Storm of protest after FIR on Tribune Aadhaar expose

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 7

The UIDAI's action of filing a First Information Report (FIR) against The Tribune and its reporter Rachna Khaira over an investigative story citing loopholes in the UIDAI’s Aadhaar scheme met with protests from various quarters on Sunday.

Twitter as usual was the first off the block, besides media persons and press clubs across the country condemning the development.

Here are a few reactions:

Tribune follows up it report on the Aadhar data leak. Read and hear what the whistleblower has to day. https://t.co/WnHO2oicVI

— ParanjoyGuhaThakurta (@paranjoygt) January 6, 2018

Totally wrong for UIDAI to file an FIR against the journalist who exposed #AadharLeaks If a loophole is pointed out Govt should work on fixing the flaw rather than try to shoot the messenger. Don’t intimidate journalists. Not on. https://t.co/6mxDrZlrLC

— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) January 7, 2018

Ditto. Refute disagreements. If you think Tribune story defamatory or inaccurate argue it- on fact- but whats with the FIR against a reporter doing her job? https://t.co/yVUC2NSRZo

— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) January 7, 2018

Dear @rsprasad - how does filing FIR against journalist make sense? Shdnt FIR be against @UIDAI for allwng ds loophole 2 b left unguarded n 4 allwng violatn of privacy of enrollees whch is their fundamental right? Copy: @PMOIndia https://t.co/Eze4OFHAQr

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar (@rajeev_mp) January 7, 2018

Tribune reporter blew the whistle on Aadhaar showing how easy it is to steal personal info from Aadhaar database.Instead of rewarding her as a whistleblower,the govt has registered an FIR against her!This is why Modi govt has not notified Whistleblower lawhttps://t.co/0szECv3dLD

— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) January 7, 2018

FIR by @UIDAI authorities against @thetribunechd reporter who exposed the leak in Aadhar Data is condemnable.Instead of acting against the journalist,action should be taken against people responsible for the data leak.Why is BJP Government trying to shoot the messenger?

— Partap Singh Bajwa (@Partap_Sbajwa) January 7, 2018

Shoot the ‘messenger’,
Ignore the ‘message’!
This typifies the ‘culture’ & ‘character’ of BJP Govt.

FIR against @thetribunechd reporter is ‘arrogance of power’ at its worst.

Every Indian must condemn this mindless act of Modi Govt & @UIDAI https://t.co/To88cCbBbO

— Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) January 7, 2018

FIR now means - FREEDOM to INTIMIDATE REPORTERS
https://t.co/GR9pcFyB1f

— Atul Khatri (@one_by_two) January 7, 2018

Editor’s Guild of India

The Editor’s Guild condemned the FIR as “a direct attack on the freedom of the press”.

READ: FIR against Tribune reporter attack on free press, says Editor’s Guild 

Withdraw the FIR against @thetribunechd reporter, UIDAI. You can refute what you find unfair or wrong. But throwing cops at reporters is, as stupid as it is unsustainable https://t.co/o3vNtqFUsq

— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) January 7, 2018

Disgrace.

If there was no data breach what is UIDAI filing this FIR for?

They should be thanking the reporterhttps://t.co/vlhMUZeIUa

— Hartosh Singh Bal (@HartoshSinghBal) January 7, 2018

Its a Sunday & your outrage switch may be off - but do consider this.
A reporter has been slapped with an #FIR for a legitimate #AadhaarDataLeak story that was published in a century old newspaper. A story that has been proved true by other channels too. https://t.co/DLaDtDL7pm

— Akash Banerjee (@akashbanerjee) January 7, 2018

This is really bizarre ! After denying any data breach, Govt files FIR against Tribune reporter for " Aadhaar Data Breach ". https://t.co/KlLoLDLVro

— Shakeel Ahmad (@Ahmad_Shakeel) January 7, 2018

Filing FIR against reporter for exposing Aadhar breach, suing journalists for fact-based stories, calling them names are all part of the same trend: the msg to journos is, don’t ask questions, become chamchas. Well, some will never do that

— Sidharth Bhatia (@bombaywallah) January 7, 2018

#2GScamVerdict The real winner is the Congress nurtured ecosystem. And, even after 3years of NDA rule they are alive and kicking. That is what BJP and @narendramodi should be worried and wary about. #2GVerdict

The BJP govt is filing an FIR against a journalist for bringing out the truth. Aadhaar is a compromised system which has been proven time and again. Is reporting about a serious breach and flaw in the system a crime now? pic.twitter.com/xtyPBSgxbz

— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) January 7, 2018

Instead of undertaking a thorough inquiry into the vulnerability & other issues relating to security of Aadhar data, Government has filed FIR against @thetribunechd reporter and the whistle blowers. https://t.co/vqQTkiA2P7

— Pawan Kumar Bansal (@pawanbansal_chd) January 7, 2018