New Delhi, March 17: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, India’s one of the largest socio-religious organisations, on Thursday expressed solidarity with eminent citizens and civil liberty groups who have raised serious apprehensions over the mandatory Aadhaar, and urged the central government not to ignore those concerns.

“Two major apprehensions have been raised by the concerned citizens and civil liberty groups about the mandatory Aadhaar. They are: Breach of confidentiality and privacy and Mass surveillance. These are indeed serious issues and pose threat to civil liberties. How can our government ignore these concerns and push for a mandatory Aadhaar,” asked Mohammad Salim Engineer, Secretary General, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind.

He criticized the government for initially pushing the Aadhaar as a voluntary option for identification but later making a legal push to make it mandatory.

“In the beginning, the government said Aadhaar would be voluntary and optional. But now, it has been relentlessly pushing for Aadhaar being used as a mandatory identification number for various services and basic amenities. It is feared that this will virtually turn into a mass surveillance system which will certainly threaten civil liberties and personal freedom,” said Jamaat leader.

While urging the government to remove all concerns and apprehensions about Aadhaar before making it a law, Salim Engineer said: “No democratic country, as large as India, can afford to hold its own citizens hostage to such a powerful surveillance system. We request the government to allay all such fears before moving ahead with Aadhaar.”