Human Rights in India Test 13

The framers of the constitution of India while framing the fundamental rights, took caution as to what fundamental rights have to be applied to foreigners and what rights have to be specifically reserved for the citizens of India. And accordingly, only a few are available to non-citizens.

All individuals are free to follow their conscience and practice any religion. According to the Constitution, the government does not have any religion. It treats all religions as equal. India is a secular country.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar called Article 32 of the Indian Constitution i.e. Right to Constitutional remedies as 'the heart and soul of the Constitution'.

It was made so because mere declaration of the fundamental right without an effective machinery for enforcement of the fundamental rights would have been meaningless. Also, a right which does not have a remedy is a worthless declaration. Thus, the framers of our constitution adopted the special provisions in the article 32 which provided remedies to the violated fundamental rights of a citizen.

Fundamental Rights find a place in Part 3 of the Constitution of India. These rights give people protection from oppressive governments and place a duty on the government to uphold them. If our rights are violated by the government, we can go to the court for protection of these rights. There are 6 fundamental rights which 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

Supreme Court acts as a custodian of our Constitution and protects our Fundamental Rights. The Supreme Court is called the guardian of the Constitution as it protects the fundamental rights of citizens from being getting violated by any organ of the government. If any person feels that their fundamental right has been violated, they can directly go to supreme court, according to article 32 of Indian Constitution.

Article 17 of Constitution of India declares untouchability as an offence. Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of untouchability shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.

Abolition of untouchability  has been included among the Fundamental Rights under Article 17 of the Indian Constitution. This act lay down that whatever is open to general public should be open to the members of the scheduled castes. No shopkeeper can refuse to sell them, no person may refuse to render any service to any person on the ground of untouchability. The act made provision for imprisonment and fine.

Habeus corpus is a writ under which a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person's release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention. If any section of people is agitating for separation of a part of the country, habeus corpus and freedom of speech can be suspended.

The Planning Commission was a non-constitutional and non-statutory body and was set up to formulate five years plan for social and economic development in India. Its main function is to assess the resource of the country, formulate plans to increase economic development which included laying down of five-year plan. It is now replaced with NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog in 2015 by the Government of India.