Rights and Responsibilities

Absolute rights without responsibility ruin democracy and harmony

Ashok Jainani Market Strategist, Author of well-acclaimed book “Market Myths” and our Contributing Editor

IN a democratic society, Bhosale, Naidu, Talreja have equal rights as Biswal, Chatterjee and Mishra. But Talreja or a Chatterjee can always feel that they have the right to be treated nicely better than others like Biswal and Bhosale. May be due to their upbringing in a disorderly manner or due to the perceived wealth disparity or even as a result of big ego possession, one individual, or a group of individuals, feel, claim and act as more entitled than another individual or a group.

But most people, drunk and delusional about their social high, often cleverly forget that they have the responsibility to always respect others as individuals as they expect themselves to be. Ancient Chinese saint Confucius is credited to have epitomized his teachings in his famous quote “Don’t do unto others what you don’t want done unto you.” Some people, individually or as a group, assert their freedom that could infringe on other people’s rights. This is very bad and should not be tolerated because neither the morality, nor the laws permit such arrogance. The rule of law can’t discriminate between the two individuals.