DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS
LIFE WITHOUT RIGHTS
Prison in Guantanamo Bay
About 600 people were secretly picked up by the US forces from all over the world and put
in a prison in Guantanamo Bay, an area near Cuba controlled by Amercian Navy.
The American government said that they were enemies of the US and linked to the attack on
New York on 11 September 2001.
There was no trial before any magistrate in the US. Nor could these prisoners approach
courts in their own country.
Citizens’ Rights in Saudi Arabia
The country is ruled by a hereditary king and the people have no role in electing or changing
their rulers.
The king selects the legislature as well as the executive. He appoints the judges and can
change any of their decisions.
Citizens cannot form political parties or any political organisations. Media cannot report
anything that the monarch does not like.
There is no freedom of religion. Every citizen is required to be Muslim. Non-Muslim
residents can follow their religion in private, but not in public.
Women are subjected to many public restrictions. The testimony of one man is considered
equal to that of two women.
Ethnic massacre in Kosovo
This was a province of Yugoslavia before its split. In this province the population was
overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian.
But in the entire country, Serbs were in majority. A narrow minded Serb nationalist
Milosevic had won the election.
His government was very hostile to the Kosovo Albanians. He wanted the Serbs to dominate
the country.
Many Serb leaders thought that Ethnic minorities like Albanians should either leave the
country or accept the dominance of the Serbs.
RIGHTS IN A DEMOCRACY
One has to be reasonable in what one expects and demands of everyone else, for one has to grant
the same to everyone.
What are rights?
Rights are claims of a person over other fellow beings, over the society and over the
government.
The claims we make should be reasonable. It has to be recognised by the society we live in.
Rights acquire meaning only in society.
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
When the socially recognised claims are written into law they acquire real force.
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.
Why do we need rights in a democracy?
In a democracy every citizen has to have the right to vote and the right to be elected to
government.
For democratic elections to take place, it is necessary that citizens should have the right to
express their opinion, form political parties and take part in political activities.
Rights also perform a very special role in a democracy.
Rights protect minorities from the oppression of majority.
Rights are guarantees which can be used when things go wrong.
RIGHTS IN THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION
Right to Equality
The Constitution says that the government shall not deny to any person in India equality
before the law or the equal protection of the laws
Every citizen shall have access to public places like shops, restaurants, hotels, and cinema
halls.
Similarly, there shall be no restriction with regard to the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats,
roads, playgrounds and places of public resorts maintained by government or dedicated to
the use of general public.
Right to Freedom
Freedom means absence of constraints
Freedom of speech and expression.
Assembly in a peaceful manner.
Form associations and unions.
Move freely throughout the country.
Reside in any part of the country, and Practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation,
trade or business
Right against Exploitation
Every citizen has a right not to be exploited.
The Constitution mentions three specific evils and declares these illegal.
First, the Constitution prohibits ‘traffic in human beings’. Traffic here means selling and
buying of human beings, usually women, for immoral purposes.
Second, our Constitution also prohibits forced labour or begar in any form. Begar is a
practice where the worker is forced to render service to the ‘master’ free of charge or at a
nominal remuneration. When this practice takes place on a life-long basis, it is called the
practice of bonded labour.
Finally, the Constitution also prohibits child labour. No one can employ a child below the age
of fourteen to work in any factory or mine or in any other hazardous work, such as railways
and ports
Right to Freedom of Religion
Every person has a right to profess, practice and propagate the religion he or she believes in.
Most people in India, like anywhere else in the world, follow different religions. Some may
not believe in any religion.
Secularism is based on the idea that the state is concerned only with relations among human
beings, and not with the relation between human beings and God.
A secular state is one that does not establish any one religion as official religion.
Cultural and Educational Rights
The Constitution specifies the cultural and educational rights of the minorities:
Any section of citizens with a distinct language or culture have a right to conserve it.
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.
All minorities have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their
choice.
Right to Constitutional Remedies.
This itself is a Fundamental Right.
This right makes other rights effective. It is possible that sometimes our rights may be
violated by fellow citizens, private bodies or by the government.
When any of our rights are violated we can seek remedy through courts.
The Supreme Court and High Courts have the power to issue directions, orders or writs
for the enforcement of the Fundamental Rights.
EXPANDING SCOPE OF 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 an environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing;
Right to have access to adequate housing.
Right to have access to health care services, sufficient food and water; no one may be
refused emergency medical treatment.