Democratic Rights

Concept map
- Life without rights
- Six fundamental rights of India
- Expanding scope of
rights

What are Rights?

Rights are reasonable claims of persons recognised by society and sanctioned by law.
[Link] Without Rights

Let’s take 3 examples which will help you understand what it means to live in the absence of
rights.

1) Prison in Guantanamo Bay

The American government picked up about 600 people from all over the world and put them
in a prison in Guantanamo Bay, allegedly without due process of law. The government said
that they were enemies of the US and linked to the attack on New York on 11 September
2001.

2) Citizens’ Rights in Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, the position of the citizens with regard to their government is as mentioned
below:
-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
[Link] cannot form political parties or any political organisations. -There is
no freedom of religion. -Women are subjected to many public restrictions.
3) Ethnic Massacre in Kosovo
Yugoslavia was a small province before its split. The population was overwhelmingly ethnic
Albanian but Serbs were in majority in the country. Milosevic, a Serb nationalist, had won the
election and his government was very hostile to the 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

All of us want to live happily, without fear and without being subjected to bad treatment. For
this, we expect others to behave in such a way that does not harm us or hurt us. Equally, our
actions should not also harm or hurt others.

[Link] in the Indian Constitution

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.
-The government shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, race,
caste, sex or place of birth -Every citizen shall have access to public places like
shops, restaurants, hotels, and cinema halls. -There shall be no
restriction with regard to the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads, playgrounds and
places of public resorts maintained by the government or dedicated to the use of the general
public. -All citizens have equality of opportunity in matters relating to
employment or appointment to any position in the government.
2) Right to Freedom

Under the Indian Constitution, all citizens have the right to:

Freedom of speech and expressionAssemble in a peaceful manner

Form associations and unions. Move freely throughout the country .
Reside in any part of the country.
Practise any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business

You cannot exercise your freedom in such a manner that violates others’ right to freedom
.
3) Right Against Exploitation

Every citizen has a right not to be exploited. The Constitution has clear provisions to prevent
exploitation of the weaker sections of the society. The Constitution mentions 3 specific evils
as mentioned below and declares them illegal.

-The Constitution prohibits ‘traffic in human beings’. Traffic means selling and buying of
human beings, usually women, for immoral purposes. -Our
Constitution 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. -The Constitution prohibits child labour. Under this,
no one can employ a child below the age of 14 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. India is a secular state which means India does not establish any one religion as the
official religion. Freedom to practise religion does not mean that a person can do whatever
he wants in the name of religion. For example, one cannot sacrifice animals or human
beings as offerings to supernatural forces or gods.
5) Cultural and Educational Rights

Indian 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
[Link] to any educational institution maintained by the government or receiving
government aid cannot be denied to any citizen on the grounds of religion or [Link]
minorities have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
[Link] to constitutional remedies

Right to Constitutional Remedies makes the other 5 Fundamental Rights effective. When
any of our rights are violated we can seek remedy through courts. That is why Dr. Ambedkar
called the Right to Constitutional Remedies, ‘the heart and soul’ of our Constitution.

[Link] Scope of Rights

Fundamental Rights are the source of all rights, our Constitution and law offer a wider range
of rights. Over the years the scope of rights has expanded. From time to time, the courts
gave judgments to expand the scope of rights.

Certain rights like the right to freedom of press, right to information, and right to education
are derived from the Fundamental [Link], 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 [Link] has enacted a law giving the
right to information to the [Link] Supreme Court has expanded the meaning of the
right to life to include the right to food.
H.w
1)Why do we need rights in democracy?

Answer the H.W question also