NCERT GENDER RELIGION CASTE

Department of Social Science

POLITICAL SCIENCE(X)

CHAPTER 04

GENDER RELIGION AND CASTE

NCERT TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS

Q.1. State how Caste Inequalities are still continuing in India?

Ans. Caste has not disappeared from contemporary India.

(i) Even now most people marry within their own caste or tribe.

(ii) Untouchability has not ended completely despite constitutional prohibition.

(iii) Effects of centuries of advantages and disadvantages continue to be felt today, e.g., Caste continues to     be closely linked to economic status.

Q.2.What is the status of Women’s Representation in India’s legislative bodies?

Ans. India’s women representation in legislatures and their participation in politics is very low. The strength of women in the Lok Sabha is not even 10%. In the state assemblies it is even lower— only 5%. Some developing countries of Africa and Latin America have more women Representatives. The Women’s Reservation Bill, a move to make 33% reservation for women in the Parliament, is still pending before the Parliament and it has yet to pass it. Only in the Panchayat Raj — local governing bodies — seats are reserved for women. Now there are 10 lakh elected women representatives in rural and urban local bodies.

Q.3. Mention any two Constitutional Provisions that make India a secular state.

Ans.  (i) Freedom to practice, profess and propagate the religion of one’s choice.

         (ii) There is no state or official religion.

Q.4. How can Religion influence Politics?

v  Gandhiji believed that politics must be guided by ethics drawn from all religions.

v  Ideas, ideals and values drawn from different religions can play a role in politics.

v  People should have the freedom to express in politics their needs, interest and demands as a member of a religious community.

v  People who hold political power should see that discrimination and oppression does not take place due to religion.

Q.5. How does Communalism create problems in Politics?

Ans.(i) When one uses religion in politics, it is communal politics. It

             Creates problems when one sees religion as the basis of the nation.

             (ii) When one religion considers itself superior to other religions.

           (iii) When there is discrimination against the followers of the other religion.

 (iv) When state power is used to help one religion to dominate other religious

         groups   and;

            (v) When the demands of one religious group are in opposition to others.

Q.6. What are the effects of Communalism on Politics?

          (i) Political parties are formed on communal basis — Muslim League,

    Akali Dal, the Hindu Mahasabha, the DMK are some examples.

          (ii) Religion rather than ability becomes the criteria to choose candidates for elections.

          (iii) People prefer to cast votes in favour of candidates of their own religion.

          (iv) Communalism can turn ugly and lead to violence, massacre and riots.

Q.7. What is Secularism? Mention any Four provisions of the Indian Constitution which makes it a secular state.

Ans. Secularism means all religions are given the same respect and there is no

         State religion.

(i)   No religion has a special status.

(ii)  Freedom to practice, profess and propagate one’s religion is allowed by the Constitution.

(iii) No discrimination of any kind is allowed on religious grounds.

(iv) ‘Untouchability’ is banned. (Article 17)

Q.8. Has caste Disappeared from India?

Ans. No. The following points prove the fact

(i) Even now people marry in their own caste.

(ii) Untouchability is still practised in many parts of India.

(iii) The caste groups which had better education are still ahead of other caste groups.

Q.9. Why is it necessary to have Secularism in India?

Ans. India is a land of many religions and it has led to communalism in India. In fact, one of the results of communalism was partition of India into two nations. It was a challenge for Indian democracy and they chose a secular state as a model. Several constitutional provisions were made to secure secularism in India. It was not just an ideology of some party or people. Secularism is the basis, one of the foundations, of our country. To avoid the threat of communalism, secularism was chosen.

Q.10. When does the problem of communalism begin?

v  The problem of communalism begins when religion is seen as the basis of the nation.

v  The problem becomes more acute when religion is expressed in politics in exclusive and partisan terms, when one religion and its followers are pitted against another.

v   This happens when the beliefs of one religion are presented as superior to those of other religions,

v  And when the state power is used to establish domination of one religious group over the rest.

Q.11. Do the ‘caste’ and ‘vote bank’ factors completely control the elections in India?

Ans. There is an impression that elections in India are all about caste and nothing else. But it is also true that ‘caste’ and ‘vote bank’ factors alone cannot determine elections in India due to the following reasons:

(i)  No single caste is ever elected with a clear majority in any parliamentary constituency.

      So votes of more than one caste is required to win the election for any candidate or party.

(ii) Many political parties may put up candidates from the same caste. Some voters have     more than one candidate from their caste, while many voters have no candidate from their caste.

(iii)No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community.

Q.12. Define a Feminist Movement. What is their Objective?

Ans. A woman or a man who believes in equal rights and opportunities for women and men. More radical women’s movements aimed at equality in personal and family life as well. These movements are called feminist movements. The objectives of the feminist movements are enhancing the political and legal status of women, and proving their educational, health and career opportunities.

Q.13. How does the Constitution of India ensure secularism?

Ans. (i) There is no official religion for the Indian state. Our Constitution does not

              give   special status to any religion.

        (ii) The Constitution provided to all individuals and communities freedom to

               Profess, practise and propagate any religion or not to follow any.

       (iii) The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.

       (iv) The Constitution also allows the state to intervene in matters of religion to

               ensure equality within religious community.

Q.14. “In our country women still lag much behind men despite some improvements since independence.” Support the statement by giving three reasons.

Ans. (i) The literacy rate (as per 2011 census) among women is only 65 per cent compared with 82 per cent among men. Similarly, only a smaller proportion of girls go for higher     studies.

