Democratic Politics Chapter 6 Democratic Rights

D.

Parents' property is inherited by their children

B.

Freedom to participate in armed revolution

C.

Right to protect one’s culture

Freedom of religion.

Right to Freedom (Protection of individual life and personal liberty).

Right to equality.

Right against exploitation.

The statement, “Every country that is a democracy gives right to its citizens' is more valid because citizens enjoy rights only in a democratic state.
Without rights citizens cannot participate in the administration of the state. Rights are also very helpful in the development of the personality of the citizens. 

Yes, this restriction is justified for the security of the country.

Yes, this restriction is also justified in order to protect the culture and interests of the local people.

No, this restriction is not justified as it is against the fundamental right to freedom.

Right to equality is being violated in this instance.

In this dispute, Madhurima is right. She can write her name according to her will as the right to freedom entails her to do so.

Petition on behalf of the forest dwellers to the NHRC (National Human Rights Commission):

C.

God or Nature

C.

Citizens only

C.

Political Right

C.

Political Rights

B.

Right to life

A.

Society

C.

Rights are changing

B.

Economic Right

C.

Political Right

A.

Legal duty

C.

The state

D.

Right to Vote

D.

Right to life

C.

Civil Right

B.

U.S.A.

B.

Rights protect the interest of the majority community

C.

There is no freedom to choose profession

Human rights are moral principles or norms, which describe certain standards of human behavior, and are regularly protected as legal rights in municipal and international law.

Following are the cultural and educational rights of the minorities specified by the constitutions:
(i)Any section of citizens with a distinct language or culture have a right to conserve it.

(ii)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.
(iii)All minorities have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.

The three specific evil declared as illegal by the Constitutions are described below:

(i)First, the Constitution prohibits ‘traffic in human beings’. Traffic here means selling and buying of human beings, usually women, for immoral purposes.
(ii)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.
(iii)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.

The rights are mentioned below:
(i)Freedom of speech and expression
(ii)Assembly in a peaceful manner
(iii)Form associations and unions
(iv)Move freely throughout  the country
(v)Reside in any part of the country
(vi)Practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.

The procedures are:
(i)A person who is arrested and detained in custody will have to be informed of the reasons for such arrest and detention.
(ii)A person who is arrested and detained shall be produced before the nearest magistrate within a period of 24 hours of arrest.
(iii)Such a person has the right to consult a lawyer or engage a lawyer for his defence.

Citizens’ Rights in Saudi Arabia:

(i)The country is ruled by a hereditary king and the people have no role in electing or changing their rulers.
(ii)The king selects the legislature as well as the executive. He appoints the judges and can change any of their decisions.
(iii)Citizens cannot form political parties or any political organisations. Media cannot report anything that the monarch does not like.
(iv)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.
(v)Women are subjected to many public restrictions. The testimony of one man is considered equal to that of two women.

Rights are reasonable claims of persons recognised by society and sanctioned by law.

Following are the reasons:
(i)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.
(ii)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.

(iii)Rights protect minorities from the oppression of majority.
(iv)They ensure that the majority cannot do whatever it likes.
(v)Rights are guarantees which can be used when things go wrong. Things may go wrong when some citizens may wish to take away the rights of others. 

Rule of law:
(i)It means that the laws apply in the same manner to all, regardless of a person’s status. 
(ii)Rule of law is the foundation of any democracy. It means that no person is above the law.
(iii)There cannot be any distinction between a political leader, government official and an ordinary citizen.
(iv)Every citizen, from the Prime Minister to a small farmer in a remote village, is subjected to the same laws.
(v)No person can legally claim any special treatment or privilege just because he or she happens to be an important person. 

The Constitution mentions one extreme form of social discrimination, the practice of untouchability, and clearly directs the government to put an end to it.

(i)The practice of untouchability has been forbidden in any form. Untouchability here does not only mean refusal to touch people belonging to certain castes.

(ii)It refers to any belief or social practice which looks down upon people on account of their birth with certain caste labels.

(iii)Such practice denies them interaction with others or access to public places as equal citizens. So the Constitution made untouchability a punishable offence.

