of the BJP in most pre-poll surveys, it faces one disadvantage. Its votes are spread more thinly across the state than that of BJP’s. Congress got merely 80 seats in 2018, though its vote share at 38% was more than that of BJP’s 36%. With two percentage points less votes, the BJP emerged as a single largest party with 104 seats because its votes were more concentrated in certain regions. So even if the Congress vote percentage this time crosses 40% and is ahead of BJP by four to five percentage points, one is not sure whether it would convert to a safe majority of 120 to 130 seats so that chances of horse trading become remote. These are some of the imponderables the Congress must face in the Karnataka polls.

Overall, a simple majority of 120 plus will help the Congress and the opposition at large create a broader sentiment that the BJP under Modi can be challenged politically and electorally. So the long-term implications of the Karnataka elections go well beyond the state itself.

IOA Athletes Commission Drafted a Statement on Wrestlers’ Protest – and Then Didn’t Release it

Some of the members have reportedly felt upset that the Commission has not been proactively supporting the protesting wrestlers.

New Delhi: The ten-member Athletes Commission of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) wanted to issue a statement in solidarity with wrestlers who are protesting against Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, but reportedly could not because a senior member of the body stopped them.

Six of the Commission’s 10 members were reportedly present at Saturday’s meeting. Some of the members have reportedly felt upset that the Commission has not been proactively supporting the protesting wrestlers, with one even wanting to go to Jantar Mantar before they were stopped by another member, Hindustan Times reported.

Two members of the Commission have told Hindustan Times that everything had been decided on Saturday (about issuing a statement). “We were all on the same page. We agreed that the AC has largely failed the wrestlers. There has not been a single statement acknowledging them, neither in January nor in April,” they said.

“So, it was decided we put out a public statement in support of the wrestlers. The letter was drafted but just before we were to make it public, it was blocked,” one of the members told the newspaper. The two made it clear that the members Commission who attended Saturday’s meeting had decided to issue a statement. However, not all members where present – including chairperson Mary Kom, who is also the head of the government-appointed panel to probe the allegations of sexual and verbal harassment against Singh.

Also read: ‘Everyone Can Find Courage Within Themselves!’ – An Interview with Olympic Wrestler Sakshi Malik

“A majority of those who attended the meeting wanted the statement to go out, but since only six members were present, it was not really AC’s majority,” a member who was at the meeting told Hindustan Times.

According to The Indian Express, Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan had drafted the statement, which used neutral wording and pushed for proper mechanisms in place for safe sport. While the draft was agreed upon during the meeting, London Games bronze medallist Gagan Narang said on their WhatsApp group later that it was “too late” to issue a statement. Narang is also the vice-president of the IOA.

The IOA’s role in the current controversy has already come under the scanner because of the statement made by the body’s president, P.T. Usha. “The players should not have protested on the streets. They should have at least waited for the report of the committee. What they have done is not good for the game and the country. It is a negative approach,” Usha said. She also said that the protest “amounts to indiscipline”.

Several wrestlers who have won medals at prestigious international tournaments including Sakshi Malikkh, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia resumed their protest against the WFI chief on April 23, three months after ending their dharna after an oversight committee was probed to examine allegations of sexual harassment. While the report has not yet been made public, the wrestlers say it has not been able to do them justice. The wrestlers are also protesting the Delhi Police’s delay in registering an FIR against Singh.

Also read: Wrestlers’ Protest: Have ‘Facts and Logic’ Finally Started to Kick in With BJP Supporters?

At a press conference on Monday, Punia, who has been one of the leading faces of the protest, said that the Asian Games were important, but “justice for the daughters” who had been harassed by Singh was even more important. “We want to play, it’s not as if we don’t want to go to the Asian Games,” he said. “But I believe that gaining justice for the daughters of this country is far more important than an Asian medal.” His remarks specific to the Asian Games are because at this time, the players would otherwise have been busy preparing for these games.

Punia also expressed displeasure with the media coverage of the protests, saying that the media seemed to be supporting Singh. “Look at his [Singh’s] criminal record, there’s no questions over that. When we get medals for the country, questions are asked over that,” he said.

Baroda Triangle: Where Ideas, History and Facts Disappear

Promises made by the BJP, public money, historical facts and several others have all evaporated into thin air. And even though millions of voters are scurrying around looking for them, all they have found so far is a big jumla.

