Statements
Our Response to Banning on 14 Apps Including Element Briar and Threema
May 15, 2023
Update: The ban has been challenged by petitioners Kiran and Praveen(also a permanent member of our group, Indian Pirates) from the Free Software Community of India in the Kerala High Court assisted by lawyers from the Software Freedom Law Center, India. The government of India recently banned 14 apps including Free Software ones like Element and Briar [1]. According to media reports, there are two reasons for this ban.
These apps are used to provide information to terrorists.
Reading Time: 3 min
Statement on Rahul Gandhi Disqualification From Parliament and Conviction
March 30, 2023
Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from Parliament in a desperate move by the BJP government at the centre. There was a wave of support for Rahul Gandhi even from political parties who were not close to Congress till now like Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party. Even Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), an ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu said Rahul Gandhi’s punishment is disproportionate to his speech and that he shouldn’t have been disqualified from the Lok Sabha in a haste.
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Indian Pirates demand fast-tracking of Babri Masjid demolition trial
January 1, 1
August 12, 2020 Supreme court has ruled that the demolition and 1949 desecration of the Babri Masjid as a violation of law[1].
Liberahn Commission report holds 68 people culpable involving senior BJP leaders. A commission that was started in 1992 and an ever lagging case seeing no justice in case that has led to communal riots, is no good for a secular state. We demand a fast track trial and bring the culprits to justice.
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Indian Pirates endorse the following demands, for effective curbing of black money in India, originally proposed by Swaraj India
January 1, 1
December 17, 2016 We demand that along with the demonetization move, the Government should announce the following measures:
A robust system to identify and confiscate the black money that is stashed in the form of benami properties, shares and gold. A ban on “tax havens” like Mauritius and P-Notes that are used to convert black money into white money. For stopping use of black money in politics, political parties should be brought under ambit of RTI; BJP and all political parties should be made to disclose all details of cash donations; and Congress and BJP should be penalized for accepting foreign donations.
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Indian Pirates endorse the following joint statement by Rethink Aadhaar, Internet Freedom Foundation, Article 21 Trust and Swathanthra Malayalam Computing on making Aadhaar compulsory for Kerala PSC Jobs
January 1, 1
July 20, 2020 Kalyani Menon Sen, a citizen, and petitioner in the batch of writ petitions challenging the constitutionality of Aadhaar in KS Puttaswamy v Union of India (2019 10 SCC 1) has sent the Government of Kerala a legal notice demanding that it withdraw a recent order mandating compulsory Aadhaar verification for all new applicants and recent appointees to state government jobs. Internet Freedom Foundation, Rethink Aadhaar, Article 21 and Swathanthra Malayalam Computing endorse this legal notice, and call on the Kerala Government to withdraw this order.
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Indian Pirates endorse the following petition, asking India and Pakistan to avoid further hostilities
January 1, 1
March 6, 2019 As seen in The Wire Website We, citizens of India, are deeply concerned at the recent escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan, and at the climate of intolerance that is developing around it.
Nothing can justify the act of terrorism that took the lives of more than 40 CRPF personnel in Pulwama on 14 February 2019. Nor can anything justify the Pakistan government’s covert support of armed groups that have carried out this sort of attack in Kashmir over the years.
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Indian Pirates endorse the following statement, by Free Speech Collective, in solidarity with Mr. Prashant Bhushan on the initiation of Criminal Contempt Proceedings against him
January 1, 1
August 4, 2020 We the undersigned citizens of the country, express our concern with the initiation of contempt proceedings against human right activist and advocate, Mr. Prashant Bhushan, by the Supreme Court of India, in respect of two of his tweets. Mr. Bhushan has been a relentless crusader for the rights of the weakest sections of our society and has spent his career in pro bono legal service to those who do not have ready access to justice.
Reading Time: 4 min
Indian Pirates endorse the following statement, demanding release of free software contributor and privacy advocate Ola Bini
January 1, 1
April 19, 2019 Free Ola Bini Solidarity Letter Ola Bini is a developer, not a criminal. As technologists, free and open source developers, and individuals and organizations working to protect the security of the Internet, we wish to protest in the strongest terms the continuing illegal detention in Ecuador of Ola Bini, a cyber-security expert, privacy consultant, free software contributor and advocate of digital rights. We see his ongoing, preventive detention as arbitrary and as an attack against us all.
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Indian Pirates urges the people to boycott Facebook
January 1, 1
August 31, 2020 As reported by Wall Street Journal, Facebook is biased towards ruling party in India[1][2][3]. This was inevitable as expecting a profit making corporation to be fair when their profits are at stake is naive. So we are asking people to boycott such centralized social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp which has a really bad track record when it comes to privacy of the users or influencing political choices of users or siding with ruling parties.
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On Indian Government Censorship of the Internet
January 1, 1
February 11, 2015 Recently many sites have been blocked by many Internet Service Providers [1]. We, Indian Pirates, consider this as a violation of our fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the constitution.
Censorship is characteristic of undemocratic nations like China, Iran and Soudi Arabia, should be viewed in contrast with how the governments of Sweden, Netherlands, Iceland, Switzerland, Brazil and many more countries provide their citizens completely unrestricted Internet [2].
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Online education in the time of COVID-19 and the excluded
January 1, 1
June 23, 2020 Read the original content in malayalam here COVID-19 poses many challenges for us. Reopening schools with COVID-19 prevention measures such as social distancing is such a great challenge. It is a welcome move to use technology to respond to changing times, but at the same time under the influence of circumstantial pressure, when such decisions are taken without much thought, we also have the responsibility to ensure, everyone who deserves to be benefited is actually included.
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Open Letter to Arvind Kejriwal on his all male cabinet
January 1, 1
March 8, 2015 In our society discrimination against women based on gender is ubiquitous. This is manifested in not just extreme forms like female foeticide or honour killings, but also daily life situations like restriction on their free movement especially after twilight, having none or inadequate public toilets, the list goes on. We need to eliminate this routine systematized discrimination if we want to be fair and give both halves of the population equal opportunities.
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Statement on Aarogya Setu App Source Code release
January 1, 1
June 2, 2020 Source code for Arogya setu android app has been released and this is a statement regarding it from Indian Pirates (https://pirates.org.in).
We appreciate the government in taking this small step in the right direction, but we want to emphasize that, this falls short of what is expected from a government constitutionally bound to upholding rights of the people.
Public Money, Public Code: We have often asked why is it that software built using tax payer's money not released as free software?
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Statement on Ayodhya Verdict of 9th November 2019
January 1, 1
November 18, 2019 We endorse these reactions from a diverse group of people who are outraged by this judgement. "Listen. Don't despair. We knew this was coming.
This was a purely political judgment made by those in power. It does not change the truth. Truth is eternal and truth always wins.
Whatever has happened, has happened. We know we are right
Let's not be defeated or lose hope because if we do, we are giving them exactly what they want.
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Statement on CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and NRC (National Register of Citizens)
January 1, 1
January 15, 2020 We, Indian Pirates, believe all human beings are equal in dignity and rights. We believe that everyone should be able to enjoy the right to life, liberty and security of person. India for centuries has always welcomed the persecuted, regardless of their religion. That has been our tradition. In this matter, we have remained a nation of righteousness. When a person seeks Indian citizenship, that is an act by their choice.
Reading Time: 6 min
