Save Indian Democracy

EC position on Khurshid statement should be applauded

saveindiandemocracy — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 02:55:21 +0000

Please write to Election Commission to serve the country, not political masters

saveindiandemocracy — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:53:07 +0000

Please email, call, fax (details below) in whatever way possible and say politely to Elections commissioners, Dr. Quraishi (chief), Mr. Sampath and Mr. Bhahma, that they need to stand up for the country and its democracy, not for any political establishment. Election Commission is an independent body setup by India’s constitution to serve as a key instrument of India’s democracy. The way the dates are set, the statements Election Commission is making seems to be to favor congress party. All it takes Election Commission to blink its eye for the corrupt regime to go free for all. It is highly doubtful that EC will conduct elections with the same vigilance as last one.

We are also suggesting that Indians to picket before Election Commission of India which till today has not stopped use of stand alone EVMs rejected all over the world and giving same beaten up excuses to the courts, and worse now seem to favor corrupt regime. As Arvind is saying, India’s regime goes on as if nothing happened in spite of the country rising against corruption. They could do that because they have all the institutions of India including ECI at their disposal. Make no mistake about it. Every instrument will be used, from plum posts after retirement (where is corrupt Supreme court judge now, chief of Human Rights commission!!), to outright threats are being used by this regime. India is up for sale.

Indians need to take the country back from the netas/babus.

All the phone numbers (office and even residential) is at the link below:
http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/election_comission.aspx

Here is Email address List:

syquraishi, syq2, vssampath , vssampath , HS Brahma , Dr Alok Shukla , kshayrout, vinodzutshi, ashishs, yashvir, tkumar, kakumar, rksrivastava, kfwilfred, mendiratta.sk, ystandhope, skrudola, varinderkr, knbhar, anuj, ashish, srkar, sureshchand, brmonga, jaipriye, prasana.dash, rmbhatia, akshayrkout, sram, varinderkr, bcschende, knbhar, mohammad.amin, mamin_india,narendranb, ashish, smukherjee, sureshchand, harbans, andas,krao, sbjoshi, pramod, darsuo.thang, malaymallick,

The information will be also be placed at http://SaveIndianDemcracy.org website.

Regards,
Satya for Save Indian Democracy

SY Quraishi interview

saveindiandemocracy — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:59:04 +0000

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Save Indian Democracy
Date: Sun, Dec 25, 2011 at 4:33 PM
Subject: Re: SY Quraishi interview
To: electiontransparencyworldwide@googlegroups.com

>>>>“They (Team Anna) will be monitored like everybody else,” Quraishi said. “So far they have not violated any election law as they did not say that vote for Y instead of X. They only said they will only boycott a particular party. Although there is no legal violation, we did mention to them there could be an issue of propriety,” he said.

In USA, trade unions, women/gay groups etc endorse democratic party where as the conservative groups endorse republican party. ’Endorsement’, implies asking members of an NGO/group vote for such a party (and not for other party). What kind of a law does India has that would prohibit Anna saying “vote for Y instead of X”.

It seems laws in India are outdated from the British Raj that were designed for perpetuation of Indians slavery under British Raj, the Raj which is now replaced with one party ruling the country for most part since independence.

I am giving below an article by a well known honest UK reporter/blogger George Monbiot, on the loot of India by British Raj and compare this with the looting of our netas, particularly from current ruling establishment. Compare that with below.

a) According to one estimate, our netas stole in 60 years (actually most of it in less than 20 years), what British Raj took in 200 years. According to Time magazine, just one 2G scam, gives us the distinction to be among the top 10 biggest political corruption in human history.

b) Just this summer, there was a documentary at film festival in New York city noting that the India’s farmers suicide is the biggest massive suicide in the human history. Human history!! Gulping the pesticides because they cannot afford as small amounts of few thousand rupees!!! While British Raj produced famines, our current rulers producing historic suicides, 250,000 and still counting. For our Indian netas and babus life goes on.

c) While the Raj created a waste land from a country even until 1700s has 25% of World GDP (wonder why Columbus was searching for India), our netas created an 80% population with less than 2$ income per day living a subhuman life, 70% do not even have place to pee showing their naked bottom to ease themselves, every second child is malnourished and we are home of one third of the global poor.

d) While China is eating up pieces of our nation and Pakistan is sacrificing our soldiers, the terrorists and Maoists killing our internal security, all country’s institutions are busy to protect the ruling establishment and their looting, all their energies spend on what stories to spun so that those who are fighting to fix the system are discredited, putting curbs on freedom of media and bringing in false cases and even trying to beat and attempt to kill, people who are fasting in protest against corruption.

One would wonder when the netas/babus come and visit countries abroad, if it occurs to them that we can also create such a country, in fact, proper political administration showed Gujarat and Bihar as remarkable examples that would make every Indian pride. But that is not to be, with exception of those like Vinod Rai, even those who have best intentions are succumbing to the pressure and moving us fast to another impoverished Africa.

Mother, only a miracle can save you.

Regards,
Satya

===========

How Britain plundered colonial India – George Monbiot

http://www.monbiot.com/2009/06/17/outsourcing-unrest/

Outsourcing Unrest
June 17, 2009The 300 year colonial adventure is over at last, which is why Britain is in political crisis.By George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian 9th June 2009Why now? It’s not as if this is the first time our representatives have been caught out. The history of governments in all countries is the history of scandal, as those who rise to the top are generally the most ambitious, ruthless and unscrupulous people politics can produce. Pushing their own interests to the limit, they teeter perennially on the brink of disgrace, except when they fly clean over the edge. So why does the current ballyhoo threaten to destroy not only the government but also our antediluvian political system?The past 15 years have produced the cash-for-questions racket, the Hinduja and Ecclestone affairs, the lies and fabrications which led to the invasion of Iraq, the forced abandonment of the BAE corruption probe, the cash-for-honours caper and the cash-for-amendments scandal. By comparison to the outright subversion of the functions of government in some of these cases, the expenses scandal is small beer. Any one of them should have prompted the sweeping political reforms we are now debating. But they didn’t.

The expenses scandal, by contrast, could kill the Labour party. It might also force politicians of all parties to address our injust voting system, the unelected House of Lords, the excessive power of the executive, the legalised blackmail used by the whips and a score of further anachronisms and injustices. Why is it different?

I believe that the current political crisis has little to do with the expenses scandal, still less to do with Gordon Brown’s leadership. It arises because our economic system can no longer extract wealth from other nations. For the past 300 years, the revolutions and reforms experienced by almost all other developed countries have been averted in Britain by foreign remittances.

The social unrest which might have transformed our politics was instead outsourced to our colonies and unwilling trading partners. The rebellions in Ireland, India, China, the Caribbean, Egypt, South Africa, Malaya, Kenya, Iran and other places we subjugated were the price of political peace in Britain. Following decolonisation, our plunder of other nations was sustained by the banks. Now, for the first time in three centuries, they can no longer deliver, and we must at last confront our problems.

There will probably never be a full account of the robbery this country organised, but there are a few snapshots. In his book Capitalism and Colonial Production, Hamza Alavi estimates that the resource flow from India to Britain between 1793 and 1803 was in the order of £2m a year, the equivalent of many billions today. The economic drain from India, he notes, “has not only been a major factor in India’s impoverishment … it has also been a very significant factor in the Industrial Revolution in Britain.”(1) As Ralph Davis observes in The Industrial Revolution and British Overseas Trade, from the 1760s onwards India’s wealth “bought the national debt back from the Dutch and others … leaving Britain nearly free from overseas indebtedness when it came to face the great French wars from 1793.”(2)

In France, by contrast, as Eric Hobsbawn notes in The Age of Revolution, “the financial troubles of the monarchy brought matters to a head.” In 1788, half of France’s national expenditure was used to service its debt: “the American War and its debt broke the back of the monarchy”(3).

Even as the French were overthrowing the ancien regime, Britain’s landed classes were able to strengthen their economic power, seizing common property from the country’s poor by means of enclosure. Partly as a result of remittances from India and the Caribbean, the economy was booming and the state had the funds to ride out political crises. Later, after smashing India’s own industrial capacity, Britain forced that country to become a major export market for our manufactured goods, sustaining industrial employment here (and avoiding social unrest) long after our products and processes became uncompetitive.

Colonial plunder permitted the British state to balance its resource deficits as well. For some 200 years a river of food flowed into this country from places like Ireland, India and the Caribbean. In The Blood Never Dried, John Newsinger reveals that in 1748 Jamaica alone sent 17,400 tons of sugar to Britain; by 1815 this had risen to 73,800 tons(4). It was all produced by stolen labour.

Just as grain was sucked out of Ireland at the height of its great famine, so Britain continued to drain India of food during its catastrophic hungers. In Late Victorian Holocausts, Mike Davis shows that Indian wheat exports to the UK doubled between 1876 and 1877 as subsistence there collapsed(5). Several million Indians died of starvation. In the North Western provinces the famine was wholly engineered by British policy, as their surplus production was exported to offset poor English harvests in 1876 and 1877(6).

Britain, in other words, outsourced famine as well as social unrest. There was terrible poverty in this country in the second half of the 19th Century, but not mass starvation. The bad harvest of 1788 helped precipitate the French Revolution, but the British state avoided such hazards. Others died on our behalf.

