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Class 9Civics

Chapter 6Democratic Right


Important fact from chapter
Citizen Rights in
Saudi Araudi
Saudi Arabia and the position of the citizens with regard to their government. Consider
these facts:

<The country is ruled by a hereditary king and the people have no role in electing or

changing their rulers.

<Theking selects the legislature as well as the executive. He appoints the judges and can
change any of their decisions.

<Citizenscannot 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. This is true not just of Arabia. There are many countries in

the world where several of these conditions exist.

Rights in a Democracy
 Rights are claims of a person over other fellow beings, over the
society and over the government. But every claim is not a right.

• Rights are a must to ensure the dignity, security and fair play to all the
citizens.

• Democracy is a system in which maximum rights are guaranteed to its


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

Need Rights in a Democracy


• Rights sustain a democracy.

• They give to every citizen a right to vote and the right to be elected to
government.

• They allow citizens to express their views freely, form parties and take
part in political activities.

• Rights are guarantees when things go wrong. They do not allow the
majority to dominate the minority.

• Some rights are placed higher than the government so that the
government does not violate them.

Rights in the Indian Constitution


The Indian Constitution has given us six Fundamental Rights. They are
the basic features of India‟s Constitution.

Fundamental Rights are:


1. Right to Equality

2. Right to Freedom

3. Right against Exploitation

4. Right to Freedom of Religion

5. Cultural and Educational Rights

6. Right to Constitutional Remedies.

Right to Equality

: It grants equality to all its citizens in the eyes of law. Rule of law is the
foundation of any democracy.No discrimination can be made against any
citizen on grounds of birth, caste, religion and gender. Untouchability is
made a cognisable offence. Equal opportunity is guaranteed to all the
citizens.
Equality means giving everyone an equal opportunity to achieve
whatever one is capable of.

Right to Freedom: It grants

1. freedom of speech and expression, – The right gives freedom of


expression but one can‟t use this freedom to instigate violence
against others.

2. freedom to assemble in a peaceful manner, – People can meet to


discuss or for exchange of ideas. They should take care not to lead
to any public disorder.

3. freedom to form associations,

4. freedom to move freely in any part of the country,

5. freedom to reside in any part of the country and

6. practice any profession, carry out any occupation or trade.

Right against Exploitation: The constitution prohibits


(i) “traffic in human beings”,

(ii) Prohibits forced labour or begar and

(iii) prohibits child labour.

Right to Freedom of Religion:

 There is no state religion in India. All religions are given equal


respect. Every person has a right to profess, practice and propagate
his own religion.

Freedom to practice religion does not mean doing anything in the name
of religion.

Cultural and Educational Rights:

 Minorities have the right to conserve their language and culture.


They have the right to establish their own educational institutions.

Right to Constitutional Remedies:


 This is the right that makes all rights effective. If a citizen‟s
fundamental rights are violated or taken away, he/she can seek
remedy through courts.

 Dr. Ambedkar called this right as the „heart and soul „ of our
constitution.

 National Human Rights Commission is an independent


organisation established in 1993.Its main work is to focus on
human rights and help the victims, whose rights are violated.

EXPANDING SCOPE OF RIGHTS

Amnesty International: 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.

Claim: Demand for legal or moral entitlements a person makes on fellow

citizens, society or the government.

Covenant: 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.

Dalit: A person who belongs to the castes which were considered low and

not touchable by others. Dalits are also known by other names such as

the Scheduled Castes, Depressed Classes etc.

Ethnic group: 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.

Traffic: Selling and buying of men, women or children for immoral

purposes.

Summon: An order issued by a court asking a person to appear before it.

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

International Covenant on

Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights
This international covenant recognises many rights that are not directly a part of the

Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution. This has not yet become an international treaty.

But human right activists all over the world see this as a standard of human rights. These include:

 right to work: opportunity to everyone to earn livelihood by working

 right to safe and healthy working conditions, fair wages that can provide decent standard of
living for the workers and their families

 right to adequate standard of living including adequate food, clothing and housing

 right to social security and insurance

 right to health: medical care during illness, special care for women during childbirth and

prevention of epidemics

 right to education: free and compulsory primary education, equal access to higher education.

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