The Bermuda Triangle is an area over the north-western part of the Atlantic Ocean where there have been persistent reports of ships and planes simply disappearing without a trace. The phenomenon has baffled oceanographers and scientists for decades and no plausible explanation has been offered so far by science. Answers range from a magnetic black hole, vagaries of the Gulf Stream current, sudden storms, aliens and “oceanic flatulence” caused by methane gases rising from the sea bed.

There are reasons now to believe that the Bermuda Triangle may have shifted its location and is now lying over the Indian sub-continent; it may soon be christened the Baroda Triangle. The reason for this is the fact that similar disappearances have now started taking place in the Indian landmass, not of ships and planes, however, but of ideas, history and facts.

It started with the disappearance of a university degree of a certain individual: nobody knows if it even exists. Strenuous efforts have been made to recover it, but all evidence of it has been atomised, and we can only speculate where it lies, like the MH 370 plane. It is also dangerous to look for it.

Next were public funds, tens of thousands of crores of public money simply disappeared (and continue to disappear); it is believed that they may have been teleported to other parts of the Atlantic like the Cayman Islands and Saint Kitts, but no one can be sure because no one has actually seen this moolah. The people who had taken this money have also disappeared and cannot be located.

More moneys have simply vanished in funds like the electoral bonds or the PM CARES fund, or what are called NPAs, and no one has a clue about what happened to them. All information about them has also gone into a black hole called the Right to Information (RTI) Act from which light stopped emerging a few years back. It’s the same with another collapsed star, the Election Commission of India (ECI), which has also stopped emitting any light and prefers to cloak itself in total darkness, like a dwarf star.

Criminals and mass murderers also seem to be disappearing into thin air, along with the concept of justice which in any case was tenuous at the best of times. The Hashimpura massacre of 79 Muslims in Meerut district in 1987 by the police is a case in point. After 36 years and 900 hearings, all 39 accused have been acquitted earlier this month. In another mysterious disappearance of criminals, all 68 accused in the murder of 11 Muslims in Naroda Gam, Gujarat, in February of 2002 were acquitted by a judge on April 20. So who killed them: aliens? Flatulence? Magnetism? We’ll never know, because the Baroda Triangle doesn’t give up its secrets easily.

Former BJP leader Maya Kodnani. Photo: PTI

More than 12,00,000 high-net-worth individuals (HNI) have disappeared from India in the last few years, taking their wealth with them, without any explanation by the government. Around 6,50,000 hectares of forest land have dematerialised in the last five years. Thousands of voters regularly vanish from voters’ lists, presumably because they might have voted against the powers that be.

Whatever little information used to emerge from the stygian portals of power about the environmental impacts of big projects has also now disappeared: the Union government last week ordered that the web portal PARIVESH, which used to post such information, shall no longer provide all information. Reason? This is confidential data and can now be accessed only through RTI applications, which, as we know by now, are thrown into dustbins as fast as they are filed.

The latest to disappear into the ether are huge slices of Indian history and science. The Mughals have suddenly vanished from the face of the earth, as have documented facts relating to the antipathy of the right-wing to Mahatma Gandhi, the banning of the RSS, the 2002 carnage in Gujarat, the industrial revolution, the Emergency, the Naxalite movement, popular struggles and movements, references to the caste system and untouchability. Science has not been spared by these mysterious forces either: Darwin’s theory of evolution has been sucked into oblivion, as have issues of the environment, including global warming. Will Newton and Einstein be the next to go, or will it be Orwell and Huxley, or Shakespeare and Steinbeck, or Omar Khayam and Khalil Gibran?

It’s the same with the many promises the BJP had made to come to power in 2014: 20 million new jobs every year, Rs 15,00,000 in every bank account, a US$5 trillion economy by 2024, doubling of farmers’ income by 2022, cooperative federalism, a Congress mukt Bharat. These too have all evaporated into thin air, and even though millions of voters are scurrying around looking for them, all they have found so far is a big jumla. Of the real thing, there is no sign.

The Orient has always been a mysterious place, after all.

PS: The BJP may be a lot of bad things, but it is not stupid. He who controls the present controls the past, and he who controls the past controls the future. This at least is one part of “entire political science” Mr Modi has learnt well, whether or not he has a degree.

Avay Shukla is a retired IAS officer.

A version of this article appeared on the author’s blog, View From [Greater] Kailash and has been lightly edited for style.