Rights and Fundamental Rights
Its oft-heard that both radicals and the layman alike are dueling for their human rights. The question though is what rights are we talking about here and did we get these rights from anyone? Fundamentally, why is it that people have to be on a tussle all the time for their human rights? Read on to find answers to these burning questions.
Introduction to Human Rights and Fundamental Rights
The Indian Constitution has entire sections on The Rights and Fundamental Rights that guarantee people that their rights would be protected. These Fundamental Rights are regarded as the basic human rights of Indian citizens, notwithstanding their gender, caste, religion, creed, so on and so forth. These sections are the vital elements of the constitution which were developed between 1947 and 1949 by the Indian Constitution.
The six fundamental rights in India are Right to Equality, Right to Freedom, Right against Exploitation, Right to Freedom of Religion, Cultural and Educational Rights, and Right to Constitutional Remedies.
1. Right to Equality
Right to Equality ensures that all citizens get equal rights. Inequality on the basis of caste, religion, place of birth, race, or gender is prohibited on the basis of the Right to Equality. It ensures equal opportunity in case of government jobs preventing the State from being discriminatory against anyone in regards to employment matters solely based on religious and racial grounds as well as on caste, sex, descent, birthplace, and domicile.
2. Right to Freedom
The right to freedom includes a wide array of rights including freedom of speech, expression, unarmed assembly, movement within national boundaries, association, practicing any profession, taking up residence in any part of India. These rights, however, have restrictions of their own.
3. Right against Exploitation
Human trafficking, child labor, offensive forced labor inviting legally validated punishment, and also an act that compels a person to do unpaid work when the person did not have any sort of legal entitlement to do the work or get paid for it are all instances of exploitation that are condemned by the Right against Exploitation. The only exception is if there is any benefit to the public such as NGO work or community services.
4. Right to Freedom of Religion
The right to Freedom of Religion ensures religious freedom and secular states in India. According to the Constitution, the States ought to view all religions equally in an unbiased manner and that none of the states has an official religion. It also ensures that people have the freedom of conscience and the freedom of preaching, practicing and propagating any religion that they may choose to.
5. Cultural and Educational Rights
Cultural and Educational Rights safeguards the rights of cultural, religious and linguistic minorities by facilitating conservation of their culture and safeguarding them against discriminatory practices. Educational rights assure education for one and all regardless of their caste, gender, religion, and so on.
6. Right to Constitutional Remedies
If citizens' fundamental rights have been violated then they can appeal to the Supreme Court of India for enforcement or seek protection if their fundamental rights have been violated or infringed upon. It's within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to ensure that the Fundamental Rights are enforced even if that means implicating private bodies. Awarding compensation to the affected individual in case of any violation is the norm.
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