Know Your Right!

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "rights structure the form of

governments, the content of laws, and the shape of morality as it is currently perceived." In
other words, Right is a claim protected by Law. The concept of democracy is also based on
rights, freedom, liberty, and equality, etc.
As we know in general, democracy means to the people, for the people by the people. It is a
form of government in which the people of the country holds absolute power. People have the
right to choose their representatives to form the government and they are accountable towards
them. In this process, both enjoy their political rights.
Moving forward, we have to understand mainly three rights: Natural Rights, Democratic Rights,
Fundamental Rights.
(a) Natural Rights- It is a broad political theory which talks about the basic rights that include the
right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness that the government can not deny.

(b) Democratic Rights- The UDHR is a list of rights, declared by the United Nations in 1948. The
list includes:
(i) All human beings are born free and equal
in dignity and rights.
(ii) Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and
security of a person.
(iii) No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.
(iv) All are equal before the law.
(v) No one shall be subjected to arbitrary
arrest, detention or exile.
(vi) Everyone charged with an offense against the law has the right to be presumed
innocent until proven guilty.
(vii) Everyone has the right to freedom of
thought, conscience, and religion.
(viii) Everyone has the right to freedom of
opinion and expression.
(ix) Everyone has the right to vote. The will of the people shall be expressed in periodic and
genuine elections, which will be by universal and equal suffrage.
(x) Everyone has the right to education.

(c) Fundamental Rights- It is in itself a wide subject written in Part III, Article 12 to 35A of the
Constitution of India. But it has been divided into six parts to understand it easily.
(i) Right to Equality- Basically it means everyone is equal in the eyes of law. Right to Equality
guarantees equal rights to all citizens and prohibits inequality on the basis of caste, religion,
place of birth, race or gender. It ensures equality of opportunity in matters of public employment
and prevents the State from discriminating against anyone in matters of employment on the
grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, place of residence or any of
them.
(ii) Right to Freedom- It provides us with various rights like freedom of speech, freedom of
expression, freedom of assembly without arms, freedom of movement throughout the territory of
our country, freedom of association, freedom to practice any profession, freedom to reside in
any part of the country. Though, these rights have their own restrictions.
(iii) Right against Exploitation- Right against Exploitation denounce human trafficking, child
labor, forced labor making it an offense punishable by law, and also prohibits any act of
compelling a person to work without wages where he was legally entitled not to work or to
receive remuneration for it.
(iv) Right to Freedom of Religion- It guarantees religious freedom and ensures secular states in
India. The Constitution says that the States should treat all religions equally and impartially and
that no state has an official religion. It also guarantees all people the freedom of conscience and
the right to preach, practice and propagate any religion of their choice.
(v) Cultural and Educational Rights- It protects the rights of cultural, religious and linguistic
minorities by enabling them to conserve their heritage and protecting them against
discrimination. Educational rights ensure education for everyone irrespective of their caste,
gender, religion, etc.
(vi) Right to Constitutional Remedies- "Ubi jus ibi remedium" where there is a right there is a
remedy. Right to Constitutional Remedies guarantees citizens to go to the Supreme Court under
Article 32 and High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to ask for enforcement or
protection against violation of their fundamental rights. The Supreme Court has the jurisdiction
to enforce the Fundamental Rights even against private bodies, and in case of any violation,
award compensation as well to the affected individual.

We Association for Parivartan of Nation a non-profit society has started a campaign called
"Know Your Rights" in which we are visiting different schools for an extension lecture. We have
also conducted round table dialogue and discussion.
Our main objective of this campaign is to reach those people who don't know their basic rights
and to wipe out their fear of government officials. As we know the Police and other government
officials are working to serve the nation and to maintain the law order for a decent society.