Amend the Preamble: Emphasize “Security with Sovereignty”
Dr Buragadda Srinath
In a nation as vast and diverse as India, national security must be a paramount concern within the constitutional framework. Freedom is meaningless without the assurance of life, order, and sovereignty. When individual liberties are exploited to incite terror, sedition, or communal unrest, they cease to be rights and become threats.
It is the solemn duty of the State to protect the peaceful majority by restricting the liberties of a dangerous minority. In an era marked by hybrid warfare, digital subversion, and ideological extremism, the Constitution must evolve. The Republic’s security must not be compromised in the name of unchecked freedom.
Accordingly, we affirm that the right to national security must be enshrined as a fundamental right, and all other rights must be exercised in alignment with this foundational principle.
Reconceptualize Privacy Rights
Just as individuals enjoy rights to life, liberty, and dignity, they must also be guaranteed the right to live in a secure and stable nation. Civil liberties can flourish only in an atmosphere of internal peace and external protection. It is imperative to protect citizens from terrorism, extremism, and destabilizing ideologies.
While individual freedoms must be respected, they may be limited—through legally sanctioned measures—when required to ensure collective safety, national integrity, and public order.
Proposed Constitutional Amendment: Insertion of Article 21B – Right to National Security
Article 21B – “Every citizen of India shall have the right to national security as a fundamental right. This right shall include the protection of life, public order, territorial sovereignty, and the digital integrity of the Republic. The State shall have the authority to take necessary legislative, executive, and technological measures to ensure such protection, notwithstanding other fundamental rights, when national security is under credible threat.”
Policy Translation: National Sovereignty Act and Preamble Revision
A constitutional amendment must be introduced to revise the Preamble, emphasizing “Security with Sovereignty.” This should be supported by the enactment of a National Sovereignty Act—a comprehensive legal framework that incorporates security-based exceptions across civil rights legislation, ensuring that national security considerations are firmly embedded in every interpretation of civil liberties.
Legal Justification and Global Context
- Supplement to Article 21 (Right to Life): The right to life is hollow without national security.
- Global Practices: France and Israel have constitutionally permitted the temporary suspension of certain civil liberties during national emergencies.
- Emerging Threats: Terrorism, cyber warfare, and ideological radicalization require preventive, not reactive, legal frameworks.
Enhance Digital Surveillance: Digital Security Profile (DSP) System
To proactively counter threats, India must establish a Digital Security Profile (DSP) system. This involves:
- Temporarily suspending privacy regulations in high-risk zones or during threat alerts.
- Mandating facial recognition and identity verification for public transport, banking, SIM registration, and social media usage.
- Creating a national surveillance network connecting railway stations, airports, educational institutions, religious centers, and border areas—integrated with Aadhaar, CCTNS, and central intelligence databases.
- Assigning every citizen a DSP score, dynamically updated based on travel patterns, communications, online behavior, and associations. Alerts will be triggered when thresholds are breached.
- Requiring telecom and social media companies to:
- Enable real-time data sharing with government servers,
- Implement face-verified accounts, and
- Flag or restrict suspicious users.
Nations such as the UAE, Israel, and China have successfully implemented similar digital security systems with measurable results. In a world dominated by cyber threats, lone-wolf attacks, and digital radicalization, traditional legal tools are insufficient.
Judicial Outlook: Prioritize National Security over Absolute Liberty
India’s judiciary must adopt a security-first jurisprudence. Courts should strive to balance individual liberties with national survival, recognizing that the right to exist as a nation precedes the right to absolute personal liberty.
The State must be empowered to:
- Conduct preventive surveillance,
- Impose legal restrictions on suspected extremists or hostile actors, and
- Uphold collective security over personal privacy in times of elevated risk.
National security must be recognized not merely as a policy goal but as a constitutional necessity. It is imperative to amend the Constitution and reframe civil rights laws to prevent the misuse of liberties that could endanger national sovereignty. The survival of the Republic—and the freedoms it guarantees—depends on our willingness to prioritize security when it is most under threat.
