THE RIGHT TO CULTURE 57 They claim to be fully rational and autonomous themselves but do not grant these capacities to others. In brief, they have no culture of rights. Groups that possess the culture of rights are virtually incompatible with those bereft of it. It follows that left liberal discourse competes for the same political space with a discourse based on the ideology of force and violence or with any framework that denies individuals and groups their preferences for no manifest and reasonable consideration. Indeed, left-liberals and say fascists and communalists are not fighting for the same political space as much as battling for the very assumptions of that space. For example, they are not competing within the framework of the Indian constitution as much as fighting over the very nature of that constitution. If that indeed is so, then a host of consequences follow. A left-liberal must earnestly fight anyone—an individual, group, the majority community or even the state who has abandoned the discourse of rights, and in this battle enlist the support of all those committed to it. Furthermore, a liberal state cannot afford to be neutral between two groups, one that accepts and another that denies this discourse. For example, in a multi-religious society, a state, if it has any serious liberal intentions, cannot be neutral between two groups, one of which works within the framework of the constitution and the other that subverts it. Now, it might be objected that all this is no great news. But recall what was stated very early in the paper that it matters what we call something, what descriptions things have. There is an enormous difference between the bland assertion that I must follow my way of life and the claim that I have a right to lead a life that I deem fit. Those who use the language of rights, must, if they axe at all serious, go whole hog and accept the cultural presuppositions of rights. If their ideologies do not permit this, then a serious conflict is bound to emerge that can only be resolved if one or the other is abandoned. If they foresake the framework of rights, then they must also admit to have entered an arena that is bound by different rules. NOTES AND REFERENCES 1. See for example, R. Dworkin, Taking rights seriously, p. 188. 2. Ibid. 3. See C. Taylor, Philosophical Papers, Vol 2, pp. 187-210. 4. Ibid.