This book wishes to address the central paradox of how a vibrant parliamentary democracy and a plural heterogeneous society is capable of large scale human rights violations, particularly when it comes to political rights. The book has studied the political orientation and human rights discourses of three select states namely West Bengal, Punjab and Assam to find suitable explanation of its fundamental research question, namely, why formal democratic structures consistently violate human rights. When the dissertation was registered, the period for study (1970-2000) was decided in keeping with the development and maturation of the Indian democratic system and the rise of several critical issues before the politics of the selected states as well as the nation.However, the study did not refrain from the analysis of trends beyond 2000 as major developments took place in the first decade of the new millennia that had important implications for rights. On the whole, this is a study that extends till 2010.