Class: IX Democratic Rights

Key Notes
Democracy requires three essential elements:
(1) Regular, free and fair elections
(2) Institutions working under constitutional rules and procedures.
(3) Enjoyment of rights by citizens
Without rights, elections and institutions alone cannot make a
government democratic. Rights place limits on the elected rulers and
protect citizens.

Life Without Rights

Case Study 1: Prison in Guantanamo Bay
● About 600 people were secretly picked up by the US forces and
detained in a prison in Guantanamo Bay near Cuba.
● They American government claimed that these people were linked with
the terrorist attack on USA on September 11, 2001.
● In most cases, these people’s respective governments were not
informed and their families were not allowed to meet them.
● There was no trial before the US magistrate or access to any other
courts.
● It was found that the prisoners were interrogated and tortured in ways
that denied human dignity.
● There were repeated pleas from the UN and other human rights groups
to close the prison and release the prisoners, but the USA refused.
● This example shows denial of legal safeguards and due process, and
violation of right to personal liberty and life.
Case Study 2: Citizens’ Rights in Saudi Arabia
● The country is ruled by a hereditary monarchy and citizens have no
role in electing or changing their rulers.
● All major institutions of the country – legislature, executive and
judiciary – are selected and appointed by the king who can also change
any of their decisions.
● Citizens are not allowed to form political parties and there is heavy
censorship on media.
● There is no freedom of religion, every citizen is required to be a
Muslim. Non-Muslims can only follow their religion privately.
● Women face many public restrictions. The testimony of one man is
equivalent to that of two women.
● This shows absence of political, civil and personal rights in a non-
democratic country.

Case Study 3: Ethnic Massacre in Kosovo

● Thousands of ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo province of erstwhile
(former) Yugoslavia were targeted, displaced and killed by their own
army under the leadership of majoritarian Serb leader, Milosevic.
● Democratically elected government failed to protect minorities.
● This is one of the worst instances of killings based on ethnic prejudices
(bias) in recent times.
● Eventually, several other countries intervened to stop this massacre.
Milosevic lost power and was tried by the International Court of Justice
for crimes against humanity.
● This demonstrates how democracy without rights can lead to
majoritarian domination over minorities.
What are Rights?
Rights are reasonable claims of persons, recognized by the society and
sanctioned by the law.
A claim becomes a right only when:
● It is reasonable.
● It is recognised by society.
● It is sanctioned by law.
Rights always carry corresponding duties and reasonable restrictions.
Why Rights are Necessary in Democracy
● To sustain democracy through participation in political activities (right
to vote, right to get elected, right to express opinions, right to form
political parties).
● To protect the minorities from the oppression of the majority (E.g.
minority Albanians were suppressed by the majority Serbians).
● To limit the power of the government by placing some basic rights
above the government.
● To provide guarantees or safeguards when things go wrong.
● To ensure dignity, security, liberty and equality of all citizens.

Rights in the Indian Constitution

Fundamental Rights:
The Indian constitution provides six fundamental rights which are
contained in Part III of the Constitution of India (Articles 12–35). They are
justiciable and enforceable by courts.
(I) Right to Equality (Articles 14–18)
● Equality before law and equal protection of laws. This is called the
Rule of Law [Article 14]. This implies that the laws apply in the same
manner to everyone, regardless of their status or position.
● The government shall not discriminate against any citizen on
grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth [Article 15].
● Every citizen shall have access to public places like shops,
restaurants, hotels, cinema halls, wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads,
playgrounds, etc. maintained by government or dedicated to the use of
general public. Some communities were not allowed equal access to
these spaces under the traditional caste system.
● Equality of opportunity in public employment [Article 16]. All
citizens have equality of opportunity in matters relating to employment or
appointment to any position in the government.
● Reservations are provided for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes
and Other Backward Classes, and to women, poor or physically
handicapped in some cases. These reservations are not a violation of
Right to Equality as this is a case of providing special treatment to
someone in order to ensure equality of opportunity. Equals should be
treated equally and unequals should be treated unequally.
● Abolition of the practice of untouchability in any form and making it
a punishable offence. [Article 17]. Untouchability refers to any belief or
social practice that looks down upon people on the basis of their caste.
● Abolition of titles (except military and academic) such as Raja,
Nawab, Sir, etc. [Article 18].

