Democratic Rights

• Rights are reasonable claims of persons recognised by society and sanctioned by law.
• 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
government.
• Rights also perform a very special role in a democracy.
• Rights protect minorities from the oppression of the majority.
• They ensure that the majority cannot do whatever it likes.
• Rights are guarantees which can be used when things go wrong.

Life Without Rights

1. Prison in Guantanamo Bay

• About 600 people were secretly picked up by the US forces from all over the world.
• They were put in a prison in Guantanamo Bay, an area near Cuba controlled by American
Navy.
• They were linked to the attack on New York on 11 September 2001.
• The US army arrested them, interrogated them and decided whether to keep them there or
not.
• There was no trial before any magistrate in the US.
• Amnesty International, an International Human Rights Organisation reported that the
prisoners were being tortured in ways that violated the US laws.
• Despite the provisions of international treaties, prisoners were being denied the treatment.
• Many prisoners tried to protest by going on a hunger strike, they were not released even
after they were declared not guilty.
• Amnesty International (An international organisation of volunteers) who campaign for
human rights.
• The UN Secretary General said the prison in Guantanamo Bay should be closed down but
the US government refused to accept these pleas.
2. Citizens’ Rights in Saudi Arabia

• In Saudi Arabia, the rights and freedoms of citizens are severely restricted.
• The country is governed by a hereditary monarchy where the king holds absolute power.
• Citizens have no say in electing or changing their rulers, and political participation is heavily
controlled.
• The king selects the Legislature as well as the Executive. He appoints the judges and can
change any of their decisions.
• There are no political parties or organizations allowed.
• 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.
• Women face significant societal and legal restrictions, impacting their ability to participate
fully in public life.
• These restrictions highlight the lack of basic rights and liberties for Saudi citizens,
contributing to ongoing debates about human rights in the region.
• There are many countries in the world where conditions like Saudi Arabia exist.

Ethnic Massacre in Kosovo

• Kosovo was a province of Yugoslavia before its split.

• In Yugoslavia, Serbs were in majority and Albanians were in minority.
• A narrow minded Serb leader Slobodan 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
• A brutal massacre took place in Kosovo in which thousands of Albanians were killed.
 • “74-year-old Batisha Hoxha was sitting in her kitchen with her 77- year–old husband, Izet,
staying warm by the stove.
• They had heard explosions but did not realise that Serbian troops had already entered the
town.
• The next thing she knew, five or six soldiers had burst through the front door and were
demanding “Where are your children?” “… they shot Izet three times in the chest” recalled
Batisha.
• With her husband dying before her, the soldiers pulled the wedding ring off her finger and
told her to get out. “I was not even outside the gate when they burned the house”.
• She was standing on the street in the rain with no house, no husband, no possessions but
the clothes she was wearing.”
• This news report was typical of what happened to thousands of Albanians in that period.
• Finally, several other countries intervened to stop the massacre.
• Milosevic lost power and was tried by the International Court of Justice for crimes against
humanity.
• As a result, Kosovo with the majority population of Albanians declared independence in
February 2008.

Rights In A Democracy

• In the discussed examples, the victims are the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, women in
Saudi Arabia and Albanians in Kosovo.
• So, in these positions, everyone would desire a system where security, dignity and fair play
are assured.
• Rights are essential in a democracy as they ensure that everyone can live happily and
without fear of mistreatment.
• Everyone wants a system where at least a minimum assurance is guaranteed to all, whether
he/she powerful or weak, rich or poor, majority or minority.
• No one, should be arrested without proper reason and information.
• If it happens then he/she should have a fair chance to defend themselves.
 • This assurance should not only be on paper.
• There should be someone to enforce them and to punish those who violate them. This is
real spirit behind the rights.
• For a claim to qualify as a right, it must meet three criteria:
i) Reasonableness
ii) Social Recognition
iii) Legal Recognition

Why do we need rights in a democracy?

• 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 are guarantees which can be used when things go wrong.
• The government should protect the citizens’ rights.
• Rights protect minorities from the oppression of majority.
• They ensure that majority cannot do whatever it wishes to do.
• In most democracies, the basic rights of the citizen are written down in the constitution.

