Vineet Sharma
“With great power, comes great responsibility”. This dialogue had a separate fan base when the spider-man movie came out. I hope Stan Lee forgives me when I modify this statement as “with rights, comes duties” to make it suitable for the present Indian democratic setup. The competition of duties with rights is tough because in Thai perfectly evolved self centered society there is always a hurry to vigorously claim the rights leaving duties far behind consideration. Rights and duties are the two sides of the same coin because when we talk about any specific right, there is always a correlated duty attached to it. Let me take an example of (article 14) of the constitution of India that is, right to equality and equal protection of laws.
Here, a person’s right is to be treated as equal with other similarly capable person and the attached duty is to treat other similarly capable as equal to him. But, do people consciously show this type of approach? I guess, no . In the current setup of our society everybody is so concerned about their rights that duties are not even considered as a matter worth attending. The actual game of rights and duties start when we very selfishly and cunningly want to exercise our rights but as duties take some hard work, we just ignore them like we ignore ads on a YouTube video.
In a broader aspect, the human psychology is built in a way that it focuses more on what he gets rather than what he gives. Everybody wants a clean atmosphere but only few want to go green in their life style, everybody considers bribery as a sin and wants a strict law against it but at times, everybody is just ready to offer or accept any kind of bribe according to the circumstance. Everybody wants a good education system but nobody wants to teach their children what real education means. Maybe, this is because we want somebody else to do our job or its because we are just so lethargic to preform our side of duty. This inability to perform small duties compile together to form a large union of non-performed duties creating a lag in the development of the society. But who’s concerned till a serious threat to our society will appear.
This arrogant mindset of the society regarding its duties is a result of continuous negligence by the law making and law implementing authorities. When a law is made which gives some kind of power or right to the public, it’s corelating duty should also be made very clear. However, the general will of a society and a person’s individual consciousness plays a very significant role in here but at the same time it’s the responsibility of law enforcing agencies to ensure the proper application of law. Our ignorant nature as a society has been developed so perfectly that even in the tightest circumstances, we manage to avoid our duties towards the society itself. The basic issue is that the society has segregated rights and duties into essential and non-essential respectively making an invisible cover over the part of subconscious mind concerning duties.
In the present age where youth is the power, this lack of consciousness regarding our social duties has taken a dangerous turn. Roaring with adrenaline, youth wants to demand their rights as well as the rights of the marginal section of society but in the rush of adrenaline, forgets the basic rule that with every right, a duty is attached. The primary duty of a student is to study obviously however, its is also necessary to raise voice against the injustice in the society. so, how this weird combination should be managed. As I mentioned earlier that the society has a collective approach and the collective mindset is developed with time. Now a days, the old age society is evolving and the new generation is more vigorous and wants to have an aggressive approach toward the laws defining rights and duties. The sense of heroism is increasing and everybody is willing to make a difference in the society. Problem arises when this sense of heroism overshadows the sense of rightness in the form of duties.
Let’s take a final example to know this game better. The most exploited rights in the news as well as social media are human rights. In a society where maximum number of youth are filled with sense of fake heroism, they try to manipulate the said rights in their own way forgetting the fact that pursuing only one side of rights is not the correct way of representing the heroism but when we observe a scenario depicting a human rights violation on its outer cover, it is the duty of the same so called human rights warriors to verify and put forth the actual truth. The example of Kashmir is given on the issue of human rights violation in the name of AFSPA. But, let me put some light on another situation. Is it not the duty of the same people to know about terrorism and insurgency activities first and then compare the two scenarios and raise their voice for the right one? But I guess, it would be very harmful for their sense of fake heroism to take rights and duties side by side. Well, that was just simple present-day example.
The acts of casual and not so caring older generation have resulted in a confused younger generation where youth is confused between rights and duties. A person is struck between whether he should flow with the right or pursue the duties first. In my view, a holistic approach is needed because it’s just a matter of consciousness and approach which creates the difference and tug-of-war like situation between rights and duties. The sense of acceptance must increase so that one can understand the whole concept of a co-existence.
The game between rights and duties is tough and never ending but as a society it’s our duty to play it fairly.
(The author is a Law Student,
University of Jammu)
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