(II) Right to Freedom (Articles 19–22)

● The Indian constitution, under Article 19, provides all citizens the right
to -
(i) Freedom of speech and expression:
▪ It allows citizens to express their views (opinions). One is free to
criticise the government or the activities of an association in their
conversations, publicise one’s views through a pamphlet, magazine,
newspaper, paintings, poetry or songs.
▪ However, this freedom cannot be used to instigate (initiate) violence
or to incite (encourage to do something unpleasant) people to rebel
against government. Moreover, it can’t be used to defame others by
saying false and mean things.
(ii) Assembly in a peaceful manner: Citizens have the freedom to hold
meetings, processions, rallies and demonstrations on any issue in a
peaceful manner. It should not cause public disorder.
(iii) Form associations and unions: Citizens can form unions (e.g.
workers’ union) and associations to promote their interests or campaign
against issues like corruption, pollution, etc.
(iv) Move freely throughout the country.
(v) Reside in any part of the country:
▪ A citizen can set up base in any part of India, subject to reasonable
restrictions to protect the interests of any Scheduled Tribe or the
maintenance of public order.
▪ This right allows lakhs of people to migrate from villages to towns
and from poorer regions of the countries to prosperous regions and
big cities.
(vi) Practice any profession, occupation, trade or business:
▪ No one can be forced to do or not to do a certain job.
▪ Women cannot be told that some kinds of occupations are not for
them.
▪ People from deprived castes cannot be kept to their traditional
occupations.
However, freedom is not unlimited license to do anything one wants. It
should not violate other people’s freedoms and should not cause public
nuisance or disorder. Thus, reasonable restrictions can be imposed on
these freedoms in the larger interests of the society.
● Protection to people accused in criminal offences [Article 20]. It
provides three protections to all individuals:
▪ A person cannot be punished under a law that was made after the
criminal act was committed.
▪ A person cannot be punished twice for the same crime.
▪ No person can be forced to be a witness against himself/herself.
● Protection of life and personal liberty [Article 21].
▪ No person can be deprived of his life or personal liberty except
according to procedure established by law. It means that no person
can be killed unless the court has ordered a death sentence.
▪ It includes the Right to Education for all children from 6 to 14 years
of age.
▪ It has been expanded by Supreme Court to include dignity,
livelihood, clean environment, privacy.
● Protection against arbitrary arrest and detention [Article 22]. It
means that a government or police officer cannot arrest or detain any
citizen without proper legal justification.
▪ A person who is arrested and detained will have to be informed of
the reasons for such arrest and detention.
▪ A person who is arrested and detained shall be produced before the
nearest magistrate within a period of 24 hours of arrest.
▪ Such a person has the right to consult a lawyer for his defence.

(III) Right against Exploitation (Articles 23–24)

Every citizen has a right not to be exploited. However, right against
exploitation provides clear provisions to prevent exploitation of the
weaker sections of the society.
● It prohibits human trafficking (selling & buying of human beings) and
forced labour, begar or bonded labour [Article 23].
▪ Begar is a practice where the worker is forced to provide service
free of charge or at a nominal remuneration (income). When this
practice takes place on a life-long basis, it is called bonded labour.
● It prohibits child labour in hazardous occupations (factories, mines,
railways, ports, etc.) below 14 years [Article 24].
▪ On this basis, many laws have been made to prohibit children from
working in industries such as beedi making, firecrackers and
matches, printing and dyeing.

(IV) Right to Freedom of Religion (Articles 25–28)

A secular state does not establish any one religion as official religion.
India is a secular state which practices an attitude of a principled and
equal distance from all religions. However, the state can interfere and
stop religious practices which favour discrimination (e.g. inferior
treatment of women).
● Every person has a right to profess, practice and propagate the
religion he or she believes in [Article 25].
● Every religious group or sect is free to manage its religious affairs
[Article 26].
● No one can be compelled to pay any taxes for the promotion or
maintenance of any particular religion or religious institution [Article
27].
● No religious instruction in the government educational institutions
[Article 28].
▪ In private educational institutions, no person shall be compelled to
take part in any religious instruction or to attend any religious
worship.
● No person has the right to compel another person to convert into his
religion by means of force, fraud, inducement or allurement. A person is
free to change religion on his or her own will.
● Freedom of religion does not permit practices harmful to public order or
dignity (e.g. sacrificing animals or human beings as offerings to God,
discrimination against women).

(V) Cultural and Educational Rights (Articles 29–30)

The Constitution specifies the cultural and educational rights of the
minorities:
● Any section of citizens with a distinct language or culture has a right to
conserve it [Article 29].
● All minorities have the right to establish and administer educational
institutions of their choice [Article 30].
▪ Admission to any educational institution maintained by government
or receiving government aid cannot be denied to any citizen on the
ground of religion or language.

▪ Minority can be defined at the national as well as state level based

on religion, language or culture. For example, Telugu speaking
people form a majority in Andhra Pradesh, but they are a minority in
the neighbouring State of Karnataka. Sikhs constitute a majority in
Punjab, but they are a minority in Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi.