In the late 19th Century, Davis shows, Britain’s vast deficits with the United States, Germany and its white Dominions were balanced by huge annual surpluses with India and (as a result of the opium trade) China. For a generation “the starving Indian and Chinese peasantries … braced the entire system of international settlements, allowing England’s continued financial supremacy to temporarily co-exist with its relative industrial decline.”(7) Britain’s trade surpluses with India allowed the City to become the world’s financial capital.

Its role in British colonisation was not a passive one. The bankruptcy and subsequent British takeover of Egypt in 1882 was hastened by a loan from Rothschild’s bank whose execution, Newsinger records, amounted to “fraud on a massive scale”(8). Jardine Matheson, once the biggest narco-trafficking outfit in world history (it dominated the Chinese opium trade), later formed a major investment bank, Jardine Fleming. It was taken over by JP Morgan Chase in 2000.

We lost our colonies, but the plunder has continued by other means. As Joseph Stiglitz shows in Globalisation and its Discontents, the capital liberalisation forced on Asian economies by the IMF permitted northern traders to loot hundreds of billions of dollars, precipitating the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98(9). Poorer nations have also been strong-armed into a series of amazingly one-sided treaties and commitments, such as Trade Related Investment Measures, bilateral investment agreements and the EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements(10). If you have ever wondered how a small, densely-populated country which produces very little supports itself, I would urge you to study these asymmetric arrangements.

But now, as John Lanchester demonstrates in his fascinating essay in the London Review of Books, the City could be fatally wounded(11). The nation which relied on financial services may take generations to recover from their collapse. The great British adventure – three centuries spent pillaging the labour, wealth and resources of other countries – is over. We cannot accept this, and seek gleeful revenge on a government which can no longer insulate us from reality.

www.monbiot.com

References:

1. Hamza Alavi, 1982. Capitalism and Colonial Production, pp 62-63. Croom Helm, London.

2. Ralph Davis, 1979. The Industrial Revolution and British Overseas Trade, pp55-56. Leicester University Press.

3. Eric Hobsbawm, 1962. The Age of Revolution, p78. Abacus, London.

4. John Newsinger, 2006. The Blood Never Dried, p14. Bookmarks, London.

5. Mike Davis, 2001. Late Victorian Holocausts, p27. Verso, London.

6. ibid, p51.

7. ibid, p297

8. John Newsinger, ibid, p86.

9. Joseph Stiglitz, 2002. Globalization and its Discontents. Allen Lane, London. First published in 2002 by W.W. Norton, New York.

10. See for example Myriam Vander Stichele, 24th October 2008. The facilitating framework for free investment and capital. Draft Briefing Paper. The Corner House.http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/pdf/document/facilitate.pdf

11. John Lanchester, 28th May 2009. It’s Finished. London Review of Books.http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n10/lanc01_.html

http://www.monbiot.com/2009/06/17/outsourcing-unrest/

Letter to Dr. Quraishi: EC likely to announce poll dates for 5 states. Delhi HC has said that paper ballots should be used till the court case decision comes?

saveindiandemocracy — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:58:28 +0000

Dear Dr. Quraishi,

>> The counsel appearing for the Election Commission sought to convince that
paper trail or the use of ballot papers was not feasible as not only it
would require immense expenditure but also result in cutting down forests
given the huge quantity of paper that would be required for the purpose.

The above statements by EC counsel in the court is putting India’s democracy behind far subsidiary matters. Let us consider the arguments made above:

a) ballot papers cause immense expenditure

Sir, let us put this at the cost of not being able to overthrow corrupt and unfitting politicians. Time magazine ranked the 40 billion 2G scam as among the top 10 biggest political corruption scandals in human history!!! Every day our political masters are coming up with more scams virtually robbing the nations wealth at colossal scale. Just see what Mr. Kapil Sibal did to curtail the freedom of speech just because young people are speaking up against corruption. On what basis EC is worrying about the expenditure of ballot papers?

b) ballot papers result in cutting down forests given huge quantity of paper

As some one in the election transparency pointed out the amount of paper is no more than few days of paper used in printing India’s newspapers. This cannot be of any significance. Just compare the pollution caused by the illegal mining running into many millions of tonnes and destroying the country’s landscape by our political masters on the other hand.

Sir, do you really think we have a system where EVM can be put in when countries which have least amount of corruption do not even want to go there? Have you not seen how Mr. Hari Prasad got so many offers to manipulate whole elections wholesale for a price as far as North East? Why are we taking this route when country is fighting and trying to dislodge the corrupt establishment in India today?

It also begs the question whether EC is really a free institution? Why was not Expert Committee broadened to include others? For the sake of our nation, please give a hard look and either get rid of EVMs or use optical scanner type technology with compulsory counting of both paper and machine results at every booth to make sure people voices are heard and the corrupt are thrown out.

Dr. Quraishi, you are a unique position in India’s history that what you make of today will remain forever in India’s history, as someone who stood for what is prudent, for what is right. What India is going through today is the second freedom movement. Please do not put down the nation. Look at the face of every young Indian in our young country and consider their future. Consider every second child in India that is malnourished today. Consider the 80% of India’s population living a subhuman life. If we lose the ability to overthrow the corrupt, we are setting ourselves to become another impoverished Africa. Is that what we want?

Regards,
Satya for Save India Democracy

4000 EVMs missing in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh

saveindiandemocracy — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 04:41:28 +0000

Is it a mere coincidence that Mr. Lagadapati who announced 2009 Andhra election results accurately days before ECI announced happens to hail from Vijayawada where these 4000 EVMs are lost? Will ECI at behest of Government of India that punished activists such as Hari Prasad and Mukund Lagoo on charges of stealing single missing control unit that was actually returned match the same efforts in going after the culprits who most possibly stole them and used them to compromise elections?

EVMs stolen from Sub-Collector’s office

Staff Reporter

VIJAYAWADA: The Suryaraopet police on Friday night registered a case under Section 379 (punishment for theft) on the basis of a complaint lodged by Sub-Collector K. Dharma Reddy that some Electronic Voting Machines were missing from the Sub-Collector’s office complex.

Suryaraopet Inspector R.J. Jayaraj said that some unidentified persons had stolen the EVMs by breaking open the window grill of the room, where the machines were stored.

“We were not informed of the number of machines, as the Revenue officials are yet to estimate the number. We are investigating to nab the culprits,” he said.

It was learnt that the Revenue authorities failed to notice the theft as the complex building is being renovated these days. It was only after the police alerted them that the Revenue authorities realised that the theft had occurred.

The police came to know about the theft after questioning some rag pickers. Though the intention behind the theft was not known yet, the police suspect that the rag pickers might have stolen these just to sell as iron scrap.

http://hindu.com/2010/12/05/stories/2010120552490300.htm

4000 EVMs “missing” in Andhra Pradesh; some stolen EVMs recovered from “scrap” stores

Sunday, December 5, 2010 , Andhra Jyothy, Telugu Newspaper

ANDHRA JYOTHY EXPOSE

4000 EVMs have gone “missing” in Andhra Pradesh;

some stolen EVMs recovered from “scrap” stores

4000 EVMs missing

Dispatched as additional quota in 2004

Not clear if they reached districts at all!!

District collectors evasive on ‘missing’ EVMs

Have they been misused?

6 EVMs traced in ‘scrap’ stores in Vijayawada

Hyderabad, December 4: There are already many controversies concerning EVMs. There are many doubts about their working. It has also been proved that it is not impossible to alter election results on EVMs. In this backdrop, doubts whether as many as 4000 EVMs exist or not has led to a furore in political circles. This has led to serious doubts whether these EVMs have been used to “favour” some parties or candidates owing to local pressures and other conditions prevailing there.

EVMs have been used nationwide for the first time in 2004 general elections. In Andhra Pradesh, elections to the state assembly were also held simultaneously with Lok Sabha polls in 2004. Then, the Election Commission had allotted two EVMs for each polling station. But..when some district collectors sought some more additional EVMs, the Election Commission complied with the request. Rangareddy, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Khammam, Srikakulam, East Godavari, Prakasam, Cuudapah and Kurnool districts were

given 100 to 300 additional EVMs as per their requirements. This way, an additional quantity of 4,000 EVMs was dispatched to these districts. After 2004, again in 2009, another round of general elections have been conducted to the Parliament and the state assembly.

This news item appeared on the front page of leading Telugu daily newspaper, Andhra Jyothy in its edition dated December 5, 2010. The article in Telugu is available at the following web link: https://www.andhrajyothy.com/mainnewsshow.asp?qry=2010/dec/5/main/5main3&more=2010/dec/5/main/main&date=12/5/2010

This article is a verbatim English translation of the article published in Andhra Jyothy.

It has been 20 months since general elections have been held. The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Andhra Pradesh has now developed doubts about the additional EVMs sent to districts in 2004. It began to ask questions: “what happened to those EVMs? Have they been used in elections? If unused, why were they not returned? etc. etc.”

In October this year, the state CEO sent letters to the concerned district collectors asking if the additional EVMs sent to them in 2004 have reached them or not? It has been two months since but there has been no response from district collectors so far. Later, additional CEO sent two more letters to collectors. But, there has been no response from district collectors so far.

Where are they? What happened to them?

As they are unable to account for the additional EVMs procured six years ago, officials are a seriously worried lot. Has the EC been given account of additional 4000 EVMs procured by the state? Have the ‘missing’ EVMs been misused anywhere in 2009 elections under pressure from some quarters? These are doubts being expressed in political quarters.

EVMs are stored in constituencies amid tight security. They are moved to the polling tations just one day before polling. They are handed over to the presiding officers under the supervision of assistant returning officers. Details of EVMs dispatched to different

polling stations are recorded.