Rights in the Indian Constitution

• In India, like most other democracies in the world, these rights are mentioned in the
Constitution.
• Some rights which are fundamental to our life are given a special status in Indian
Constitution. They are called Fundamental Rights.
• These are the basic human rights, which are given to every citizen in a democracy for the
development of his/her personality.
• These rights are guaranted by the Constitution.
• They promise to secure for all its citizens equality, liberty and justice.
• Hence, they are an important basic feature of India’s Constitution.
• The six Fundamental Rights recognised by the Constitution are -
 a) Right to Equality
b) Right to Freedom
c) Right against Exploitation
d) Right to Freedom of Religion
e) Cultural and Educational Rights
f) Right to Constitutional Remedies

1. 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.
It means that the laws apply in the same manner to all, regardless of a person’s status. This
is called the rule of law.
• Right to Equality is the foundation of any democracy. It means that no person is above the
law.
• The government shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race,
caste, sex or place of birth.
• Every citizen shall have access to public places like shops, restaurants, hotels and cinema
halls.
• Similarly, there shall be no restrictions 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.
• All citizens have equality of opportunity in matters relating to employment or appointment
to any position in the government.
• However, Reservations are not a violation of the Right to Equality.

Reservations

• The Government of India has provided reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled
Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). But these reservations are not against the
Right to Equality.
 • Equality does not mean giving everyone the same treatment, no matter what they need.
• Rather it 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
opportunity. Thus, the reservations of this kind are not a violation of the Right to Equality.
• Untouchability, the principle of non-discrimination extends to social life as well.
The Constitution directs the government to put an end to the practice of untouchability.
It is the extreme form of social discrimination.
• Untouchability does not mean refusal to touch people belonging to certain castes.
Rather it refers to any belief or social practice which looks down upon people account of
their birth with certain caste labels.
Such practice denies their interaction with others or access to public places as equal citizens.
• That’s why the Constitution made untouchability a punishable offence.

2. Right to Freedom

• Freedom means absence of restriction.

• In practical life it means absence of interference in our affairs by others – be it other
individuals or the government.
• Under the Indian Constitution all citizens have the right to:
❖ 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
❖ Practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.
• Freedom of speech and expression is one of the essential features of any democracy.
However, this freedom should not be used to instigate violence against others.
• Citizens also have the freedom to hold meetings, processions, rallies and demonstrations on
any issue.
• Citizens can also form association. But such meetings have to be peaceful.
 • They should not lead to public disorder or breach of peace in society. Those who participate
in these activities and meetings should not carry weapons with them.
• Citizens have the freedom to travel to any part of the country. They are free to reside and
settle in any part of the territory of India.
• The Constitution says that no person can be deprived of his life or personal liberty except
according to procedure established by law.
• It also means that a government or police officer cannot arrest or detain any citizen unless
he has proper legal justification.
• Even when they do, they have to follow some procedures:
❖ A person who is arrested and detained in custody 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 or engage a lawyer for his
defence.

3. Right against Exploitation

• Every citizen has a right not to be exploited.

• Under the right against exploitation, 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.
• 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.
• 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.
4. Right to Freedom of Religion

• Every person has a right to profess, practice and propagate the religion he or she believes in.
• Every religious group or sect is free to manage its religious affairs.
• A right to propagate one’s religion, however, does not mean that a person has the right to
compel another person to convert into his religion by means of force, fraud, inducement or
allurement.
• Freedom to practice religion does not mean that a person can do whatever he wants in the
name of religion.
• The government cannot compel any person to pay any taxes for the promotion or
maintenance of any particular religion or religious institution.
• There shall be no religious instruction in the government educational institutions.
• In educational institutions managed by private bodies no person shall be compelled to take
part in any religious instruction or to attend any religious worship.
• 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 an official religion.

5. Cultural and Educational Rights

• The working of democracy gives power to majority.

