Democratic Rights
Q.1. Is Saudi Arabia a democratic country?
Ans:
No, Saudi Arabia is not a democratic country. The country is
ruled by a hereditary king and the people have no role in electing or changing
their rulers.
Q.2. What are restrictions imposed on people in Saudi Arabia?
Ans:
·
Citizens cannot form political parties or any political
organisations. Media cannot report anything that the monarch does not like.
·
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.
·
Women are subjected to many public restrictions. The testimony of
one man is considered equal to that of two women.
Q.3. What led to massacre in Kosovo?
Ans:
A narrow minded Serb nationalist Milosevic (pronounced
Miloshevich) had won the election. His government was very hostile to the
Kosovo 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. This mindset led to massacre in
Kosovo.
Q.4. What are rights?
Ans:
Rights are claims of a person over other fellow beings, over the
society and over the government. Rights are reasonable claims of persons
recognised by society and sanctioned by law.
Q.5. Why are rights necessary in a democracy?
Ans:
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.
Q.6. Rights also perform a very special role in a democracy.
Explain.
Ans:
Rights also perform a very special role in a democracy. Rights
protect minorities from the oppression of majority. They ensure that the
majority cannot do whatever it likes. Rights are guarantees which can be used
when things go wrong.
Q.7. In most democracies, why are the basic rights of the
citizen are written down in the constitution?
Ans:
The government should protect the citizens’ rights in such a
situation. But sometimes elected governments may not protect or may even attack
the rights of their own citizens. That is why some rights need to be placed
higher than the government, so that the government cannot violate these. In
most democracies the basic rights of the citizen are written down in the
constitution.
Q.8. What are fundamental rights?
Ans:
Some rights which are fundamental to our life are given a
special status. They are called Fundamental Rights. Fundamental rights are an
important basic feature of India’s Constitution.
Q.9. Name the six fundamental rights mentioned in Indian
Constitution.
Ans:
The six fundamental rights mentioned in Indian Constitution are:
1] Right against exploitation
2] Cultural and Educational rights
3] Right to freedom of religion
4] Right to equality
5] Right to constitutional remedies
6] Right to freedom
Q.10. What is meant by the rule of law?
Ans:
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.
Q.11. Rule of law is the foundation of any democracy. Explain
the statement.
Ans:
Rule of law is the foundation of any democracy. It means that no
person is above the law. There cannot be any distinction between a political
leader, government official and an ordinary citizen. Every citizen, from the
Prime Minister to a small farmer in a remote village, is subjected to the same
laws. No person can legally claim any special treatment or privilege just
because he or she happens to be an important person.
Q.12. Discuss in detail the right to equality.
Ans:
The government shall not discriminate against any citizen on
grounds of religion, caste, ethnicity, sex or place of birth. Every citizen
shall have access to public places like shops, restaurants, hotels, and cinema
halls. Similarly, there shall be no restriction with regard to the use of
wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads, playgrounds and places of public resorts
maintained by government or dedicated to the use of general public.
Q.13. Why was it necessary to incorporate right to equality in
the Constitution of our country?
Ans:
It was necessary to incorporate right to equality in the Constitution
of our country where the traditional caste system did not allow people from
some communities to access all public places.
Q.14. Why reservations are not considered as a violation of the
Right to Equality?
Ans:
Equality does not mean giving everyone the same treatment, no
matter what they need. Equality means giving everyone an equal opportunity to
achieve whatever one is capable of. Sometimes it is necessary to give special
treatment to someone in order to ensure equal opportunity. This is what job
reservations do. Just to clarify this, the Constitution says that reservations
of this kind are not a violation of the Right to Equality.
Q.15. Discuss the extreme form of social discrimination that is
forbidden by the constitution.
Ans:
The Constitution mentions one extreme form of social
discrimination, the practice of untouchability, and clearly directs the
government to put an end to it. The practice of untouchability has been
forbidden in any form. Untouchability here does not only mean refusal to touch
people belonging to certain castes.
It refers to any belief or social practice which looks down upon
people on account of their birth with certain caste labels. Such practice
denies them interaction with others or access to public places as equal citizens.
So the Constitution made untouchability a punishable offence.
Q.16. What does right to freedom mean?
Ans:
Freedom means absence of constraints. In practical life it means
absence of interference in our affairs by others – be it other individuals or
the government.
Q.17. Which freedom has been by the Indian Constitution to its
citizens?
Ans:
Under the Indian Constitution all citizens have the right to
·
Freedom of speech and expression
·
Assembly in a peaceful manner
·
Form associations and unions
·
Move freely throughout the country
·
Reside in any part of the country
·
Practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or
business.
Q.18. Freedom is not unlimited license to do what one wants.
Explain.
Ans:
Every citizen has the right to freedom. That means a person
cannot exercise his freedom in such a manner that violates others’ right to
freedom. His freedoms should not cause public nuisance or disorder. A person is
free to do everything which injures no one else. Freedom is not unlimited
license to do what one wants. Accordingly, the government can impose certain
reasonable restrictions on our freedoms in the larger interests of the society.