Some political sources aver that all this happens securely in towns

and cities but in rural and remote areas, these are not paid enough

attention. So, the officials fear that the missing “additional EVMs’ could be misused by the ruling party leaders by pressurizing polling officials.

Stolen EVMs, from where?

Seven balloting units and 15 control units have been stolen from the store room in the office of the sub-collector, Vijayawada, Krishnadistrict. Police have recovered six of the ballot units while they were being sold as “scrap.”

There is no trace of 15 control units stolen so far. Local officials are shocked by this incident. When the EVMs supposed to be in safe custody have reached scrap stores, they are left wondering what would be the fate of the missing 4000 additional EVMs supplied in 2004!!

But, officials are consoling themselves saying that they could not have been misused and collectors may have sent them somewhere. If that be so, questions are being raised as to why the collectors are not furnishing information sought by the state CEO. It is learnt that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has also expressed its dismay over the disappearance of the additional EVMs.

Notices to Collector, Krishna district

Election Commission of India has expressed its anger over the stolen EVMs in Krishna district. State chief Electoral Officer Bhanwar Lal has issued notices to the Piyush Kumar, district collector asking him how the EVMs meant to be in safe custody in strong rooms have surfaced in the market. He was instructed to file a complaint and investigate the matter.

Joint Collector Gourav Uppal has stated that the case of stolen EVMs was noticed on 28

th last month. He further states that the EVMs used in 2009 general elections have been securely stored in warehouse godowns in Machilipatnam and additional EVMs which came from other districts have been stored in Vijayawada. How many EVMs have vanished from Vijayawada is still being assessed and a detailed investigation is being carried out in this regard, he added. Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), Vijayawada Dharma Reddy has lodged a complaint last Friday regarding the stolen EVMs in the Suryaraopet police station.

http://indianevm.com/pdf/ANDHRAJYOTHYARTONMSNGEVMs.pdf

Rigging stink over ‘missing’ EVMs in Andhra Pradesh

Monday, December 6, 2010 , A. Sreenivasa Rao, Mail Today, Hyderabad

Rigging stink over ‘ missing’
EVMs in Andhra

By A Srinivasa Rao in New Delhi

LENDING credence to the allegations of rigging through tampering of electronic voting machines ( EVMs), as many as 4,000 units are believed to have gone missing in Andhra Pradesh in the past six years.

The “ missing” EVMs came to light after a circular issued by Election Commission ( EC) authorities in the state to the district collectors in October this year, asking them to submit the number of units not unaccounted for in the last six years.

In the 2004 general elections, when the EVMs were used for the first time all over India, the EC provided two EVMs for each polling station – one for the Lok Sabha elections and another for the assembly elections.

However, some district collectors ( returning officers) requested the EC to provide additional EVMs as stand- by to meet any exigency.

The EC had supplied 100- 300 additional units to Ranga Reddy, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Khammam, Srikakulam, East Godavari, Prakasam, Kadapa and Kurnool districts. In all, about 4,000 additional EVMs were used during the 2004 elections.

The EC had been under the impression that these additional EVMs were in “ safe custody” of collectors.

The 2009 general elections, too, were held smoothly without any problems. After the political parties started complaining about tampering of EVMs and some NGOs demonstrated the vulnerability of EVMs, the state EC began verifying the stock registers of the EVMs.

They found the additional 4,000 EVMs were missing. They wrote to the collectors seeking information about these EVMs supplied in 2004 asking them to verify and submit the inventory. So far, there is no reply from the collectors, sources said.

“ We have asked the collectors to submit the data about the availability of EVMs in their custody. The Election Commission of India has provided a new software to keep track of the EVMs, their usage and availability. We need the data for uploading it in the system using the new software. Once we complete the task, we will be able to ascertain how many EVMs are missing,” chief electoral officer Bhanwar Lal said.

The Vijayawada police received a complaint from Krishna district subcollector K. Dharma Reddy last week stating some EVMs were missing from the sub- collector office complex.

Suryaraopet police inspector R. J. Jayaraj said some unidentified persons stole the EVMs by breaking open the window grill of the room, where the machines were stored.

The police registered a case under Section 379 ( theft) and are interrogating some rag- pickers who had allegedly resorted to the theft and sold them to local iron scrap dealers.

“ According to our information, 10 EVMs and 15 control units were stolen. The police recovered six EVM units from the scrap dealers and the remaining might have been melted and used as scrap,” Lal said.

NGO Election Watch convener V. V. Rao said the missing EVMs had vindicated their argument that there was no security and hence they could be easily tampered with.

“ It needs five to 10 minutes to tamper with EVMs if they are taken out of safe custody. Imagine the fate of 4,000 EVMs, if they are missing for such a long time. It confirms the apprehensions about rigging of elections with such EVMs,” Rao said.

Electronic engineer and EVM technical expert Hariprasad Vemuru, who was arrested by the Mumbai police on charges of stealing an EVM unit, wondered what punishment the government would give to the officials responsible for the missing of so many EVMs.

“ I was harassed by the police even after returning the EVM unit. Now, we come across EVMs being available in the market as scrap,” he said.

Former Union energy secretary EAS Sarma, who has also been fighting for electoral reforms, said there was every possibility of rigging the elections by tampering with the EVMs.

“ We have been complaining to the ECI that the EVMs are not tamperproof and one can rig the elections.

It was proved in Germany and the government there had banned the EVMs in the elections,” he said.

http://epaper.mailtoday.in/Details.aspx?boxid=444250&id=45647&issuedate=6122010

6 EVMs recovered from scrap dealers

TNN, Dec 6, 2010, 03.54am IST

VIJAYAWADA: Even as speculations over the missing of some electronic voting machines (EVMs) continued, the city police recovered at least six EVMs from scrap dealers in the city. Police detained the dealers from Singhnagar area and grilled them to find out as to who had sold them the equipment.

However, there was no official confirmation from the police on the seizure of the equipment.

According to sources, the EVMs were recovered in a completely broken shape from the iron scrap dealers. The scrap dealers told the cops that they bought them at Rs 150 each.

However, the police were investigating the case keeping in view the sensitivities involved in the issue. Police reportedly were trying to find out as to who were the sellers and how did the sellers manage to get hold of the machines in the first place.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/6-EVMs-recovered-from-scrap-dealers/articleshow/7049951.cms

Editorial: E-voting needs a paper trail

Dec. 6, 2010

Eight years after the “hanging chads” fiasco in Florida, and two months before one of the most important presidential elections in U.S. history, Congress still refuses to listen to the nation’s top computer scientists and require a secure, auditable paper trail for all federal elections. This despite the latest revelation of a serious problem with the electronic voting machines used in 34 states — including Virginia and Maryland — in addition to their well-publicized vulnerability to hacking.

In March, Ohio officials found a programming error that dropped votes when the data on memory cards from multiple electronic machines are electronically transferred to a central tabulator, as they would be on Election Day. Dozens of lawyers are ready to file legal challenges everywhere e-voting machines are used, even those declared “qualified” by the National Association of State Election Directors. Such litigation could tie up final election results far longer than it would take to count paper ballots.

State and local government officials have spent $1.5 billion on e-voting machines in recent years, most of it federal funds under the 2002 Help America Vote Act. But instead of ensuring a fast, secure way to count millions of votes, they got a technological nightmare. Studies in Ohio and California confirmed that e-voting machines currently in use can allow individuals to cast multiple votes, load viruses that crash the system, produce fake tallies and even change previously cast votes.

As recently as May, a spokesman for Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold Election Systems) blamed the Ohio glitch on state-installed anti-virus software, but eventually admitted to a decade-old “logic error” programmed on all 19 of its touch screen and optical scan models. Computer experts say every e-voting machine now in use has serious security vulnerabilities. Even a piece of white tape on a scanner can block votes from being recorded.

“We don’t know how to make secure paperless voting,” says Stanford computer science professor David Dill, founder of the Verified Voting Foundation and author of Attackdog, a computer model that simulates more than 9,000 ways to attack e-voting systems. Dr. Dill and others like him have warned again and again that an auditable paper trail is the only way to guarantee a secure election, the very bedrock of democracy. Congress has less than two months to pass emergency legislation requiring state election officials to add verifiable paper trails to all voting in the November election. There is no more time to lose.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorial-e-voting-needs-paper-trail

Source: http://www.indianevm.com/

Mirror: https://sites.google.com/site/hindunew/evm-technology

Hari EFF Award Acceptance Speech

saveindiandemocracy — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:17:01 +0000

Click here for Hari EFF Award Acceptance Speech

Hari Prasad awarded Pioneer of the year by Prestigious Electronic Frontier Foundation

saveindiandemocracy — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 02:48:23 +0000

For Immediate Press Release

Politics/Elections

Contact: Satya Dosapati

Email: contact@SaveIndianDemocracy.org

Web: http://SaveIndianDemocracy.org (also http://IndianEVM.com)

Ph: +1 732 939 2060

New Jersey, Oct 19, 2010: Hari Prasad selected as Pioneer of the Year award by prestigious Electronic Frontier Foundation

Save Indian Democracy is proud to announce the selection Hari Krishna Prasad Vemuru as Pioneer of the year award by Prestigious Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). With this award Hari Prasad is in company of the past esteemed recipients of the award such as Ed Felten of Princeton University, Dr. David Dill of Stanford University and many such achievers who made significant difference in the area of digital world and its application to public cause.

