We can have our privacy and that is fundamental too!!
Last month my 5th grader daughter, Mahie wanted to know about her fundamental rights. Fearing for worse that i would have to comply with her demands which she will for sure map to her fundamental rights, I tried to digress the topic by making her realize what her fundamental duties towards her family and nation were instead. But she was insisting on her rights, and to my reprieve, the EVS chapter on Human rights was due for the class test.
One of the fundamental right listed in their 5th Grade EVS book by Pearson publication is “Right to Privacy". I goggled and the Wikipedia page on "Fundamental rights for India" did not list the Right to privacy explicitly (wiki updated yesterday with new fundamental right) but soon realized by reading more that it may be inferred from other rights and there were various judgments passed which treated privacy as a right. My explanation to her for Right to privacy was the "right to be left alone". She did not take this answer as "alone" is the last thing kids want to be. How could i tell her that very existence of her is facilitated by the Right to Privacy, i looked for alternative example and asked her why she latched the bathroom while taking a showers. I know it was a bad example, but it helped me to bail out.
But frankly, for me till yesterday, Right to privacy was just the literal version of it i.e right to be left alone. No one should be allowed to intrude in your physical space against your wishes. Right of Privacy may have implications on Aadhar and I am a staunch supported of Aadhar, so i was not 100% with Privacy being a right . One of the arguments which government had given for this right in Honorable Supreme Court that privacy is an elitist concept as those wanting to hide need privacy. And guy like me who doesn’t even bother to close the latch of the bathroom, why do i need to worry.
However today, after reading about the whole gamut of "right to privacy" I have realized my ignorance. Reading through today’s paper has educated me to respect the privacy of other which can be anything from what their sexual preferences are to what they want to eat, wear or drink. From the right to be forgotten to right to euthanasia. The Honorable Supreme Court in the judgment has mentioned that body and mind are inseparable elements of personality and privacy provides humans the ability to make choices to pursue the course of development of their personality. I urge you to go through today’s newspapers to read more about our new fundamental right.
"Saying that you don’t care about the right to privacy, because you have nothing to hide, is like saying you don’t care about freedom of speech because you have nothing to say. "
Jean-Michel Jarren
Last month my 5th grader daughter, Mahie wanted to know about her fundamental rights. Fearing for worse that i would have to comply with her demands which she will for sure map to her fundamental rights, I tried to digress the topic by making her realize what her fundamental duties towards her family and nation were instead. But she was insisting on her rights, and to my reprieve, the EVS chapter on Human rights was due for the class test.
One of the fundamental right listed in their 5th Grade EVS book by Pearson publication is “Right to Privacy". I goggled and the Wikipedia page on "Fundamental rights for India" did not list the Right to privacy explicitly (wiki updated yesterday with new fundamental right) but soon realized by reading more that it may be inferred from other rights and there were various judgments passed which treated privacy as a right. My explanation to her for Right to privacy was the "right to be left alone". She did not take this answer as "alone" is the last thing kids want to be. How could i tell her that very existence of her is facilitated by the Right to Privacy, i looked for alternative example and asked her why she latched the bathroom while taking a showers. I know it was a bad example, but it helped me to bail out.
But frankly, for me till yesterday, Right to privacy was just the literal version of it i.e right to be left alone. No one should be allowed to intrude in your physical space against your wishes. Right of Privacy may have implications on Aadhar and I am a staunch supported of Aadhar, so i was not 100% with Privacy being a right . One of the arguments which government had given for this right in Honorable Supreme Court that privacy is an elitist concept as those wanting to hide need privacy. And guy like me who doesn’t even bother to close the latch of the bathroom, why do i need to worry.
However today, after reading about the whole gamut of "right to privacy" I have realized my ignorance. Reading through today’s paper has educated me to respect the privacy of other which can be anything from what their sexual preferences are to what they want to eat, wear or drink. From the right to be forgotten to right to euthanasia. The Honorable Supreme Court in the judgment has mentioned that body and mind are inseparable elements of personality and privacy provides humans the ability to make choices to pursue the course of development of their personality. I urge you to go through today’s newspapers to read more about our new fundamental right.
"Saying that you don’t care about the right to privacy, because you have nothing to hide, is like saying you don’t care about freedom of speech because you have nothing to say. "
Jean-Michel Jarren
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