(ii) The proportion of women among the highly paid and valued job is still very small. On

an average, an Indian woman works one hour more than an average man every day. Yet

much of her work is not paid and therefore often not valued.

(iii) As per the Equal Wages Act 1976, equal wages should be paid to equal work. But, in almost all areas of work, from sports and cinema, to factories and fields, women are paid less than men, even when both do exactly the same work.

Q.15. What forms can Caste take in Politics?

Ans. The caste can take following forms in politics:

(i)  Sometimes candidates are chosen on the basis of their caste. When political

       Parties choose candidates, they keep in mind the caste composition Constituency.

(ii) In many places voters vote on the basis of caste and fail to choose suitable candidates.

(iii) When a government is formed after elections, political parties take care that different

       Castes are represented in the government.

(iv) Political parties appeal to caste sentiments during elections.

(v) To gain support political parties raise caste-based issues during elections. This they do to

      Get political support, as ‘one man one vote’ system or adult franchise has made the voter

      Very powerful.

(vi) The castes considered inferior or low until now have been made conscious of their rights

       By the political parties.

Q.16. Describe the influence of Politics on Caste system.

Ans. It is not only that caste influences politics but politics also affects the caste system. This    takes the following forms:

(i) Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it neighboring castes

     or sub-castes which were earlier excluded from it.

(ii) Various caste groups are required to enter into a coalition with other castes and

       thus    enter into a dialogue.

(iii) New kinds of caste groups have come up in the political arena like ‘backward’ and

      ‘Forward’ caste groups.

Q.17. Do the ‘caste’ and ‘vote bank’ factors completely control the elections in India?

Ans. There is an impression that elections in India are all about caste and nothing else. But it is also

true that ‘caste’ and ‘vote bank’ factors alone cannot determine elections in India due to the

Following reasons :

(i) No single caste is ever elected with a clear majority in any parliamentary constituency.

     So votes of more than one caste is required to win the election for any candidate or party.

(ii) Many political parties may put up candidates from the same caste. Some voters have more

      than one candidate from their caste, while many voters have no candidate from their caste.

(iii) No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community.

Q.18. What are the factors other than the caste which play a decisive role at the time of the

Election?

Ans. Other than caste some more are there which play a decisive role at the time of the election –

(i) Money (ii) Power (iii) Prestige.

(i)   Money – During election some candidates purchase the vote by giving money.

(ii)  Power – Power also attracts the voter. Sometimes willingly and sometimes by force.

(iii) Prestige – Suppose any party or candidate having good prestige, then also voters are

      Attracted.

Q.19. Unless women are empowered, their problems will never get adequate attention. Suggest

any 3 ways to empower them.

Ans. Women can be empowered by –

(i) Enhancing the political and legal status

(ii) Enhancing their educational status

(iii) By giving them equal rights and career opportunities.

Q.20. Explain the Sexual Division of Labour.

Ans. In India, women are supposed to bring up children and look after the home. They do all the

cleaning, washing, cooking, even tailoring. There is no value attached to this work. In rural

areas, women work in the fields, fetch water and fuel but are hardly paid anything.

In urban areas, middle-class women work in offices, factories etc. Poor women work as domestic

help, but none of them get the same wages as men. Their status is lower than that of men.

Men do not do any housework. They are excellent cooks or tailors but they take up these jobs

only when paid in hotels, etc.

Q.21. Explain the major factors responsible for the rigid caste system disappearing from India.

Give two suggestions of your own.

Ans. (i) Social reformers like Gandhi, Jyotiba Phule, B.R. Ambedkar and Ramaswami Naickar

have worked hard for a society free of caste inequalities.

(ii) Literacy, education, occupational mobility and economic development have been other

factors. The position of the landlords has been weakened.

(iii) The Constitution of India prohibits any kind of discrimination based on caste.

(iv) The fundamental rights have also played a major role because they are provided to every

citizen without any discrimination.

(v) The caste system can be further reduced if education is spread in every group to every caste.

(vi) Inter-caste marriages can also remove caste barriers.

Q.22. How does Communalism take various forms in Politics? Explain four forms.

Ans. Communalism can take various forms in politics:

(i) The most common expression of communalism is in everyday beliefs. It involves

     Religious, prejudices, belief in the superiority of one’s religion over others.

(ii) When it tries to have political dominance of one's own religious community, especially

      by the majority community, it leads to the desire in minority community to form a

      Separate political unit.

(iii) Political mobilisation on religious lines is another form of communalism. It involves the

      Use of sacred symbols, religious leaders, emotional appeal and plain fear in order to bring

      the followers of one religion together in the political arena. In electoral politics, it leads

      to emotional appeals to the voters of one religion in preference to others.

(iv) Sometimes communalism takes its ugliest form — communal violence, riots and

      Massacres. This we have seen in the case of India and Pakistan at the time of partition

      of the country, Gujarat Riot 2002,Ayodya 1992,etc….

Q.23.Write few measures to Combat Communalism in India?

 Ans. Communalism can be combated through following methods,

·         Law should ban parties using Religion in Politics

·         Socio- Economic Backwardness of the country should be removed so that people are not used as Vote Bank.

·         Political Parties should rise above narrow gains and stop fanning communal passions.

·         Educational Institutions should inculcate secular values among the Students.

·         The Election Commission should prepare a code of Conduct for Parties so that religion is not used in Politics.

·         Mass Media, TV Radio,NGOs and People themselves should launch an enlightenment movement so that Public Opinion is created against Communal Riots.