In giving this award EFF states (h ttp://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer) that “Hari Prasad spent a year trying to convince election officials to complete a review of India’s EVMs, but the Election Commission of India kept insisting that the government made machines were “perfect” and “tamperproof”. Instead of blindly accepting the governments claims, Hari Prasad’s international team discovered serious flaws that could alter election results. Hari Prasad has endured jail time, repeated interrogations, and ongoing political harassment to protect an anonymous source that enabled him to conduct first independent security review of India’s electronic voting system. James Tyre, member of EFF Judging Panel and who nominated Hari Prasad for the award mentioned to Satya Dosapati of Save Indian Democracy that Hari was chosen not only for his excellent work with the international team, but also for his remarkable withholding of his anonymous source in spite of continuous harassment.

It is testimony to India’s current political climate that while the son of our soil takes a great risk to expose the flaws in a system that has serious threat to its democracy is being punished and harassed at great cost to him and his family, emotionally and financially, human rights and activist organizations of the world recognize the value of his work for the country and chose to award him highest honors.

It is time Election Commission of India cease to be subservient to political bosses and recognize their sacred duty is to electorate of India and its democracy. While the small steps ECI taking to improve are welcome, ECI need to show independence and refuse to cooperate with the political masters in continuing to harass Hari Prasad and efforts to muzzle the voices of activists. It is time ECI serve Indians and their interests.

India needs to recognize that stand alone EVMs have no place in a democratic world. There is urgent need to reconstitute the technical committee with those who are well versed with developments in this area, partner with activists such as Hari Prasad and with a open mind evolve a system that can serve as a role model to the world. There is urgent need to establish a well defined timeline with set objectives.

Save Indian Democracy would like to suggest India to consider giving highest honor to Hari Prasad for his efforts.

EFF Press release is given below. For additional information, contact Satya Dosapati at +1 732 939 2060.

#####

EFF Press Release

================================================

https://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, October 19, 2010Contact:Katina Bishop
Development Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation
katina@eff.org
+1 415 436-9333 x101

Transparency Activist, Public Domain Scholar, Legal
Blogger, and Imprisoned E-Voting Researcher Win Pioneer
Awards

EFF to Honor Stephen Aftergood, James Boyle, Pamela Jones
and Groklaw, and Hari Krishna Prasad Vemuru at San
Francisco Ceremony

San Francisco – The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is
pleased to announce four winners of its 2010 Pioneer
Awards: transparency activist Stephen Aftergood; public
domain scholar James Boyle; legal blogger Pamela Jones and
the website Groklaw; and e-voting researcher Hari Krishna
Prasad Vemuru, who was recently released on bail after
being imprisoned for his security work in India.

The award ceremony will be held at 7:30 p.m., November 8,
at the 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco. Author,
blogger, and digital rights activist Cory Doctorow will
host. A VIP event with Cory and the Pioneer winners — as
well as EFF founders, board members, and other luminaries
– will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Steven Aftergood directs the Federation of American
Scientists (FAS) Project on Government Secrecy, which works
to reduce the scope of official secrecy and to promote
public access to government information. He writes and
edits Secrecy News, an email newsletter and blog that
reports on new developments in secrecy and disclosure
policy. Secrecy News also provides direct public access to
various official records that have been suppressed,
withdrawn, or that are simply hard to find. In 1997, Mr.
Aftergood was the plaintiff in a Freedom of Information Act
lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency that
successfully led to the declassification and publication of
the total intelligence budget for the first time in 50
years.

James Boyle is William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law and
co-founder of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain
at Duke Law School. Professor Boyle is recognized for his
exceptional scholarship on the “second enclosure movement”
– the worldwide expansion of intellectual property rights
– and its threat to the rich public domain of cultural and
scientific materials that the Internet might otherwise make
available. An original board member of Creative Commons
and co-founder of Science Commons, Professor Boyle has
worked for over 20 years as both an academic and
institution builder to celebrate and protect the values of
cultural and scientific openness.

When Pamela Jones created Groklaw in 2003, she envisioned a
new kind of participatory journalism and distributed
discovery — a place where programmers and engineers could
educate lawyers on technology relevant to legal cases of
significance to the Free and Open Source community, and
where technologists could learn about how the legal system
works. Groklaw quickly became an essential resource for
understanding such important legal debates as the SCO-Linux
lawsuits, the European Union antitrust case against
Microsoft, and whether software should qualify for patent
protection.

Hari Krishna Prasad Vemuru is a security researcher in
India who recently revealed security flaws in India’s
paperless electronic voting machines. He has endured jail
time, repeated interrogations, and ongoing political
harassment to protect an anonymous source that enabled him
to conduct the first independent security review of India’s
electronic voting system. Prasad spent a year trying to
convince election officials to complete such a review, but
they insisted that the government-made machines were
“perfect” and “tamperproof.” Instead of blindly accepting
the government’s claims, Prasad’s international team
discovered serious flaws that could alter national election
results. Months of hot debate have produced a growing
consensus that India’s electronic voting machines should be
scrapped, and Prasad hopes to help his country build a
transparent and verifiable voting system.

“These winners have all worked tirelessly to give critical
insight and context to the tough questions that arise in
our evolving digital world,” said EFF Executive Director
Shari Steele. ”We need strong advocates, educators, and
researchers like these to protect our digital rights, and
we’re proud to honor these four Pioneer Award winners for
their important contributions.”

Tickets to the Pioneer Awards ceremony are $35 if purchased
in advance or $40 at the door. Tickets are available
online at http://www.eff.org/pioneerfundraiser. Sponsors
of the 2010 Pioneer Awards ceremony include the Computer
Electronics Association (CEA), JibJab, and Junk Email
Filter.

Awarded every year since 1992, EFF’s Pioneer Awards
recognize leaders who are extending freedom and innovation
on the electronic frontier. Past honorees include World
Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, security expert Bruce
Schneier, and the Mozilla Foundation and its chairman
Mitchell Baker, among many others.

Pioneer Award candidates are nominated by the public. The
winners were chosen by a panel of judges including Kim
Alexander (president and founder, California Voter
Foundation), Jim Buckmaster (CEO, craigslist), Cory
Doctorow (award-winning author and activist), Mitch Kapor
(Kapor Capital; co-founder and former chairman EFF), Drazen
Pantic (co-director, Location One), Barbara Simons
(computer scientist, IBM Research [retired] and former
president ACM), and James Tyre (co-founder, The Censorware
Project and EFF policy fellow).

For more information about the Pioneer Awards:
https://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer

For this release:
https://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/10/19

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
websites in the world at https://www.eff.org/

Hari’s response to ex-CEC Mr. Gopalaswami, on ‘Theft is theft’

saveindiandemocracy — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 04:24:04 +0000

Mr. Gopalaswami on Hari’s case

On Fri, Oct 15, 2010 at 4:28 PM, Needamangalam Gopalaswami <gopalaswamin@gmail.com> wrote:
Mr.Jalnapurkar,I am sad at your comment.A theft is a theft whatever the the motive behind it and the police has a case before it and have to do their duty.If there is a theft in your house, you lodge a complaint and the police do not enquire about it because they think you are rich man and can afford to lose a few thousand rupees, how good will you feel? NG

Hari’s response to Mr. Gopalaswami

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Hari Krishna Prasad Vemuru
Date: Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 2:33 AM
Subject: Re: Felon’s Fingers in US vote-by-mail system
To: electiontransparencyworldwide@googlegroups.com

Dear All,

Before this debate goes asymmetric i feel i should break my silence on some aspects, I don’t agree with Mr. Gopalaswami ‘a theft is a theft what ever be the motive behind, the judge in my bail order clearly commented that charges of theft applicable only when dishonest intention is found. Comments should not hurt such, that nobody dares exposing wrong doing in future.

Let me put the facts which i even told at chennai conference Mr. NG attended.( some of them below may be logical assumptions watching the investigation closely)

We stated on and on that the machine provided by anonymous source for a brief period.
The machine was a complete EVM with CU(Control Unit) and BU(Ballot Unit) along with BOX CASES.
The machine was returned after study and video shoot, and put back in the warehouse by the same source in february.
The matter was kept silent for 2 months till the research paper is completed.
Study findings were made public on April 28th through website and TV channel broadcasting the videos recorded in february.
Control unit ID deliberately shown for authenticity of study on original EVM, BU id was not exposed in the video.
ECI officials initially denied it as their machine till ECIL informed after verifying factory records of delivery.
May 3rd 2010 ECI wakes up and wrote to all CEO’s to update on EVM stocks. ( results kept confidential till date)
May 13th 2010 Case registered stating EVM machine stolen by unknown person from high security warehouse.
May 26th 2010 ECI writes to V.V.Rao inviting his team to come on 10th August to demonstrate EVM tampering.
August 6th Mumbai police suddenly wakes to reach Hyderabad to summon Hari Prasad and takes his statement. Informs Hari Prasad to reveal the anonymous source and get discharged of the case.
August 10th the issue was raised before CEC at delhi and requested to enquire true facts behind the Case rather blindly believing it as stolen.
August 12th 2010 international experts including NRI experts wrote ECI “Indian EVMs not tamper proof”
August 16th 2010 fresh summons issued to Hari Prasad again for investigation.
August 21st 2010 Hari Prasad arrested from home Early hours at 5:00AM
8 days of police custody found the statement given by Hari Prasad on day one remains unchanged.
August 28th 2010 Hari Prasad released on Bail with Judge commenting his effort as service to the Country. And also states that theft Case is applicable only if a dishonest intention behind which is not seen in this case.
September 1st Police issues a fresh notice ordering Hari prasad to be present at Police station at 10AM though the court orders indicates attendance once a week for four weeks.
September 7th 2010 Police seeks cancellation of Hari Prasad bail in district court saying they need to interrogate him under polic custody while he was attending everyday at 10AM.
September 27th 2010 police seeks adjournment to 11th October 2010.
October 4th 2010 ECI organizes all party meet and decides to refer the reforms proposed by political parties to same technical committee that certified present EVMs safe.
Meanwhile Police issues summons to employees of Hari prasad company and reaches hyderabad to question the employees and their families.
October 11th police again seek adjournment to 21st October, Appoints senior counsel of High Court H.H.Ponda to fight the Case against Hari Prasad.

