In a stable democracy, national or national security is the first and foremost
preference of any Government. National security does not only concern the
military of the country but also is basically about the stability and security
of the economy and the citizens of the country. Originally, it was thought to be
a need for the superiority of the military. Still, now, it has become a vast
notion that involves the stability of the law and order in the state, a strong
economy, and prominent relations with other states, beneficial ties with the
nearby countries in particular, etc.
However, in today's society, we come across many instances of how the measures
are taken by different governments in the name of security ironically violate
the very fundamental, basic human rights of the citizens of their own country.
While some instances of such obvious violations are brought in the courts for
justice, many of such cases are either affecting a huge section of society, or
are of high-profile nature, hence the factor why these cases get such massive
attention, but a huge number of matters related to fundamental rights or human
rights violations do not even gain coverage or heard because the victims are
common people. Among them, a major population is not even aware of how its basic
rights are being terribly violated!
Why such disparity exists between the cases of the same nature but different
victim groups? How can a distinction be made between what is required for
national security and what causes the violation of human rights? Does there any
element exist for balancing both these factors, and if it exists, how? These
queries have become the subject of discussions, not only in the press but also
in daily life reality.
Multiple dimensions of national security: In India
As India is a populous country of almost 1.3 billion and various methods are
implied to monitor all states, there are a lot of diverse ways to safeguard
every state and the subordinates from exogenous forces that might not
necessarily be of physical nature always. There are a lot of ways of drilling
the national security into the system so that the government misses nothing and
it is able to control any hard situation without letting any of these external
factors harm the national integrity. These dimensions are stated below:
Physical Security:
Physical security or military security is the capability of the military force
of a nation to defend and protect the nation from any external violation or
other non-state actors such as terrorist gangs. But superpowers across the world
use their military power to intimidate the developing countries and also as a
show of power. Such actions of military forces threaten basic human rights on a
large scale.
Cyber Security:
Now, computer and IT has dominated almost every field. This huge reliance of
above fifty percent of the capable workforce has turned out to be a blessing as
well as a challenge for both the government and users. Cyberattacks are
increasing more and more, causing a global panic. So, the cause of cybersecurity
has provided the Government of India a full authority to regulate the activity
of users along with the implementation of an improved version of cybersecurity
and associated grounds of specialization.
Economic security:
For any country to keep flourishing, it needs its economic policies as advanced
as possible while having an eye on its conventional concentration of economic
growth. In India, it means an agriculture-dependent economy, so it needs to
focus on widening and improving this sector and bringing massive changes into
the secondary and tertiary sectors. So, it would keep the ongoing employment
rate intact and pave the way for new employment options.
Natural resources and energy:
Electricity is a basic necessity, and many finite and natural resources, such as
wood, coal, etc., are used to make electricity. Additionally, India depends on
its minerals, petroleum, and coal reserves to fund its factories. So, it creates
the responsibility for government to devise policies to secure and preserve its
natural resources and energy from any kind of misuse.
Political security:
Many political analysts and leaders believe that the national security of a
country can be kept intact only if its political front is stable and strong. It
looks oxymoronic because how come a powerful thing continues to be anchored? It
actually implies that a government stays strong if it can integrate the
different communities and sustain the balance of this system via continuously
bridging the space between various community groups and their political
representation.
Stability also implies that even when the ruling political party
changes, the preceding party's positive actions should be made sure by the next
political party. This cycle will conserve stability and strengthen the political
front with an obvious vision. Somehow, the mega political parties interfere with
the interests of the common public just to feed the interests of their own.
Conclusion
No one can deny this obvious fact that the concerns of national security
supersede the concerns of individual beings, but it does not imply that the
underlying issues related to individual security get ignored. It is a matter of
common understanding that when thinking about holistic protection of the
country, some personal and micro cases are kept aside to deal with later, but it
does not imply that this "later" accounts for neglecting these issues
altogether.
No sensible and rational person will object to her or his not so
personal information being monitored for a legitimate concern such as cybersecurity, but this does not account for any kind of administrative decision
to keep a check on all private and personal activities, particularly what a
person does on their phone, for the sake of national security.
For keeping the
actions of the government in check to ensure no human rights get violated,
certain solid steps should have been taken, but still, there is a long way
forward when it is about actually implementing those steps correctly and with
legally permissible reasons.
References:
- https://www.amnestyusa.org/issues/nationalsecurity/#:~:text=On%20multiple%20fronts%2C%20the%20United,U.S.%20law%20and%20international%20law.&text=The%20U.S.%20has%20used%20lethal,countries%2C%20leading%20to%20civilian%20deaths
- https://blog.ipleaders.in/growth-of-national-security-concerns-and-violation-of-human-rights/
- https://digitalcommons.du.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1430&context=djilp
- https://www.law.upenn.edu/cf/faculty/wburkewh/workingpapers/17HarvHumRtsJ249(2004).pdf
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