Part of: Prelims and GS-II – Polity and Governance
Context The word ‘anti-national’ has not been defined in statutes, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has informed the Lok Sabha.
Key pointers from the Ministry
It added that ‘anti-national activity’ was inserted in the Constitution during the Emergency in 1976 but was removed later.
There are criminal legislation and various judicial pronouncements to sternly deal with unlawful and subversive activities which are detrimental to the unity and integrity of the country.
Public Order’ and ‘Police’ were State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
The responsibility of maintaining law and order rested primarily with the respective State government.
NCRB data
In 2019, when the National Crime Records Bureau released the annual Crime in India report for 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.