Now Let’s Predict the Journey of EVM used in our study and alleged as stolen by me. ( A logical imagination)

ECI is been pestered regularly by V.V.Rao and Co to allow free access to ECI-EVM to show vulnerabilities in these machines.
ECI official were confused over the claims made by Hari Prasad and Team that the present EVM can easily be tampered and were skeptical of giving him free hand to demonstrate EVM tampering as accepted by the former CEC Mr. Chawla after seeing the Sep 3rd 2009 effort made by Hari Prasad & team who almost cracked the machine before it was abruptly stopped by ECI.
ECI technical committee Chairman Indiresan continues to provoke Hari Prasad and team to hack the EVMs.
ECI officials(assumption) want to verify the ability of Hari prasad informally before they allow them to open the machine for Demonstration. And it was decided to provide a machine informally to Hari Prasad & team.
The apprehensions came true with in no time after Hari Prasad and two other international researchers hacked the ECI -ECM.
The machine is returned back to their respective warehouse after the vulnerability analysis.
CU and BU are placed in their respective slots in the ware house.
Mumbai collectorate may or may not be unaware of the illicit journey of the machine.
April 28th 2010 TV broadcast created panic in the officials and ECI, Media covered extensively all over the world.
ECI left with no option than to accept or deny the study demonstrated.
ECI officials have to strategize something quick to save their skins.
It is decided to disappear the machine and file a complaint.
CU could be located by its number displayed in TV channel, BU whose ID remained unknown could not be identified from the lots existing in storage.
May 13th 2010 FIR registered on CU missing with no mention about Ballot unit.
Does it mean Hari Prasad returned only Ballot Unit and holds Control Unit for further study or he claims the machine is returned is correct?
If so who disappeared Control Unit of EVM and when it was actually disappeared.
Does ECI maintains proper records on EVM security?

And many of you know thereafter events. and now it’s your discretion to agree or defer with, the problem can be resolved only by consensus and to do so it is required to keep open mind by all concerned “ Convince or Get Convinced but not Confuse“

Regards,

Hari Prasad

Communciation between Save Indian Democracy and Election Commission of India

saveindiandemocracy — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 04:04:34 +0000

Communication between Satya Dosapati of Save Indian Democracy and Election Commission of India

<< THESE ARE LETTERS TO MR. QURAISHI THAT WERE LATER SEND AS PRESS RELEASES TO ALL INDIAN MEDIA>>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Politics/Elections

Contact: Satya Dosapati
Email: SaveIndianDemocracy.Org@gmail.com

Web: http://IndianEVM.com

Ph: +1 732 723 8332

Arrest of Mr. Hari Prasad on EVM Issue: Detailed communication between Save Indian Democracy and Election Commission of India

New Jersey: Aug 23, 2010: Given below is the communication between ECI and Save Indian Democracy from Aug 21^st to current on the issue of arrest of Mr. Hari Prasad by Election Commission of India

LETTER WRITTEN BY SAVE INDIAN DEMOCRACY TO ALL ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA (ECI) COMMISSIONERS AND DEPUTY COMMISSIONERS ON SATURDAY AUG 21^st , 2:23 AM (EST)
– Original Message –

From: Save Indian Democracy saveindiandemocracy.org@gmail.com
To: syquraishi@eci.nic.in, vssampath vs.sampath@eci.gov.in,syq2@rediffmail.com,
navinchawla@eci.gov.in
Cc: eedback@eci.gov.in, jaipriye@eci.gov.in, balakrish@eci.gov.in,dralokshukla@eci.gov.in,
akshayrout@eci.gov.in, vinodzutshi@eci.gov.in, ashishs@eci.gov.in,yashvir@eci.gov.in,
tkumar@eci.gov.in, kakumar@eci.gov.in, rksrivastava@eci.gov.in,kfwilfred@eci.gov.in,
mendiratta.sk@eci.gov.in, ystandhope@eci.gov.in, skrudola@eci.gov.in,varinderkr@eci.gov.in,
knbhar@eci.gov.in, anuj@eci.gov.in, electiontransparencyworldwide@googlegroups.com,
ashish@eci.gov.in, srkar@eci.gov.in, sureshchand@eci.gov.in
Subject: Mr. Quraishi, arrest of Hari Prasad on charges of stealing EVMs is uncalled for

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Save Indian Democracy <saveindiandemocracy.org@gmail.com>
To: syquraishi@eci.nic.in, vssampath <vs.sampath@eci.gov.in>,syq2@rediffmail.com, navinchawla@eci.gov.in

Date:
Subject: Mr. Quraishi, arrest of Hari Prasad on charges of stealing EVMs is uncalled for

Dear Mr. Quraishi,

Save Indian Democracy with great efforts brought the best international experts recently to India who worked with Mr. Hari Prasad to expose the vulnerabilities of Indian EVMs. As you know, the efforts of Mr. Hari Prasad was to educate Indian public and the path taken was only to work around the unrealistic and dishonest restrictions imposed by ECI in demonstrating the vulnerabilities of EVMs.

In this effort, Mr. Hari Prasad has nothing other than the best interests of the country. You should note that the same Mr. Hari Prasad have not entertained a single offer for tampering by politicians as far as North East India with offer of attractive sums. It will be a matter of shame and travesty of justice for Election Commission of India instead of appreciating the acts of such heroes, your office stoop to intimidating and punishing them. It is a disgrace that the ECI that is arresting and intimidating the activist who has only best interest of the nation at heart, has done little about those who are approaching Net India that Mr. Hari leads to tamper them for a price in real elections.

The act which Mr. Hari Prasad did was also done by activists in US and Europe and they are respected for it. For e.g, Dr. Alex Halderman who worked with Mr. Hari Prasad in hacking India’s EVM has also hacked a EVM used in US elections and he was employed by State of California Secretary of State to expose the vulnerabilities of the EVM’s used in California. If any, ECI could use services of Mr. Hari Prasad to better serve the nation.

During the Usenix conference Mr. Alok Shukla was told by international community that the way to resolve this is not by use of threats but by amicable discussions held with honesty. Instead of heeding such advice, you decided to pursue a path that will only enhance the resolve of international community by many factors to show the tamperability and lack of transparency of Indian EVMs across international conferences/discussions and expose the shameful threats used by Election Commission of India to suppress the truth because of the fear of the exposure. It will only lead the international community to communicate to Election Watch bodies and Human Rights Commissions that Indian elections are a farce and the use of threats to suppress is the best proof that Election Commission of India has something to hide. Indian Elections and the venerable Election Commission of India will soon become a laughing stock of the world.

I request you sir, to rethink the path chosen and restore the dignity of highly respected institution you are leading. We understand bureaucracy in India is under pressures that are not usually patent to those outside, but by standing up for what is right you will be remembered in history. There are many in dustbin of history of India that are bringing down a great nation with enormous potential, but I request you to stand apart and do the right thing.

Sincerely,

Satya Dosapati for Save Indian Democracy

–
Regards

Alok ShuklaFORWARDING OF THE ABOVE LETTER FROM SAVE INDIAN DEMOCRACY BY DR. SY QURESHI, CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER TO MR. ALOK SHUKLA, DEPUTY ELECTION COMMISSIONER (FOR RESPONDING)

——— Forwarded message ———-
From: SYQuraishi <syq2@rediffmail.com>
Date: 21 August 2010 01:07
Subject: Fw: Mr. Quraishi, arrest of Hari Prasad on charges of stealing EVMs is uncalled for
To: dr.alokshukla@gmail.com

Note: Forwarded message attached

RESPONSE RECEIVED FROM MR. ALOK SHUKLA (ECI) TO SAVE INDIAN DEMOCRACY ON SUNDAY AUG 22, 2010, 7:44 AM (EST)

——— Forwarded message ———-
From: Dr Alok Shukla <dralokshukla@eci.gov.in>
Date: Sun, Aug 22, 2010 at 7:44 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd: Fw: Mr. Quraishi, arrest of Hari Prasad on charges of stealing EVMs is uncalled for
To: saveindiandemocracy.org@gmail.com

Cc: syquraishi@eci.nic.in, “V.S. Sampath” <vs.sampath@eci.gov.in>, syq2@rediffmail.com, feedback <feedback@eci.gov.in>, Jai Priye <jaipriye@eci.gov.in>, Balakrishnan <balakrish@eci.gov.in>, Dr Alok Shukla <dralokshukla@eci.gov.in>

Mr. Satya Dosapati

Sub: - Investigation by Maharashtra Police in the matter of a missing EVM.

Ref: - Your email dated 21^st August 2010 addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner, and your telephone call to Deputy Election Commissioner, Dr. Alok Shukla and Director General, Mr. Akshay Rout.

