Political Science
Ch-5 Democratic Rights
Very short answer type questions.
Q1. What are Fundamental Rights?
Ans. Rights guaranteed by the Constitution to all citizens for their freedom and dignity.
Q2. How many Fundamental Rights are there in the Indian Constitution?
[Link] Fundamental Rights.
Q3. Which right is called the "heart and soul" of the Constitution?
[Link] to Constitutional Remedies.
Q4. What is meant by equality before law?
[Link] citizens are equal in the eyes of law.
Q5. Name any one freedom included in the Right to Freedom.
[Link] of speech and expression.
Q6. Who called the Right to Constitutional Remedies the "heart and soul" of the Constitution?
[Link]. B. R. Ambedkar.
Short answer type questions.
Q1. Why are Fundamental Rights important in a democracy?
Ans Fundamental Rights are important because they:
a) Protect individual freedom
b) Ensure equality
c) Prevent misuse of government power
d) Make democracy meaningful
Q2 What is the Right to Constitutional Remedies?
[Link] right allows citizens to approach courts if their Fundamental Rights are violated. Courts can issue writs to protect
rights.
[Link] is Public Interest Litigation (PIL)?
[Link] allows any citizen to approach courts on behalf of others whose rights are violated, especially the poor and
helpless.
Q4. What happened in Kosovo (Albania) in 1999?
[Link] was one of the worst instances of killings based on ethnic lines in recent time.
Finally, several other countries intervened to stop the massacre. Milosevic lost power and was tried by an International
Court of Justice for crimes against humanity,
[Link] do some rights need to be placed higher than the government?
Ans. i) Things may go wrong when some citizens may wish to take away the rights of others. This sually happens when
those in majority want to dominate in the minority.
ii) The government should protect the citizens' rights in such a situation. But sometimes elected governments may not
protect or may even attack the rights of their own citizens
iii) That is why, some rights need to be placed higher than the government, so that the
government cannot violate them.
Long Answer type questions.
Q1. Write a short note on the National Human Rights Commission.
Ans. NHRC is an independent commission set up by the law in 1993,
Like the Judiciary, the commission is independent of the government.
The commission is appointed by the President and includes retired judges, officers and
eminent citizens does not beat the burden of deciding cases. So it can focus on helping the victims secure
their human rights.
Q2. What are Fundamental Rights? Mention the six Fundamental Rights provided in the Indian Constitutions. Which
Fundamental Right protects the rest of the Fundamental Rights?
[Link] rights which are fundamental to our life are given a special status in the Constitution.
They are called Fundamental Rights.
The Constitution provides six Fundamental Rights:
(a) Right to Equality (b) Right to Freedom
(c) Right to Freedom of Religion (d) Cultural and Educational Rights
(e) Right against Exploitation
▪︎Right to Constitutional Remedies.
Right to constitutional remedies protects the rest of the Fundamental Rights.
[Link] arerights? How can we claim a right ?
Ans. Rights are claims of a person over other fellow beings, the society and the government.
•A right is possible when we make a claim that is equally possible for others. You cannot have a right that harms or hurts
others.
•The Serbs in Yugoslavia could not have claimed the whole country for themselves.
•The claims we make should be reasonable. They should be such that they can be made available to others in equal
measure.
•A right comes with an obligation to respect others' rights.
[Link] do we need rights in a democracy?
Ans.•Rights are necessary for the very sustenance of a democracy.
•In a democracy, every citizen has to have the right to vote and the right to be elected to the government.
•For democratic elections, it is necessary that citizens should have the right to express their opinion, form political parties
and take part in political activities.
•Rights protect the minorities from the oppression of the majority
•Rights are a guarantee which can be used when things go wrong. Things may go wrong when some cuirens may wish to
take away the rights of others.
So. rights perform a very special role in democтасу.
Q5. What are the main features of 'Right to equality?"
Ans.•Every citizen, from the Prime Minister to a small farmer in a remote village, is subject to the same laws.
•Under Right to equality, the government shall not discriminate against any citizen on the grounds of religion, ethnicity,
gender or place of birth.
•Every citizen shall have access to public places like shops, restaurants, hotels and cinema halls.
•All citizens have equality of opportunity in matters relating to employment or appointment to any position in the
government. No citizen shall be discriminated against or made ineligible for employment on any grounds.
•Equality means giving everyone an equal opportunity to achieve whatever one is capable of Sometimes, it is necessary to
give special treatment to someone in order to ensure equal equal opportunity.