• Thus, it is the language, culture and religion of minorities that need special protection.
• Otherwise, they may get neglected or undermined under the impact of the language,
religion and culture of the majority.
• The following cultural and educational rights for minorities are specified by our Constitution
➢ Any section of citizens with a distinct language or culture have a right to conserve it.
➢ Admission to any educational institution maintained by the government or receiving-
government aid cannot be denied to any citizen on the grounds of religion or
language.
➢ All minorities have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of
their choice.
6. Right to Constitutional Remedies

• The fundamental rights in the Constitution are important because they are enforceable.
• We have a right to seek the enforcement of fundamental rights. This is called the Right to
Constitutional Remedies.
• 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.
• It is a Fundamental Right, we can directly approach the Supreme Court or the High Court of
a state
• Fundamental Rights are guaranteed against the actions of the Legislatures, the Executive,
and any other authorities instituted by the government.
There can be no law or action that violates the Fundamental Rights.
• 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.
• Dr. Ambedkar called the Right to Constitutional Remedies, ‘the heart and soul’ of our
Constitution.

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)

• It is an independent commission established in 1993.

• The Commission is appointed by the President.
• The Commission focuses on helping the victims to secure their human rights.
• These include all the rights granted to the citizens by the Constitution.
• The Commission also considers the Human Rights mentioned in the UN sponsored
international treaties that India has signed.
• The NHRC makes an independent and credible inquiry into any case of violation of human
rights.
• The Commission presents its findings and recomrpendations to the government.
Expanding scope of Rights

• Demands for many new Fundamental Rights have been coming up time to time.
• Some of these demands have been included under the scope of Fundamental Rights.
• For example, Right to Freedom of Press, Right to Education and Right to Information.
• According to the Right to Education, every child has the right to get elementary education.
• According to Right to Information, anybody can demand information regarding the
functions of a government department or official.
• Constitution provides many more rights, which may not be Fundamental Rights
(Right to Property, Right to Vote in Election are not Fundamental Rights, but these are
Constitutional Rights.)

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

• The international covenant recognises many rights that are not directly a part of the
Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution.
• This has not yet become an international treaty.
• But human right activists all over the world see this as a standard of human rights.
These include

i) Right to work i.e. an opportunity to everyone to earn a livelihood by working.

ii) Right to safe and healthy working conditions, fair wages that can provide a decent

standard of living for the workers and their families.

iii) Right to an adequate standard of living including adequate food, clothing and housing.

iv) Right to social security and insurance.

v) Right to health i.e. medical care during illness, special care for women during childbirth and

prevention of epidemics.

vi) Right to education i.e. free and compulsory primary education, equal access to higher

education.
 • Claim Demand for legal or moral entitlements, a person makes on fellow citizens, society or
the government.
• Covenant Promise made by individuals, groups or countries to uphold a rule or principle. It
is legally binding on the signatories to the agreement or the statement.

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.

Claim

• Demand for legal or moral entitlements a person makes on fellow citizens, society or the
government.

Covenant

• Promise made by individuals, groups or countries to uphold a rule or principle.

• It is legally binding on the signatories to the agreement or statement.

Dalit

• A person who belongs to the castes which were considered low and not touchable by
others.
• Dalits are also known by other names such as the Scheduled Castes, Depressed Classes etc.

Ethnic group

• An ethnic group is a human population whose members usually identify with each other on
the basis of a common ancestry.
• People of an ethnic group 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.

Important Question

Q 1. Why are rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution called Fundamental Rights?

Q 2. Mention the restrictions that can be imposed on various forms of freedoms granted by the Indian

Constitution.

Q 3. ”Secularism is based on the idea that the state is concerned only with relations among human beings.”

Explain.

Q 4. Mention any three rights of a detained person.

Q 5. What is the position of the citizens in Saudi Arabia with respect to their government?

Q 6. Describe the various provisions given under the Right against Exploitation.

Q 7. Can a person change his religion? Support your answer with the concerned Fundamental Right.

Q 8. Mention any two limitations of freedom of speech and expression.

Q 9. Dr Ambedkar called the Right to Constitutional Remedies, “the heart and soul of our constitution”.

Give reason.

Q 10. Mention three major Constitutional provisions for the protection of women and children in India.

Q 11. ‘The Right to Freedom is actually a cluster of several rights.’ Discuss