Q.19. Why is Freedom of speech and expression one of the essential features of any democracy?
Ans:
A person’s ideas and personality develop only when he is able to
freely communicate with others. Even if a hundred people think in one way, one
should have the freedom to think differently and express their views
accordingly. A person may disagree with a policy of government or activities of
an association. A person is free to criticize the government or the activities
of the association. A person may publicise his views through a pamphlet,
magazine or newspaper. A person can do it through paintings, poetry or songs. However,
he cannot use this freedom to instigate violence against others. You cannot use
it to incite people to rebel against government.
Q.20. Citizens
have the freedom to hold meetings, processions, rallies and demonstrations on
any issue. Explain.
Ans:
Citizens may want to discuss a problem, exchange ideas, mobilize
public support to a cause, or seek votes for a candidate or party in an
election, but such meetings have to be peaceful. They should not lead to public
disorder or breach of peace in society. Those who participate in these
activities and meetings should not carry weapons with them. Citizens also can
form associations.
Q.21. Explain citizen’s right to travel.
Ans:
Right to travel allows lakhs of people to migrate from villages
to towns and from poorer regions of the countries to prosperous regions and big
cities. The same freedom extends to choice of occupations. Women cannot be told
that some kinds of occupations are not for them. People from deprived castes
cannot be kept to their traditional occupations.
Q.22. What is meant by right of life or personal liberty?
Ans:
The Constitution says that no person can be deprived of his life
or personal liberty except
according to procedure established by law. It means that no person can be
killed unless the court has ordered a death sentence. It also means that a
government or police officer can arrest or detain any citizen unless he has
proper legal justification.
Q.23. What are the procedures to be followed while arresting a
person?
Ans:
·
A person who is arrested and detained in custody will have to be
informed of the reasons for such arrest and detention.
·
A person who is arrested and detained shall be produced before the
nearest magistrate within a period of 24 hours of arrest.
·
Such a person has the right to consult a lawyer or engage a lawyer
for his defence.
Q.24. What is meant by begar?
Ans:
‘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.
Q.25. What are the provisions relating to child labour?
Ans:
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.
Using this as a basis many laws have been made to prohibit children from
working in industries such as beedi making, firecrackers and matches, printing and
dyeing.
Q.26. What is a secular state?
Ans:
A secular state is one that does not establish any one religion
as official religion. The state has to be neutral and impartial in dealing with
all religions.
Q.27. What is secularism based on?
Ans:
Secularism is based on the idea that the state is concerned only
with relations among human beings, and not with the relation between human
beings and God.
Q.28. What is right to freedom of religion?
Ans:
Every person has a right to profess, practice and propagate the
religion he or
she believes in.
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.
Q.29. How does the government maintain its secular character?
Ans:
A secular state is one that does not confer any privilege or
favour on any particular religion. Nor does it punish or discriminate against
people on the basis of religion they follow. Thus the government cannot compel
any person to pay any taxes for the promotion or maintenance of any particular
religion or religious institution. There shall be no religious instruction in
the government educational institutions. In educational institutions managed by
private bodies no person shall be compelled to take part in any religious
instruction or to attend any religious worship.
Q.30. What are the cultural and educational rights of the
minorities?
Ans:
·
Any section of citizens with a distinct language or culture has a
right to conserve it.
·
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.
·
All minorities have the right to establish and administer
educational institutions of their choice.
Q.31. What is meant by Right to Constitutional Remedies?
Ans:
If rights are like guarantees, they are of no use if there is no
one to honour them. The fundamental rights in the Constitution are important
because they are enforceable. We have a right to seek the enforcement of the
above mentioned rights. This is called the Right to Constitutional Remedies.
This right itself is a Fundamental Right. This right makes other
rights effective.
Q.32. How are the fundamental rights guaranteed?
Ans:
Fundamental Rights are guaranteed against the actions of the
Legislatures, the Executive, and any other authorities instituted by the
government. There can be no law or action that violates the Fundamental Rights.
If any act of the Legislature or the Executive takes away or limits any of the
Fundamental Rights it will be invalid.
Q.33. Which rights are guaranteed by constitution of South
Africa to its citizens?
Ans:
The Constitution of South Africa guarantees its citizens several
kinds of new rights:
·
Right to privacy, so that citizens or their home cannot be
searched, their phones cannot be tapped, their communication cannot be opened.
·
Right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or
wellbeing
·
Right to have access to adequate housing.
·
Right to have access to health care services, sufficient food and
water; no one may be refused emergency medical treatment.
Q.34. What is Amnesty International?
Ans:
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.
Q.35. What is a covenant?
Ans:
It is a 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.
Q.36. what is meant by ethnic group?
Ans:
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.
Q.37. What is writ?
Ans:
A formal document containing an order of the court to the
government issued only by High Court or the Supreme Court.
BY SUMIT BHADRA
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