My Rights My Duties

During the last couple of years we have been hearing a lot about my rights from the community at large. It manifests itself in the form of freedom of speech, freedom of religion and practices, freedom to dress and so on and so forth. But what we forget or we refuse to acknowledge is that every right comes with a duty attaches, a responsibility and an accountability inherent in all such right. There is no right guaranteed under the constitution or law which is without an attached duty or responsibility.

I have seen or heard people taking about their right to speech or right to dress as they feel like but nobody ever mentions the duty or responsibility attached with it. The duty may be to the nation to the society or community or to the world or its inhabitants at large. When you use something then it is your duty to ensure that it does not hurt others. When you drive on the road by virtue of your right as a driver license holder then it is your duty to observe the rules and ensure the safety of others using the road and equally it s your duty not to pollute the atmosphere and cause discomfort to others. When you say or write something it is your duty to not to hurt the feelings of others and it should not be against public interest. We misuse or misquote this right by saying it is my right to dissent or say things which I want to express. When in your speech or writing you talk ill about the nation or harm the nation then it is not the nation but you about whom you are talking ill as the nation are as good or as bad as its inhabitants are. Nation has no entity but derives its entity from its citizens only.

You have a right to education but it comes with a duty to attend classes and pass the examination. The right does not imply you can enter any grade and claim to have passed any grade. In the same way the right to dress the way you feel like also come with a responsibility that you do not offend the feeling of others or put others to shame or the persons walking will be forced to look other way. It also means that you not put to shame your parents, teachers and bring disrespect to our traditions and culture. We need to remember that basically we are just intelligent animals and still have animal instincts which may be under control with one person, dormant in other while more open in some sections. The same dress though very modern and classy in some section of society may generate certain other animal instinct in others and hence it becomes your duty to think what feeling your dress may provoke in the section of society you are moving in or walking or mingling. Nobody can predict what other person is thinking as we are not mind readers but there are certain general behavioral patterns that can be imagined or modeled. The point is not about your right to dress but about being prudent and be prepared and take suitable precautions to meet any exigency that may arise for your own good. Remember your reputation is in your own hand and it is you who can either safeguard it or lose it.

It is not that the molestation does not take place in other more advanced countries and statistically it is more in USA and Europe than in India. But before comparing ourselves with them it would be prudent to remember that the victims there are not shamed or shunned or even ridiculed at large but in India a stigma is attached to the person immediately and stays with them throughout their life. It will take quite a while for our psyche to be changed and the mentality of the society at large but till that time it would be better to be prudent. Psyche of the society is like a “frog syndrome”, where gradual changes will go by unnoticed but a sudden change will create a storm.

You may consider your right to pass any comment on any person without paying any attention to the thought that it might hurt his feelings but we say it because it is our right to say whatever we feel like. It does not speak about you even though you are saying it but only speaks about your parents, upbringing and the culture which they and your teachers have given you or the atmosphere where you have grown or the type of company you keep. It is not your fault as you only learn from others but it puts the blame on others, your dear ones.