In news- Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Lok Sabha that the word ‘anti-national’ has not been defined in statutes.
More information on the word anti-national-
- The word ‘anti-national’ has not been defined in Statutes.
- However, there are criminal legislations and various judicial pronouncements to sternly deal with unlawful and subversive activities which are detrimental to the unity and integrity of the country.
- The Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976 inserted in the Constitution Article 31D (during Emergency) which defined “anti-national activity” and this Article 31D was, subsequently, omitted by the Constitution (3rd Amendment) Act, 1977.
- In 2019, when the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released the annual Crime in India report for the year 2017, it included for the first time a new chapter on “Crime Committed by Anti National Elements.”
- The chapter listed – “North East insurgents, Left Wing Extremists and Terrorists (including Jihadi terrorists)” as the three anti-national elements.
- According to the NCRB report, these three elements were responsible for 398 violent attacks that took place in 2020.
- Parliament’s standing committee on communication and information technology, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, in its report on “ethical standards in media coverage” recommended that the government properly define terms such as “anti-national attitude” to remove any ambiguity in interpretation.
Source: The Hindu
