- Three cases of denial of rights highlight the
importance of rights.
- The Human Rights were violated
1. In Guantanamo Bay by
the US,
US secretly picked up
600 people from all over the world and tortured them. Amnesty International
collected the information about these prisoners.
2 .In Kosovo by
Milosevic’s Government, and
Serbian forces were very
hostile to Kosovo Albanians. They were treated in inhuman way and were tried to
driven away from the nation.
3. Denial of rights in
Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia denies many
human rights to religious minorities and women.
Rights in a Democracy
- Rights are claims of a person over other fellow beings,
over the society and over the government. But every claim is not a right.
• Rights are a must to
ensure the dignity, security and fair play to all the citizens.
• Democracy is a system
in which maximum rights are guaranteed to its citizens.
Rights are reasonable claims of persons recognised by society and
sanctioned by law.
Need Rights in a Democracy
• Rights sustain a
democracy.
• They give to every
citizen a right to vote and the right to be elected to government.
• They allow citizens to
express their views freely, form parties and take part in political activities.
• Rights are guarantees
when things go wrong. They do not allow the majority to dominate the minority.
• Some rights are placed
higher than the government, so that the government does not violate them.
Rights in the Indian Constitution
The Indian Constitution
has given us six Fundamental Rights. They are the basic features of India’s
Constitution.
- Fundamental Rights are:
1.
Right to Equality
2.
Right to Freedom
3.
Right against
Exploitation
4.
Right to Freedom of
Religion
5.
Cultural and Educational
Rights
6.
Right to Constitutional
Remedies.
Right to Equality : It grants equality to all its citizens in the eyes of law.
Rule of law is the foundation of any democracy.No discrimination can be
made against any citizen on grounds of birth, caste, religion and gender.
Untouchability is made a cognisable offence. Equal opportunity is guaranteed to
all the citizens.
Equality means giving
everyone an equal opportunity to achieve whatever one is capable of.
Right to Freedom : It grants
1.
freedom of speech and
expression, - The right gives freedom of expression but one can't use this
freedom to instigate violence against others.
2.
freedom to assemble in a
peaceful manner, - People can meet to discuss or for exchange of ideas. They
should take care not to lead to any public disorder.
3.
freedom to form
associations,
4.
freedom to move freely
in any part of the country,
5.
freedom to reside in any
part of the country and
6.
practice any profession,
carry out any occupation or trade.
- Right against Exploitation: The constitution prohibits
(i) “traffic in human
beings”,
(ii) Prohibits forced
labour or begar and
(iii) prohibits child
labour.
- Right to Freedom of Religion: There is no state religion in India. All religions
are given equal respect. Every person has a right to profess, practice and
propagate his own religion.
Freedom to
practice religion does not mean doing anything in the name of religion.
- Cultural and Educational Rights: Minorities have the right to conserve their language
and culture. They have the right to establish their own educational
institutions.
- Right to Constitutional
Remedies: This is the right that makes
all rights effective. If a citizen’s fundamental rights are violated or
taken away, he/she can seek remedy through courts.
- Dr. Ambedkar called this right as the 'heart and soul '
of our constitution.
- National Human Rights
Commission is an independent
organisation established in 1993.Its main work is to focus on human rights
and help the victims, whose rights are violated.
- Expanding Scope of Rights
The Constitution offers
scope to expand the Fundamental Rights. Examples :
(i) School education has
become a right for Indian citizens.
(ii) Right to property
is a legal right.
(iii) Right to seek
information from government offices.
(iv) Right to vote in
elections.
(v) Supreme court has
expanded the meaning off the right to life to include the right to food.
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
This international
covenant recognizes many rights. Examples
1.
Right to work
2.
Right to safe and
healthy environment
3.
Right to adequate
standard of living
4.
Right to social security
and insurance
5.
Right to health and
medical care, etc.
The South African Constitution Guarantees
Right to privacy,
Adequate housing, Right to access to health care, Sufficient food and water.
No comments:
Post a Comment