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.

PIL:

(i)Any person can go to court against the violation of the Fundamental Right, if it is of social or public interest. It is called Public Interest Litigation (PIL).

(ii)Under the PIL any citizen or group of citizens can approach the Supreme Court or a High Court for the protection of public interest against a particular law or action of the government.

(iii)One can write to the judges even on a postcard. The court will take up the matter if the judges find it in public interest.

(1) Right to Equality.

(2) Right to Freedom.

The features:
(1) Fundamental Rights are justiciable.

(2) Fundamental Rights are not absolute.

Union Parliament

The rights are:
(i)Right to privacy, so that citizens or their home cannot be searched, their phones cannot be tapped,
their communication cannot be opened.
(ii)Right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing;
(iii)Right to have access to adequate housing.
(iv)Right to have access to health care services, sufficient food and water; no one may be refused emergency medical treatment.

Amnesty International is 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.

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.

Writ is formal document containing an order of the court to the government issued only by High Court or the Supreme Court.

A secular state is one that does not establish any one religion as official religion.

Right to Freedom of Religion:
(i)Every person has a right to profess, practice and propagate the religion he or she believes in.
(ii)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 right to compel another person to convert into his religion by means of force, fraud, inducement or allurement. Of course, a person is free to change religion on his or her own will.
(iii)Freedom to practice 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. 

(iv)Religious practices which treat women as inferior or those that infringe women’s freedom are not allowed.
(v)For example, one cannot force a widowed woman to shave head or wear white clothes.

Right to Constitutional Remedies.

The writs are:
(i)Habeas Corpus

(ii)Mandamus

Habeas Corpus means to have the body.

Summon is an order issued by a court asking a person to appear before it.

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.

Equality before law means that all citizens of India are equal before the eyes of the law. The law shall make no discrimination on any basis.

Right to life and liberty.

A person who belongs to the castes which were considered low and not touchable by others. 

Amnesty International:
(i)It is an international organisation of volunteers who campaign for human rights.
(ii)This organisation brings out independent reports on the violation of human rights all over the world.

Some rights need to be placed higher than the government for the following reasons:

(i)So that the government cannot violate them.

(ii)Sometimes elected governments may not protect or may even attack the rights of their own citizens.

The political rights are: 
(1) Right to vote. 

(2) Right to contest Elections. 

The features are:
(i)Fundamental Rights are entitled to all citizens of India without any discrimination.

(ii)Fundamental Rights are not absolute and can be restricted or suspended.

(iii)Fundamental Rights are justiciable.

Our Constitution mentions the following Fundamental Rights:

1. Right to Equality.

2. Right to Liberty.

3. Right against Exploitation.

4. Right to Religious Freedom.

5. Right to Culture and Education.

6. Right to Constitutional Remedies.

Right to Freedom of Religion means that all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise and propagate religion.

Writ is a formal document containing an order of the court to the government issued only by High Court or the Supreme Court.

Followings are the rights  enumerated by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights:
(i)right to work: opportunity to everyone to earn
livelihood by working
(ii)right to safe and healthy working conditions, fair wages that can provide decent standard of living for the workers and their families
(iii)right to adequate standard of living including adequate food, clothing and housing
(iv)right to social security and insurance
(v)right to health: medical care during illness, special care for women during childbirth and prevention of epidemics
(vi)right to education: free and compulsory primary education, equal access to higher education

Human traffic means selling and buying of human beings, usually women, for immoral purposes.

The writs issued are:

(i)Habeas Corpus

(ii)Mandamus

(iii)Quo-Warranto

(iv)Prohibition

(v)Certiorari

Following are the characteristics of a secular state:
(i)A secular state is one that does not confer any privilege or favour on any particular religion.
(ii)Nor does it punish or discriminate against people on the basis of religion they follow.
(iii)The government cannot compel any person to pay any taxes for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious institution.
(iv)There is no religious instruction in the government educational institutions.
(v)In educational institutions managed by private bodies, no person is compelled to take part in any religious instruction or to attend any religious worship.