Narendra Modi, and Duties vs Rights
What Modi is telling in his letter is the way of suppressing the concept of ‘right’ which is clear in his policy of relegating the religious minorities to second class status, coining the term Urban Naxals for the public intellectuals among others
India’s journey from feudal society towards a potential democratic society based on modern industries and equality began during the colonial period. This was the period when the rise of modern industries created the working class. The modern education introduced by Lord Macaulay laid the foundation of the education system which had the potential of bringing in the liberal open society where the concept of rights was also ingrained.
The feudal, semi-feudal and similar societies did not have the concept of rights and were based on the ‘divine’ power to rule over the lower sections of the society. It was during this period that the tendencies which emerged articulated the rights of emerging sections of society.
While the freedom movement was led by leaders who had imbibed the values with potential of democratic values, they led the movement against colonial rule. The likes of Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Subhash Chandra Bose articulated the values with inherent rights for the nation. They took the lead with great cost to their personal life. One of the examples was the inspiration derived by Jyotirao Phule was from Thomas Penn’s book ‘Rights of Man’. Ambedkar was an ardent follower of John Dewey who was steeped in democratic values.
Recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on to criticise Lord Macaulay for this transition to the values of rights, when he emphasized the traditional knowledge system as a dog whistle to highlight the concept of duty over rights.
Interestingly Modi and his ilk and Muslim League both expressed the values of ‘declining classes of landlords, Nawabs and Kings’. Modi’s Hindutva presented to ancient period where ‘Dharma’ was the core, the Dhrama which followers of Hindutva claim to be very great and the core part of Hinduism. Dharma stands for the religiously ordained duties. Hindu ideologues claim that there is no equivalent of Dharma in other religions. There is Shudra Dhrama, Stree Dharma, Kshatriya dharma and what have you. At core it was the duties which dominated the scene.
The Muslim League emerged from the Nawabs/ Landlords and their leaders eulogised the great rule of Muslim kings, starting from Mohammad bin Kasim who ruled for some time in Sind. Their model was based on feudal values, looking down on lower levels of society. The dominant sections were blessed with the ‘divine power’ trickling down to these feudal lords etc. Pakistan saw the good definition of secularism by Jinnah, but in practice the feudal elements were dominant around him and after Jinnah’s death they came out openly to impose their feudal- semi feudal values on the society.
As Hindu Nationalism is marching in India, the concept of ‘rights’ inherent in our national movement and Constitution have to be gradually undermined by Hindutva politics. This is where the non-biological Narendra Modi begins the journey to achieve the goal of undermining rights and highlighting duties. Call for a dumping education system introduced by Lord Macaulay was a subtle attempt in this direction.
Now putting it more overtly on the Constitution Day 26 November,
“In a recent letter to Indian citizens on Constitution Day (November 26, 2025), Prime Minister Narendra Modi heavily emphasized the importance of citizens fulfilling their Fundamental Duties. He argued that performing these duties is the foundation for a strong democracy and national progress towards his "Viksit Bharat" (Developed India) vision for 2047. Modi urged citizens to place their "duties towards the nation foremost in our minds". This aligns with his previous statements where he suggested that "rights are embedded in duties" and that "real rights are a result of the performance of duty".
He also tweeted:
“On Constitution Day, wrote a letter to my fellow citizens in which I’ve highlighted the greatness of our Constitution, the importance of Fundamental Duties in our lives…”
Shravasti Dasgupta writes:
“While this is not the first time that Modi has laid emphasis on citizens duties, or interlinked them with rights to suggest that duties correspond to rights, the constitution shows that such interlinking is incorrect. According to constitutional experts and political scientists, an invocation of duties, placing primacy on them above rights, is a subtle attempt to recast the constitution, ensure compliance in a manner seen in authoritarian regimes, and signals a danger to democratic principles”
Modi went on to invoke Gandhi on this:
“…and that "real rights are a result of the performance of duty,". Invoking Gandhi is totally off the mark as Prof Zoya Hasan (Prof. Emerita, JNU) says, “Gandhi often spoke of duties, but he never treated them as a substitute for rights; duties did not supersede rights. For him, duties were a moral path for individuals, while Fundamental Rights remained essential and must be protected by the state. Gandhi’s commitment to duties did not diminish rights in any way,”
Incidentally to emphasise on the concept of rights, many of these were underlined during the UPA regime (2004-2014). The first and major amongst these was "Right to Information”, a mechanism to root democracy in a deeper way. This was followed by Right to Education, right to food and Right to health. As the UPA Government lost in 2014 the NDA came with a full majority for the BJP. The Rights based approach to public policy has gone in the freezer and duties are being made the major part of our national policies.
Even our Constitution emphasises on rights in itself. In a way Article 21 of our Constitution, ‘Right to Life‘ incorporates in it the right to health, right to education for example. The UPA Government underlined these in a very appropriate way.
The Hindu Nationalism is totally suppressing rights, like freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of expression among others. Many of these are incorporated in the concept of Human rights as well.
What Modi is telling in his letter is the way of suppressing the concept of ‘right’ which is clear in his policy of relegating the religious minorities to second class status, coining the term Urban Naxals for the public intellectuals among others.
Incidentally, Authoritarian states’ Constitutions also emphasize more on duties, at the cost of rights.
[The writer, Ram Puniyani, is former Professor IIT Bombay.]
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