-The Times of India MUMBAI: In a quiet display of Dissent, numerous taxpayers across the country have opted to file their tax returns manually, via snail-mail, rather than get an Aadhaar card. Many others filed their returns online early, prior to June 30, when the Aadhaar linkage was not mandatory. "Technically you should be able to file online even if you don't have an Aadhaar card, but the e-filing system does not...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A group of retired bureaucrats have written an open letter ruing the "rising authoritarianism and majoritarianism" that is choking Dissent, and urging public authorities to take "corrective action" to "reclaim and defend the spirit of the Constitution". "Argumentation and discussion about different perspectives - the lifeblood not only of institutions of learning but of democracy itself -are being throttled," the letter says. "Disagreement and Dissent are considered seditious...

-The Indian Express We have been numbed by a series of lies, myths and fictions about the project. India is at risk of becoming a surveillance state, with faint resistance from libertarians, intellectuals, political parties, the media, or the Supreme Court. Very soon, almost everyone will have an Aadhaar number, seeded in hundreds of databases. Most of these databases will be accessible to the government without invoking any special powers. Permanent surveillance...

-TheWire.in New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that politicians cannot seek votes on the grounds of caste, creed or religion. The landmark judgment came while the court revisited a judgment from 1995 that equated Hindutva with Hinduism and called it a “way of life” and said a candidate was not necessarily violating the law if votes were sought on this plank. Several petitions filed over the years have challenged that verdict....

-The Indian Express For the poor, with little cash in the first place, digital promises to ‘swipe’ them out, before their marginalisation is even addressed. Demonetisation is, by its very nature, an autocratic, coercive step. The demonetisation of November 2016 has affected every single Indian. We are, as usual, persuaded to bear the pain and suffering, to “sacrifice” for the nation. The rhetoric continues but it now seems clear that the objective...