Bharat SainiLast Updated on March 28, 2017 by Bharat Saini
“Every Right Implies a responsibility,
Every opportunity, an obligation,
Every possession, a duty.” — John Rockefeller
Everyday in history has its importance and every person born on this land has some rights from the first day itself. These rights are natural in existence and there is no need to earn them. Few rights that were granted by nations may vary from one country to another.
Many people know something about their rights, Generally, they know they have right to life, right to food and safe place to stay; they know they have a right to be paid for the work they do. When human rights are not well known by people then abuses such as discrimination, intolerance, injustice, oppression and slavery can arise.
Rights are fundamental rules in existence which are allowed to people or owed to people as granted by a nation’s Constitution or Laws. Rights form the basis of civilisation and are regarded as the pillars of society and culture.
“Men who reject the responsibility of thought and reason can only exist as Parasites on the thinking of others.”
— Ayn Raud The Virtue of Selfishness
Responsibility is the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone. The responsibility of great state is to serve, not to dominate the world. Responsibility could be individual, collective or corporate. For example, Corporate Social Responsibility (by Companies Act, 2013) in which company having a turnover of 1000 crore or net worth of 500 crore should spend atleast 2% of its average net profit in preceding three financial years towards society.
What Rights are we talking about here ? Rights are several, like Fundamental, Human Rights, Civil & Political Rights, Socio-Economic rights, Corporate & Consumer Rights. Rights can be absolute, qualified or restricted.
In reality, every right has its limitations, be it created by one’s own responsibility or by ruling government. Fundamental Rights include— Right to Equality (Art 14-18), Freedom (Art 19-22), Against Exploitation (Art 23-24), Freedom of Religion (Art 25-28), Cultural & Educational Rights (Art 29-31), Right to Constitutional Remedies (Art 32). For example, we have Right to Equality, implying all people are equal. But can a school pick up a blind person as a bus driver ? No. Because taking care of children is the responsibility of school. Hence, discrimination allowed of it is fair in practice.
“You have the right to voice your opinion, You have the responsibility to respect others’ opinion.”
Is there any need for limitation of Rights ? Definitely yes. If no limitation exists then the conflicts of rights always happen. Human rights belong to everyone. Conflict with someone else’s rights or with the interest of wider community may happen. If we want our rights to be respected, we must not do anything that violates others’ rights i.e. We have a Responsibility here.
Example—Right to freedom of speech may have to be restricted to protect someone else’s rights to Privacy.
There are several rights that are linked with responsibilities. Right to Education (Right of children to free and compulsory education, 2009). It is the right of children to get good education, but also the responsibility of govt. to provide good teachers & infrastructure (School buildings, toilets, labs etc.) and responsibility of children to conduct in a good manner to learn.
Political Rights – to participate in Election in a democracy voting rights. But it is our responsibility to vote in an election, as compulsory voting rules do not exist.
Consumer Rights—Right to have information about quality, quantity, purity, price, standard etc. of a product. At the sametime we have a responsibility to look into details provided.
Right to Freedom of Religion— But responsibility to respect other religions is with everyone. Muzaffarnagar riots (2013), Gujarat riots (1969) would not have taken place if people had respected other people’s right to religion.
Right to Food—It is our responsibility that no food should be wasted.
“Know your Rights,
Know where you stand,
For Building a culture of Human Rights.”
— UNHRC
Rights and Responsibilities always remain a question to answer worldwide. Let us take the example of some Bangladesh independent secular writers who were brutally killed by Islamists terrorists. International bodies condemned this as an attack on free speech. These writers have done nothing wrong, it is their Responsibility to put into light, the truth, facts and their opinion peacefully. Similarly, 26 years of Brutal Civil War between Sri Lankan govt. and LTTE (ended in 2009) when both sides committed gross human rights abuses and both sides were responsible for it. Failure of Sri Lankan govt. to fulfil its primary responsibility to protect its population from mass human rights violations and mass killings was evident. Countries should take care that laws made are just, it is their responsibility.
“One has moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” —Martin Luther King Jr.
What about the present scenario in India in this matter ? It looks like we are slowly losing the balance between rights & responsibilities. We keep on asking for rights, but we show little importance for responsibility. If it happens so, it creates unhealthy society. For example, JNU crisis–every student has Right to freedom of speech and expression (Art-19). But there is always a primary responsibility on everyone of us to keep up the greatness of India.
Conclusion
It was December 25, 1991, the day Soviet Union disintegrated and I was born. From that day onwards, I have my rights and responsibilities as well.
Responsibility is using one’s resources to generate a positive change. A responsible person knows how to be fair, seeing that each gets a share.
“With every right comes a responsibility.
By taking responsibility, we make our world better.”
