Stress on duties: Can rights be ignored?

In his letter to the citizens on ‘Constitution Day’ or ‘Samvidhan Divas’, Prime Minister Modi waxed eloquence on the citizens’ primary responsibility to perform duties without in any way upholding their justiciable fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution or other constitutional rights central to the individuals to lead a dignified life.

- Dhurjati Mukherjee

Modi may be right in quoting Gandhi who said rights of individuals flowed from the duties, but the latter was always concerned about the poor and the marginalised getting their due share of rights. Gandhi himself moved a resolution on Fundamental Rights in 1931 in the Karachi session of the Indian National Congress and it, among others, contained, Freedom of Press, Freedom to Profess Religion, equal rights and obligations of all citizens, without any bar on account of sex and above all religious neutrality of the state.