Dear Mr. Dosapati,

Please refer to your email and telephonic conversation as cited above.

I am surprised at the allegation made in your letter that Shri Hariprasad has been got arrested by the Election Commission. This allegation is patently false. The arrest made by the police is in the course of an investigation conducted by them on an FIR lodged by DEO Mumbai as early as 12^th May 2010 about an EVM stolen from her custody. The Commission cannot interfere in criminal investigation of the police in any manner and the law of the land takes its own course. You would recall that when the issue of the possible arrest of Shri Hariprasad on the FIR of the DEO, Mumbai was raised in the EVT-WOTE Conference at Washington DC on 9^th August, 2010, I had made it clear even at that time that once an FIR has been registered, the Commission has no role in the investigation. You would also recall that I had reiterated this position during the telephonic conversation with you on 21^st August 2010, referred to above. Mr. Rout, Director General, had also done the same.

As far as improvements in the voting system are concerned, the Commission has always had an open mind, and has had discussions with several persons on these matters including Mr. Hariprasad. Mr. Hariprasad has met the Commission on several occasions. He came with Mr. V.V.Rao, on 17^th August 2009 and again on 3^rd September, 2009. The Commission has given Mr. Hariprasad a patient hearing, and has assured him that the Commission will consider his suggestions. At his request, EVMs were allowed to be examined by him, in the Commission Headquarters. Mr. Hariprasad met the Commission once again on 10^th August 2010, with his other colleagues. This meeting was held in a very cordial atmosphere where the Commission categorically stated that it has an open mind in the matter and looks forward in receiving any suggestions for improving the electoral system. Reciprocating to this Mr.Hariprasad and his colleagues said that that they will come up with some positive suggestions. It was mutually agreed that this dialogue will continue in future, and that Mr. Hariprasad and his colleagues will meet the Commission again with more suggestions on a mutually convenient date.

In your mail, you have made several other baseless and irresponsible allegations and also cast aspersions on the working of the Election Commission and its officials. These do not merit any response other than dismissal considering the fact that Indian elections are totally free, fair and credible and acknowledged as such worldwide. Your allegations only betray your lack of knowledge of the Indian Constitution under which the Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional body completely insulated from any pressures.

(Alok Shukla)

Deputy Election Commissioner

FIRST RESPONSE BY SAVE INDIAN DEMOCRACY TO THE ABOVE LETTER FROM ALOK SHUKLA (ECI) ON SUNDAY AUG 22, 8:31 AM

——— Forwarded message ———-
From: Save Indian Democracy <saveindiandemocracy.org@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Aug 22, 2010 at 8:31 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd: Fw: Mr. Quraishi, arrest of Hari Prasad on charges of stealing EVMs is uncalled for
To: Dr Alok Shukla <dralokshukla@eci.gov.in>
Cc: syquraishi@eci.nic.in, “V.S. Sampath” <vs.sampath@eci.gov.in>, syq2@rediffmail.com, feedback <feedback@eci.gov.in>, Jai Priye <jaipriye@eci.gov.in>, Balakrishnan <balakrish@eci.gov.in>

Dear Mr. Shukla,

Thank you for your response on behalf of ECI. I appreciate your comments and if I in any way cast aspersions on the workings of election commission I would stand corrected. We are here to partner with you in making India’s democracy better.

Given the factors below:

1) That the FIR is lodged by DEO is an official of Election Commission
2) Hari Prasad has been working with ECI for several months now and Hari Prasad intention for hacking was very patent
3) What Hari Prasad has done was also done in other developed democracies without any FIR’s lodged in spite of their laws of land in such cases are very similar or perhaps even stricter
4) Hari Prasad has not done anything to manipulate elections and in fact should be commended from distancing himself from such attempts with lure of large sums by unscrupulous politicians

5) That the manifestations of Hariprasad arrest due to FIR lodged by DEO will reverberate in many aspects that will bring down the reputation enjoyed by ECI

I request the ECI to immediately issue directives to DEO to withdraw the FIR and continue to engage in dialogue with Hari and the other activists.

Regards,
Satya for Save Indian Democracy

SECOND RESPONSE BY SAVE INDIAN DEMOCRACY TO THE LETTER FROM ALOK SHUKLA (ECI) ON SUNDAY, AUG 22, 9:35 PM

—– Original Message —–
From: Save Indian Democracy <saveindiandemocracy.org@gmail.com>
Date: Sunday, August 22, 2010 9:35 pm
Subject: Re: Fwd: Fw: Mr. Quraishi, arrest of Hari Prasad on charges of stealing EVMs is uncalled for (additional point)
To: Dr Alok Shukla <dralokshukla@eci.gov.in>
Cc: syquraishi@eci.nic.in, “V.S. Sampath ” <vs.sampath@eci.gov.in>, syq2@rediffmail.com, feedback <feedback@eci.gov.in>, Jai Priye <jaipriye@eci.gov.in>, Balakrishnan <balakrish@eci.gov.in>

Dear Mr. Shukla,

Further clarification to my earlier email with regards to involvement of ECI in arrest of Mr. Hari Prasad.

A DEO though a District collector, on matters concerning elections takes instructions from ECI. We have information that the probe has been initiated and pursued at the instance of the ECI. Therefore what the DEO has done or has been doing is at the ECI’s behest. ECI can issue directives to DEO to withdraw the FIR.

We request you again not to turn this issue a boiling issue internationally across Academic bodies, Election Watch bodies, Human Rights Commissions, United Nations, Indian Consular offices, other Countries particularly where ECIL/BEL are selling EVMs as well as nationally, that will without doubt tarnish the image of the ECI and put the whole Indian democracy into question. We need to work together to make India a better democracy just as many activists have done in US and several European countries.

Below are additional points put forth by a Law Professor on this issue.

Firstly, in fact the EVM supposed have been stolen was made available by a local official for research purposes.

Secondly, the intention behind is not to steal it from the owners of it for appropriation, which is obvious and open to all public and officials. In a crime basic requirement is intention. As there is no stealth lifting of EVM and that can never be transformed into a viable charge. Criminality must be rooted in malice, to fulfill the requirement of mens rea (the guilty mind) in addition to actus reus (forbidden act).

Thirdly, if EVM is stolen during elections on poling day, it could be considered for obstruction of poll which is an electoral offence. That is not the case here.

Fourthly, a very important factor that is ignored by Maharasthra police is the mandate of the Supreme Court. The petitioners VV Rao and other sought direction of the apex court to ECI and EVM makers to rule out the doubts raised by the petitioners. The petitioners were given an opportunity to demonstrate before election commission the vulnerability of EVMs to fall prey for manipulations, and in turn it was also for the ECI to prove how it could not be manipulated. When the petitioners were implementing the direction of the order of the Supreme Court how can those public interested persons become criminals?

Fifthly, the union cabinet has recently approved the protection of whistle blowers bill to be passed into legislation. This arrest is purposefully made to silence any person from raising any doubt about the frauds sponsored officially through such activities.

Sixthly, Mr. Hari Prasad or Mr. V Venkateswar Rao is not a thief and their social service and they are heading non-governmental organizations propagating better governance and right to information.

Seventhly, the makers of EVM first raised the IPR objections to somehow stop the examination of EVMs for their non-tamperability or vulnerability, saying that they had patent for the product. Even a person with ordinary and common sense will not raise this objection. Patent means laying everything open. The information and specifications about the innovation that is patented must be open and it should be available in public domain. In return to that openness of information, the state on behalf of society guarantees the exclusive economic benefits from the industrial application of that innovated product or tool. Who is stopping the EVM makers from having exclusive economic benefits from these great machines? And if one piece is opened and examined, there is nothing illegal about it and it is perfectly a legal requirement. Any other person can rip any innovative product open, and research to develop something better than that to secure a new patent over it. This is the national and international law. It is absurd that people raise such contentions against a public spirited and perfectly constitutional activity.

Finally, All this shows that the Election Commission of India is hesitating to take the challenge and thus indirectly confirming the suspicions raised by the V V Rao and Hari Prasad. All democratic forces should condemn the arrest and eminent lawyers to help them in getting bail and quashing the charge, and ending this most unreasonable and undemocratic reaction of Government of India along with ECI and Maharastra Police.

Regards,
Satya for Save Indian Demcocracy

RESPONSE FROM ALOK SHUKLA TO SAVE INDIAN DEMOCRACY TO THE ABOVE TWO RESPONSES ON MONDAY AUG 23, 2010 AT 7:23 AM

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Dr Alok Shukla <dralokshukla@eci.gov.in>
Date: Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 7:23 AM
Subject: Investigation by Maharashtra Police in the matter of a missing EVM.
To: Save Indian Democracy <saveindiandemocracy.org@gmail.com>

Mr. Satya Dosapati

Subject: Investigation by Maharashtra Police in the matter of a missing EVM

Ref: 1. Your e-mail dated 21st August 2010 addressed to Chief Election Commissioner

2. My e-mail dated 22nd August 2010 addressed to you.

3. Your e-mail dated 22nd August 2010 addressed to me.

Dear Mr. Dosapati,

The correct constitutional and legal position in regard to the arrest of Mr. Hariprasad has been

explianed to you in my e-mail referred to above.

(Alok Shukla)

Deputy Election Commissioner

For additional information contact Satya Dosapati, at +1 732 723 8332.

