Should citizens' duties matter as much as their rights?
Side one
Rights are the core
Rights protect people from the state and the majority. Emphasising duties can become a pretext for control.
Locke: Rights and Consent · On Liberty · Ambedkar: Equality and Constitutional MoralitySide two
Duties sustain rights
Rights survive only when citizens fulfil duties to each other and society. Rights without duties breed selfishness.
Gandhi: Truth and Nonviolence · Bhagavad Gita · Kautilya: The ArthashastraCommon ground
Both want a free, cohesive society.
How to reconcile them
Rights are enforceable guarantees; duties are civic virtues encouraged by education and example, not used to deny rights.
When each side is right
Stress rights when power threatens individuals. Stress duties when discussing civic sense, environment and social harmony.
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