INDIAN SCHOOL ALWADI ALKABIR

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

QUESTION BANK ON DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS

CLASS IX

SESSION:2014-2015

Q1. Define rights. Describe three ingredients of right.

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

From above definition, it is clear that there are following three ingredients of rights:

  1. It is claim of an individual over other fellow beings, over the society and over the government. Our actions should not hurt others and their actions should not hurt us. The claims should be reasonable, for example, Serbs in Yugoslavia could not claim the whole country for themselves.
  2. Rights should be recognized by the society which makes certain rules to regulate our conduct. Recognition by the society turns these claims into right. Earlier women were not granted right to vote but now it looks strange as they have not been granted this right in Saudi Arabia.
  3. Rights must have sanction of law. For example, the prisoners of Guantanamo Bay had a moral claim not to be tortured but they could not go to anyone to enforce this claim. So, it is necessary that law should enforce these claims.

Q2. Why do we need rights in democracy and why the rights should be included in the constitution?

  1. Rights are necessary in a democracy due to following factors. It is the basis of successful democracy because in a democracy every citizen has to have the right to vote and right to be elected to government .During election it is necessary for the every citizen has to have the right express their opinion from political parties and take part in political activities. Rights protect minorities from the oppression of majority .They ensure that the majority cannot do whatever it likes. They guarantee that the majority cannot take away the rights of minority.
  2. The rights should be included in the Constitution to protect them from the arbitrary policies of the governmentbecause sometimes a government may go against the rights of their own citizens. So rights should be placed higher than the government or include in the Constitution so that government cannot violet these rights. For example, in India rights have been include in the Constitution and cannot be taken away in ordinary circumstances.

Q3. Describe the Right to Equality as guaranteed under the Constitution of India.

Right to Equality granted under the Constitution of India as follows.

  1. The government should not deny to any person in India equality before law or the equal protection of the laws.
  2. The government shall not discriminate any citizen on grounds of religion, caste, ethnicity, gender.
  3. Every citizen shall have access to public places like shops, restaurants, hotels and cinema halls.
  4. There shall be no restriction with regard to the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of publicresorts maintained by the government or dedicated for public use.
  5. The same principle applies to public jobs .All citizens have equality of opportunity in matters relating to employment or appointment to any position in the government.
  6. The practice of untouchability has been forbidden in any form. The Constitution made untouchability a punishable offence
  7. Abolition of all titles.

Q4. Discuss Right to Freedom as guaranteed under the Constitution of India.

Right to freedom is a cluster of six rights. They are as follows:

i) Freedom to Speech and expression

ii) Freedom to assemble in a peaceful manner

iii) Freedom to form associations and unions

iv) Freedom to move freely throughout the country

v) Freedom to reside any part of the country.

vi) Freedom to practice any profession or carry on any occupation

Q5. Explain the Right against Exploitation.

  1. To prevent exploitation of the weaker sections of the society the Constitution makers included certain clearprovisions. The Constitution mentions three specific evils and declares these illegal. They are:
  2. The Constitution prohibits traffic means selling and buying of human beings.
  3. Our Constitution also prohibits forced labour or beggar in any form.Begar is a practice where the workeris forced rendered his service to his master free of charge.
  4. Finally the constitution also prohibits child labour No one can employ a child below the age fourteen towork in any factory or mine or any other hazardous work.

Q6. Explain the Right to Freedom of Religion.

Secularism is based on the idea that the state is concerned only with relations among human beings and notwith the relation between God and human beings. A secular state is one that does not establish any one religion as official religion. The Right to Freedom includes the following rights:

  1. Every person has a right to profess, practice and propagate the religion he or she believes in.
  2. Every religious group is free to its religious affair.

However there are some restrictions along with the right as follows

  1. No person has the right to compel another person to convert his religion by means of force, fraud, inducement and allurement.
  2. One cannot sacrifice animal or human beings to gods.
  3. Religious practices which treat women inferior or that infringe women’s freedom are not allowed.
  4. The government cannot compel any person to pay taxes for promotion or maintenance of any particular religion. There shall be no religious instructions in government educational institutions.

Q7. Describe the Cultural and Educational Rights.

To secure the rights of the minorities the Constitution specifies the cultural and educational rights

i) Any section of the 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.

Q8.Why the Constitution makers were particular in providing written guarantees of the minorities?

The Constitution makers were very particular in providing written guarantees of the rights of the minorities

as the working of democracy gives power to the majority. It is the language, culture and religion of the minorities that needs special protection. Otherwise in the absence of such protection they may getneglected by the majority.

Q9. Dr.B.R.Ambedkar Called the Right to Constitutional Remedies “the heart and soul”. Explain

  1. Rights are like guarantees and must be enforced. The fundamental rights are important because they are enforceable. According to Indian Constitution people have right to seek the enforcement of their fundamental rights whenever they feel that their rights are being violated. This isthe Right to Constitutional Remedies.
  2. If any act of the Legislature or the Executive takes away or limits any of the Fundamental Rights it will be invalid .Under PIL any citizen or group of citizens can approach the Supreme Court or a High Court for the protection of public interest against any particular law or action of the Government. One can write to the judges even in a postcard on.
  3. This is why Dr. B.R.Ambedkar called the right as ‘the heart and soul” of our constitution.

Q10. Explain how the scope of right has been expanded in recent times.

The scope of right has been expanded in the following ways:

  1. The court judgments have helped in expanding the scope of right.
  2. The Parliament has elected a law giving the right to information to the citizens. This Act made under the freedom of thought and expression.
  3. Constitution provides certain rights which are not fundamental that is right to property.
  4. Right to vote is a constitutional right.
  5. Human rights that are universal moral claims also help in the expression of rights.
  6. International covenants also contribute to the expression of rights.

Q11. List out the new rights that guaranteed by the Constitution of South Africa.

The Constitution of South Africa Guarantees its citizens several kinds of new rights:

  1. Right to privacy so that citizen or their home cannot be searched, their phones cannot be tapped, thei communication cannot be opened.
  2. Right to an environment that not harmful to their health or well-being.
  3. Right to have access to adequate housing.
  4. Right to have access to health care services, sufficient food and water, no one may be refused emergency medical treatment.

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