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SECOND LETTER FROM SAVE INDIAN DEMOCRACY TO CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER MR. QURAISHI ON AUG 26TH REQUESTING TO WITHDRAW CASE AGAINST HARI PRASAD

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Save Indian Democracy <saveindiandemocracy.org@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 9:54 AM
Subject: Press Release on EVMs: Letter to Chief Election Commissioner Dr. Quraishi to withdraw the case against Mr. Hari Prasad and call for an honest debate between ECI and experts
To: Save Indian Democracy <saveindiandemocracy.org@gmail.com>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Politics/Elections

Contact: Satya Dosapati
Email: SaveIndianDemocracy.Org@gmail.com

Web: http://IndianEVM.com (also http://SaveIndianDemocracy.org)

Ph: +1 732 939 2060

Activists urge Chief Election Commissioner to withdraw unjustified case against Mr. Hari Prasad and call for an honest debate between ECI and experts

New Jersey, Aug 26, 2010: The following letter was send by Save Indian Democracy to Chief Election Commissioner Mr. Quraishi and other commissioners to withdraw the unjustified case against Mr. Hari Prasad and call for an honest debate between ECI and experts for the sake of preserving India’s democracy.

=======
Dear Mr. Quraishi,

On behalf of activists and citizens both in India and worldwide, I request you to give directives to DEO to immediately withdraw the case against Mr. Hari Prasad. This will at least stop the further drain of prestige of a venerable institution you are leading. I hope your office is aware of the loss of prestige from the blogs, news articles worldwide from US, Canada and Europe (http://indianevm.com/news.php ).

As the news about treatment of Mr. Hari Prasad including placing him in a dark cell on one day and was removed from there only after he reported health issues, we were aghast at what low level this has gone to. This raises questions whether Indians have freedom or are we still under imperialistic British Raj? Are the bureaucrats (and politicians) the Public servants or is it the Public that are servants of the bureaucracy (and politicians)? This reminds of Gandhi ji assertion that a freedom that replaces white babus with brown babus is no freedom. This whole episode shows Indians promised freedoms has yet to come.

I think the situation in India is best summarized by someone who had been close to India sometime who said that, “Only in India one can find where politicians wear clothes like simple folks (khadi etc) as advised by their father of nation, but in all probability he is either highly corrupt individual and/or a criminal, only in India has the media perfected when a lie is told enough number of times, it becomes the truth, only in India one can see bureaucrats who will speak a white lie as if he is speaking an incontrovertible truth and swear as if he is ready to give his life if proven wrong”.

In the NDTV interview, Mr S.K. Mendiratta asked why do we have to go outside India to evaluate our EVMs, are we not proud of our people? Sir, Hari Prasad is from India running a Software company in India who evaluated the EVM using a borrowed EVM for the benefit of the country and please reflect on how ECI is treating him. (Note that unlike US, Indian academic institutions has done little research on this issue).

I understand in CNN-IBN interview ex-CEC Mr. Krishna Murthy questioned about motives of the foreign experts who have assisted in the matter. This is totally uncalled for and it is like biting the very hand that feeds you. As someone who was actively involved in identifying and bringing in the experts on behalf of Save Indian Democracy, I can tell you that in spite of their initial reluctance to join the conference held by Dr. Subramanian Swamy (which was attended by ex-CEC Mr. Gopalaswami) at Chennai in Feb 2010, it is the argument that this is a human rights issue and having proven in their own countries, their contributions will be valuable in India of 1.2 billion people, that finally motivated them to visit India. They had to use their vacation to attend events in India. Reputable Prof David Dill of Stanford who is considered a pioneer in election reform in US, provided guidance and suggestions. I hope we are sensitive to that and not make statements that will drag the reputation of ECI seriously beyond what is already happening.

I also request that ECI be honest in admitting the shortcomings and work with the activists to make Indian democracy better. Here are some disturbing assertions/events that need to be addressed:

1) The repeated lie that ECI offered to activists for tampering has to be stopped. It was offered with unrealistic conditions that one can tamper only without opening the EVM. Those who tamper do not abide by such conditions. Those who are making such assertions are making a fool of themselves since the world over knows that.

2) The DEO in his complaint wrote that, ’As the actions of Hari Prasad have far reaching consequences you may please investigate whether there is any vested interests involved here, with ulterior motives to discredit the established system in the country?’ It is far stretching to say that DEO made this statement on her own without pressure from the top. What established system is being referred here? What is important, the system or democracy? Netherlands had established EVM system (100%, at every local and central level) for more than two decades and today it is ZERO, none. US and several European countries has stopped or shelved the idea of stand alone EVMs with more than 60% of US going to paper record or ban EVMs completely. Yes, all these changed from established systems in their countries due to activism of dedicated citizens. Are those countries targeting their activists with allegations that they are discrediting their established systems? On the other hand their institutions respect them.

3) We understand that ECI did not just stop in ordering a complaint against Mr. Hari Prasad. It also unleashed full force at its command as is evident from the fact that more than a dozen senior police officers of the rank of DSP and above were involved in strategising and effecting Mr. Hari Prasad’s arrest as if he is a dreader gangster. Sources in the police confirmed that the arrest was a result of severe pressure from ECI through Governmental authorities. As this news being spread, will there be any respect or trust for this institution?

4) According to ECI own response, several dozen EVMs were stolen in the past but never such drastic action was taken. The EVMs are in the custody of DEO and if it went missing should not the DEO who should be held responsible. It is shocking that ECI has not taken any action against its own custodians but has zealously pursued FIRs against researchers who merely used them for research purposes. There are many whistle blowers and EVM hackers in US and other Western nations and has there been any such vendetta against them.

5) Until TV9 demonstration, ECI had no idea that voting machine was missing. Even after telecast, it took nearly two weeks of ECI to establish that it belonged to Mumbai. Does this not show the shocking reality of the much trumpeted talk of ECI that ECI has excellent safeguards. If this is state of affairs in India’s largest metropolitan city, how safe are EVMs in far flung areas. Even if people carried them away by dozens, it would have gone unnoticed because the ECI has no proper records or inventory of EVMs. Only recently ECI issued guidelines after the demonstration by Mr. Hari Prasad and team exposing the weakness. ECI need to admit this already known fact to save its honor.

In the end, we request you to withdraw the case against Mr. Hari Prasad and organize a national debate on this issue with experts from both India and worldwide.

Regards,

Satya Dosapati for Save Indian Democracy

==============

For additional information contact Satya at SaveIndianDemocracy.org@gmail.com or at +1 732 939 2060

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Further communication with ECI on the conspiracy charges on Aug 31, 2010

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Save Indian Democracy <saveindiandemocracy.org1@gmail.com>

Date: Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 1:15 AM
Subject: Press Release on EVM: Save Indian Democracy responds to conspiracy theories
To: saveindiandemocracy.org@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Politics/Elections

Contact: Satya Dosapati
Email: SaveIndianDemocracy.Org@gmail.com

Web: http://IndianEVM.com (also http://SaveIndianDemocracy.org)

Ph: +1 732 723 8832

Save Indian Democracy response to allegations of conspiracy to discredit Indian Election Process or a plot of corporate rivals to steal market for Indian EVMs in Africa and South America.

New Jersey, Aug 31, 2010: According to news reports, Indian Government has set into motion its intelligence agencies, both IB and R&AW to check backgrounds of Hari Prasad and his foreign contacts with suspicion that there is a large conspiracy to discredit India’s election process or to steal market for Indian EVM’s in Africa and South America by making a clone of the EVMs.

The contrast cannot be more ironic. While India’s establishment chose to arrest Hari Prasad on charges of stealing EVM, borrowed for short period for research purposes, the world’s most leading conference, ACM Conference on Computer and Communications security to be held at Chicago, USA on Oct 4-8th has selected the result of his work with well known computer security experts Dr. Alex Halderman and Rop Gongrijjp as the top most paper (Number 1) for presentation at the conference. Is India’s establishment out of touch? All indications are it is.

Today’s India’s election process is not discredited by the work of activists, but by the ECI which by its continuous denial and stone walling any honest discussion on EVMs that capped with arrest of researcher who simply showed the tamperability using a borrowed EVM for the benefit of its citizens. The treatment of a researcher with best intentions is unheard of in any developed country and worldwide it raised suspicion of the reasons for the ECI conduct.

With regards to some foreign corporate rivals stealing business by making clones of the EVMs, the technology used is so basic to merit even to consider stealing. EVM manufacturers ECIL and BEL as well as ECI have themselves many times claimed that Indian EVM is a simple calculator. After making 21 claims for patent to World Intellectual Property Organization (International Patent body) ECIL has to withdraw its request for patent since the international body did not find any merit to award a patent. (See http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?WO=2002093503&IA=IN2002000011&DISPLAY=DOCS ). It may not be far stretching to say that the EVM could be done as a graduate student project. To make such claims will be inviting ridicule.

