(1) Prison in Guantanamo Bay
The American government picked up about 600 people from all over the world and put them in 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:
1. The country is ruled by a hereditary king, and the people have no role in electing or changing their rulers.
2. The king selects the legislature as well as the executive.
3. Citizens cannot form political parties or any political organisations.
4. There is no freedom of religion.
5. 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 the 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.
● A right is possible when you make a claim that is equally possible for others.
● A right comes with an obligation to respect others’ rights.
What is recognised by society as rightful becomes the basis of rights. That is why the notion of rights
changes from time to time and from society to society.
Any claim can be called a right if it has the following 3 qualities:
● The claim should be reasonable.
● The claims should be recognised by society.
● The claim should be sanctioned by law.
Why Do We Need Rights in a Democracy?
In a democracy, every citizen has the right to vote and the right to be elected to government. Rights play
a very special role in a democracy. Rights protect minorities from the oppression of the majority. Rights
are guarantees which can be used when things go wrong.
Rights in the Indian Constitution
You already know our Constitution provides for 6 Fundamental Rights. Let’s discuss them one by one.
How Can We Secure These Rights?
Right to Constitutional Remedies makes the other 5 Fundamental Rights effective. When any of our rights
are violated, we can seek a remedy through the courts. That is why Dr. Ambedkar called the Right to
Constitutional Remedies, ‘the heart and soul’ of our Constitution.
1. Fundamental Rights are guaranteed against the actions of the Legislatures, the Executive, and any other
authorities instituted by the government.
2. There can be no law or action that violates the Fundamental Rights.
3. If any act of the Legislature or the Executive takes away or limits any of the Fundamental Rights, it will be invalid.
Expanding 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.
1. Certain rights, like the Right to Freedom of the 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.
3. Parliament has enacted a law giving the right to information to the citizens.
4. The Supreme Court has expanded the meaning of the right to life to include the right to food.
The Constitution provides many more rights which may not be Fundamental Rights. For example, the
Right to Property is not a Fundamental Right, but it is a constitutional right. The Right to Vote in elections
is an important constitutional right.
Allied powers- united states, united kingdom, soviet union,china, france, canada,austria,new zealand, india, south
africa,norway,poland,belgium,greece, yugoslavia
Axis power- germany, italy,japan,hungary,romania,finland
Neutral power- switzerland, sweden, spain, portugal, turkey, ireland, afghanistan
