1. Why do we need rights in a democracy?

Answer:1. Fundamental Rights provide the conditions which are essential for the development of the
inherent qualities in man and to secure his all round growth.
[Link] are necessary to preserve human dignity and promote social progress in an atmosphere of
freedom.
[Link] provide civil liberties, without which democracy cannot be even conceived.
[Link] are a significant check on the arbitrary use of power by the government.
[Link] protect minorities from the oppression of majority.

2. Mention the provisions of Fundamental Right against exploitation.

Answer: [Link] of Traffic in Human Beings and Forced Labour: Under this traffic in human
beings and “begar” or any other form of forced labour is prohibited. This means that sale and purchase
of women, men and children and making a person work against their will without payment is banned.

[Link] of Employment of Children in Factories: No child below the age of 14 years shall be
employed in a factory or mine and in other hazardous work. Thus child labour is banned, because this is
considered as an exploitation, and as such it is illegal.

3. What are Human Rights?

Answer: Human Rights are those rights, which are inherent in our nature. Without these rights, we
cannot live as human beings. Human rights allow us to fully develop and use our human qualities,
intelligence, talents and conscience. They allow us to satisfy our spiritual and other needs.

4. Write a short note on the following fundamental rights:

(а) Right to Freedom of Religion.

(b) Cultural and Educational Rights.

Answer:

(a) Right to Freedom of Religion: Right to freedom of religion provides religious freedom to all the
citizens of India. All religions are equal before the state and no religion will be given preference over the
other. Citizens are free to practice their respective religions. Foremost objective of this right is to sustain
the principle of secularism in the country. No state-run institution can give religious education.
Religious communities can set up charitable institutions of their own.
(b) Cultural and Educational Rights: India is multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-cultural, each
having its own identity and characteristics. To preserve these diversities, it is natural to grant the
following Cultural and Educational Rights to the minorities and other communities.

Right to Conserve the Language, Script and Culture- Under this Right, minorities have the right to
conserve their distinct language, script or culture and to join state-owned or state-aided institutions
without discriminations.

Right to Establish Educational Institutions: Under this each minority group has a right to establish and
administer educational institutions of its choice. The State shall not discriminate between minorities,
while granting aid to their educational institutions.

5. Dr Ambedkar called the Right to Constitutional Remedies, “the heart and soul of our constitution”.
Give reason.

Answer: It is through this Right that all other Fundamental Rights are safeguarded and arbitrary action
of the state is checked.

Under this Right, a citizen is entitled to move the Supreme Court or any High Court or any other courts
so authorised, if his/ her Fundamental Right (or Rights) is encroached upon, abridged or snatched away
by the State, an individual or a body of persons. The courts are empowered to issue orders, directions
and writs to the concerned to protect the rights of the complainant.

6. Are the reservations provided to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs against the Right
to Equality?

Answer: These reservations are not against the Right to Equality. In a broader sense, equality does not
mean giving the same treatment to everyone, no matter what they need. Equality means giving everyone
an equal opportunity to achieve whatever one is capable of. Sometimes, it is necessary to give job
reservations to socially and economically backward sections of the society to ensure equal opportunity.
The Constitution says that the reservations of this kind are not a violation of the Right to Equality.

7. How are the Fundamental Rights guaranteed?

Answer: The Fundamental Rights are guaranteed by the following ways :

(a) The Fundamental Rights are guaranteed against the actions of the Legislature, the Executive, and any
other authorities instituted by the government. There can be no law or action that violates the
Fundamental Rights.
(b) If any act of the Legislature or the Executive takes away or limits any of the Fundamental Rights, it
will be invalid. We can challenge such laws of the central and state governments, the policies and
actions of the government or the governmental organisations like the nationalized banks or electricity
boards.

(c) Courts also enforce the Fundamental Rights against private individuals and private bodies. The
Supreme Court and High Courts have the power to issue directions, orders or writs for the enforcement
of the Fundamental Rights. They can also award compensation to the victims and punishment to the
violators.

8. Explain the expanding scope of rights.

Answer: [Link] time to time, the courts gave judgments to expand the scope of rights. Certain rights
like right to freedom of press, right to information, and right to education are derived from the
Fundamental Rights.

2. Now, school education has become a right for Indian citizens. The governments are responsible for
providing free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14 years.

[Link] has enacted a law giving the right to information to the citizens. This Act was made under
the Fundamental Right to freedom of thought and expression. We have a right to seek information from
government offices.

[Link], the Supreme Court has expanded the meaning of the right to life to include the right to food.
Also, rights are not limited only to Fundamental Rights as enumerated in the Constitution.

[Link] provides many more rights, which may not be Fundamental [Link] example, the right
to property is not a Fundamental Right, but it is a constitutional right. Right to vote in elections is an
important constitutional right. Sometimes, the expansion takes place in what is called human rights.

6. These are universal moral claims that may or may not have been recognized by law. In that sense,
these claims are not rights. With the expansion of democracy all over the world, there a greater pressure
on governments to accept these claims.

9. What is Amnesty International? State the condition of prisoners according to the report of Amnesty
International in Guantanamo Bay.
Answer: It is 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 and
collected information on the condition of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.

The prisoners were being tortured in ways that violated the US laws.

[Link] were being denied the treatment that even prisoners of war must get as per international treaties.

[Link] prisoners had tried protesting against these conditions by going on a hunger strike.

3. Prisoners were not released even after they were officially declared not guilty.

10. What are rights? How are they related to the society?

Answer:

(i) Rights are claims of a person over other fellow beings, over the society and over the government. The
claims should be reasonable. They should be such, that can be made available to others in an equal
measure. Thus, a right comes with an obligation to respect other rights.

(ii)Every society makes certain rules to regulate our conduct. They tell us what is right and what is
wrong. What is recognised by the society as rightful becomes the basis of rights. That is why the notion
of rights changes from time to time and society to society.

When law recognises some claims, they become enforceable. We can then demand their application.

So, if we want to call any claim a right, it has to have these three qualities. Rights are reasonable claims
of persons recognised by society and sanctioned by law.