The arrest of Mr. Hari Prasad brought the whole EVM issue to national focus. The manner it was done has shocked the general public and worldwide technologists in particular and raises uncomfortable questions over the ECI role in the issue and its standing as an autonomous body. India’s Intelligence agencies energy is best spend in answering the following questions about EVM for the sake of country’s democracy that are well articulated by GVL Narasimha Rao in his blog http://IndianEVM.com.

a) Why have two foreign companies been involved by the BEL and ECIL in fusing the EVM software into microchips as it involves huge security risk for Indian elections when the same process could have been done securely within these companies premises?

b) Why has the “secret” software in the EVMs not been given even to the ECI? Do the ECIL and BEL suspect the integrity of the ECI or its experts?

c) Why is the ECI so considerate about commercial interest of the BEL and ECIL when it should be guided by only the interests of the Indian public in ensuring free and fair elections? In this regards, how did the ECI concede the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) over the EVMs to their manufacturers? How is it possible that the companies that have developed the EVMs at the behest of the ECI and as per its requirements have unfettered rights over them?

d) By surrendering all the functions involving the manufacturing, checking and maintaining the EVMs to the same Public sector undertakings (PSU’s), isn’t the ECI running the risk of manipulation of elections by insiders in these companies? Why were checks and balances not considered by involving some other governmental agencies like the NIC in checking of EVM’s in the field?

e) Why did the ECI scrap the “authentication unit” project after it was developed, tested and proved to be successful? The authentication unit is a device that helps in ascertaining whether the software in the EVM is the original or has been replaced by a fake one to commit election fraud.

Mr. Hari Prasad’s arrest raises more questions about the motives of ECI:

f) How come the ECI and its district level officials did not know that an EVM was missing from its godowns for more than two months until a video recording of the machine was shown on a TV Station?

g) How is it that the ECI arrested Hari Prasad for having merely used an EVM made available to him for demonstration for a very brief period when it has let its own officers-in-charge of security of EVMs go scot-free?

It is time the Indian establishment recognize its folly and work to protect the interests of its people. As the honorable judge who presided over Mr. Hari Prasad case said, “whatever Mr. Hari Prasad has done it was in public interest and involves 100 crore people of the country. As there were no dishonest intentions on his part, ECI should examine Mr. Hari Prasad’s scientific evidence rather than proceed in this manner”.

We hope ECI and Indian establishment would heed the advice of the honorable judge.

For additional information, contact Satya Dosapati, SaveIndianDemocracy.org@gmail.com, +1 732 723 8832

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Another communication with ECI requesting to take a stand against continued harassment of activists on Sept 19, 2010

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Save Indian Democracy <saveindiandemocracy.org@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Sep 19, 2010 at 12:39 AM
Subject: Mr. Quraishi, Please take a stand on continued harassment of activists
To: syquraishi@eci.nic.in, vssampath <vs.sampath@eci.gov.in>, syq2@rediffmail.com, navinchawla@eci.gov.in, Dr Alok Shukla <dralokshukla@eci.gov.in>
Cc: kshayrout@eci.gov.in, vinodzutshi@eci.gov.in, ashishs@eci.gov.in, yashvir@eci.gov.in, tkumar@eci.gov.in, kakumar@eci.gov.in, rksrivastava@eci.gov.in, kfwilfred@eci.gov.in, mendiratta.sk@eci.gov.in, ystandhope@eci.gov.in, skrudola@eci.gov.in, varinderkr@eci.gov.in, knbhar@eci.gov.in, anuj@eci.gov.in, electiontransparencyworldwide@googlegroups.com, ashish@eci.gov.in, srkar@eci.gov.in, sureshchand@eci.gov.in

Dear Dr. Quraishi,

It is with pain we hear the news about continuous arrest and harassment of activists. We understand that ECI is not involved in these harassments and it would greatly help if ECI could withdraw the complaint and even make a statement on the damage the harassment is doing to the reputation of ECI. This will save the honor of this respectable institution you are leading. Just few weeks ago I read in news media in west that in spite of several countries around India being undemocratic, India managed to retain democracy. Such reputation will fast erode if quick action is not taken.

Here are my thoughts on this whole episode and feel free to correct me. From the sources available to activists in India, this harassment is understood to be spearheaded by Maharashtra Government with the pressure from the top. According to Dr. Subramanian Swamy the pressure is right from the top at the center. If this is true, it is very unfortunate. The whole episode shows desperation and conscious effort to muzzle the voice of people standing for the country. When this effort started independently within India and outside India, a conscious decision was made not to challenge the past elections and work to make a positive change by involving all players. This is not to say that there is no proof that there is lot of data showing how things went awry during earlier elections as enumerated in Mr. Narasimha Rao book, ‘Democracy at Risk’. But we never have challenged nor intend to challenge in the future about past elections. During German Supreme Court proceedings on the EVM, the honorable German Supreme court judges wrestled with this issue. But the judges took a practical approach that there are no challenges made in the earlier elections where EVM was used, therefore those elections are valid. Here we are, with so much data that questions the earlier elections, but the activists chose not to bring that topic and the activists are haunted as if they have done major crime.

The whole situation for those who live outside India such as in Western democracies shows that Indian democracy is puerile. The crop of politicians across spectrum the Indian democracy seems to put up is the ethically lowest strata of the society. According to Transparency International the Corruption Perception Index of India is same as the war torn African country Rwanda. The degradation in our political system is best understood by the amount of looted money in Swiss and other foreign accounts. It is estimated that if all the stashed money is brought back to India every one of the 120 crore Indians (every man, woman and child) would get one lakh rupees. Another estimate says that our politicians have looted in just 60 years, double the amount of what British looted in 200 years. The mining mafia of India today are even controlling some of the state Governments with billions of dollars of looted wealth. Indians believe our politicians will even sell pieces of the country for making profit. It is not surprising to see the degree of anxiety to preserve the mechanisms for looting the country. It is foolish for us to think that they will not to go to any extent to protect their interests and would easily let go the EVMs that provide a large scale opportunity to manipulate elections wholesale without any clue. They are more aware than ECI or most of the country that it is not necessary to manipulate all EVMs, just the select few in select constituencies will suffice. The requests Hari Prasad company Net India got as far as from North East itself is the solid proof.

It is not that Indians are incapable. Indians are running multi billion dollars institutions from the Indian woman President of Pepsi to largest entrepreneurial community in Silicon valley that is changing the world to the running of the institutions in largest Western Democracy like US, based on the number of high ranking Indians Americans in Obama administration. However, we seem to have left the running of India to dredges of the society. It took one small mistake to bring down Nixon administration ignominiously, small contribution to his party in return for senate seat brought down Illinois Governor Blagojevich recently. But in India, colossal things happen in broad daylight with impunity but few activists bringing attention to the problems in EVMs are hounded.

It is an abomination to hear the recent news about several of the Supreme Court Judges in India are corrupt. The Government looks other way while the country mineral resources meant for upliftment of all citizens of the country being looted away by select few because it is happy with its share of the loot. If their wealth is declared they will rank among the Forbes list of billionaires. That loot is used to win elections and perpetuate the cycle. The political system has engendered dynasties to secure and perpetuate the looting. Enormous resources of the country are expended to protect these politicians while the citizens have little protection even from terrorism. The Government machinery that is supposed to protect the citizens is being used to protect the interest of these politicians. The security agencies that should be used to protect the country from its enemies externally and internally, are being used by the Government to frame conspiracy charges on those who are working selflessly for the sake of the country. The tapping of the phones and close monitoring of EVM activists who has little to hide is a shame of our country.

It is not surprising even the Indian media hardly commands respect both inside and outside India for its pusillanimity in exposing the rot and its biased nature. The terrorist violence is already bleeding the country thousands of times (India was next to war torn country Iraq over last few years) and when things get bad enough these thieves will settle in another country with the loot in foreign banks leaving all the rest of Indians to face the music. If all the well meaning people do not effectively encounter this, there is real danger that India will fast become a banana republic like many poor African nations.

We were told that in addition to activists in India, the Government is targeting to muzzle the voices of activists outside India. How many peoples voices does the Government want to muzzle?. For every activist that is muzzled, there will be many more that will come. What is at stake is the future of the country, the freedom of which was obtained by efforts and sacrifices of thousands of people and I can tell you the more they try the more activists will come about, unless the Government wants to create a Stalin Raj in India. The disenchantment within India with these politicians is so much so today that people feel better protected in a Chinese System or perhaps a benevolent military dictatorship. In fact, China without democracy is much better run than the democracy in India run by the scum of the Indian society.

But sir, as a Chief Election Commissioner of an institution that is independent, you can make a difference, just like your predecessor TN Seshan who showed the strength of ECI. You will be remembered in the history of India as one who stood against the forces and took the right path. Please for few moments look at the overwhelming population of young Indians and see what we are going leave behind for them. In the midst of the rot in the institutions of India, Election Commission of India is surprisingly a respected institution. We appeal to you to uphold it for the future of our country and leave a lasting legacy and establish a role model for the whole world how institutions can stay above in spite of trying circumstances. We request you to appoint an honest committee with open mind and clean the process. India has a lot to contribute to the world and you have an opportunity to make a mark.

Regards,
Satya Dosapati from Save Indian Democracy

Save Indian Democracy

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4000 EVMs missing in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh

Editorial: E-voting needs a paper trail

Dec. 6, 2010

Hari EFF Award Acceptance Speech

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Hari’s response to ex-CEC Mr. Gopalaswami, on ‘Theft is theft’

Mr. Gopalaswami on Hari’s case

Hari’s response to Mr. Gopalaswami

Communciation between Save Indian Democracy and Election Commission of India

Communication between Satya Dosapati of Save Indian Democracy and Election Commission of India

Arrest of Mr. Hari Prasad on EVM Issue: Detailed communication between Save Indian Democracy and Election Commission of India

New Jersey: Aug 23, 2010: Given below is the communication between ECI and Save Indian Democracy from Aug 21st to current on the issue of arrest of Mr. Hari Prasad by Election Commission of India

New Jersey: Aug 23, 2010: Given below is the communication between ECI and Save Indian Democracy from Aug 21^st to current on the issue of arrest of Mr. Hari Prasad by Election Commission of India