Why are there no special guarantees for the majority? The working of
democracy gives power to the majority. It is the language, culture and
religion of minorities that needs special protection. Otherwise, they may
get neglected or undermined (suppressed) under the impact of the
language, religion and culture of the majority.
(VI) Right to Constitutional Remedies (Article 32)
● Right to approach the Supreme Court for the enforcement of
Fundamental Rights [Article 32]
● Enforcement of fundamental rights can be sought through the High
Courts as well [Article 226].
● Dr. B.R. Ambedkar called this right the 'heart and soul' of the
Constitution as it provides a guarantee of enforcement for other
fundamental rights.
● Fundamental Rights are guaranteed against the actions of the
Legislatures, the Executive, and any other authorities instituted by the
government [Article 12].
● There can be no law or action that violates the Fundamental Rights. If
any act of the Legislature or the Executive is inconsistent with
Fundamental Rights, it will be invalid [Article 13].
● Courts also enforce the Fundamental Rights against private individuals
and bodies.
● The Supreme Court and High Courts have the power to issue
directions, orders or writs for the enforcement of the Fundamental Rights.
● Courts can issue various writs (formal written order to the
government): Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition, Certiorari, Quo
Warranto.
● Any person can go to court against the violation of the Fundamental
Right, if it is of social or public interest. It is called Public Interest
Litigation (PIL). Under the PIL, any citizen or group of citizens can
approach the Supreme Court or a High Court for the protection of public
interest against a particular law or action of the government.

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)

● This is an independent commission set up by law in 1993 to help in
protecting and promoting human rights in the country. It is appointed by
the President and includes retired judges, officers and eminent
(important) citizens.
● It intervenes in cases of human rights violations on behalf of victims
and focuses on helping the victims secure their human rights.
● The NHRC has wide ranging powers to carry out an independent and
credible inquiry into any case of violation of human rights. Like any court,
it can summon (order to appear) witnesses, question any government
official, demand any official paper, visit any prison for inspection or send
its own team for on-the-spot inquiry.
● The Commission cannot punish the guilty by itself. However, it
presents its findings and recommendations to the government or
intervene in the court on behalf of the victims.
● Similar to NHRC, there are State Human Rights Commissions in all the
28 states of the country.

Expanding the Scope of Rights

The scope of rights has expanded and new rights have evolved over time
through:
(i) Judicial interpretation (Court judgments)
(ii) Legislation (Laws made by the Parliament)
(iii) Pressure from global expansion of democracy
(iv) International covenants
● Rights like right to freedom of press, right to information, and right
to education are derived from the Fundamental Rights.
● Right to information has been provided to the citizens by the RTI Act.
This Act was made under the Fundamental Right to freedom of thought
and expression. Through this, we have the right to seek information from
government offices.
● The Supreme Court has expanded the meaning of the right to life to
include the right to food and right to privacy.
● The constitution provides many more rights, which may not be
Fundamental Rights. For e.g., the right to property and right to vote
are important constitutional rights. Right to property was earlier a
fundamental right under Article 31.
● Human rights are universal moral claims that may or may not have
been recognised by law. With the expansion of democracy all over the
world, there is greater pressure on governments to accept these claims.
● Some international covenants have also contributed to the expansion
of rights. E.g. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

This international covenant recognises many rights that are not directly a
part of the Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution. It has not yet
become an international treaty. But human right activists all over the
world consider it a standard of human rights. These include:
● Right to work: opportunity to everyone to earn livelihood by working.
● Right to safe and healthy working conditions and fair wages.
● Right to adequate standard of living including adequate food,
clothing and housing.
● Right to social security and insurance.
● Right to health: medical care during illness, special care for women
during childbirth and prevention of epidemics.
● Right to education: free and compulsory primary education, equal
access to higher education.
New rights emerge as societies develop or as new constitutions are
made. The Constitution of South Africa guarantees its citizens several
kinds of new rights:
● Right to privacy, so that citizens or their home cannot be searched,
their phones cannot be tapped, their communication cannot be opened.
● Right to a healthy environment.
● Right to adequate housing.
● Right to health care services, sufficient food and water.

Important Terms
● Covenant: A promise made by individuals, groups or countries to
uphold (follow) a rule or principle. It is legally binding on those who sign
the agreement.
● Ethnic group: A group of people whose members share common
ancestry and are united by cultural practices, religious beliefs and
historical memories.
● Traffic: Selling and buying of men, women or children for immoral
purposes.
● Summon: An order issued by a court asking a person to appear before
it.
● Writ: A formal document containing an order of the court to the
government issued only by High Court or the Supreme Court.
● Amnesty International: An international organisation of volunteers
who campaign for human rights. This organisation brings out
independent reports on the violation of human rights all over the world.