Contents
Important Terms
Adivasis: The Scheduled Tribes (STs) are known as Adivasis.
Caste Hierarchy: A ladder-like formation in which all the caste groups are placed from the highest to the lowest castes.
Communal Politics: The use of religion for political purpose where one religion is shown as superior to the other religions is called communal politics.
Communalism: It means attempts to promote religious ideas between groups of people as identified by different communities.
Casteism: Casteism is the hereditary system of occupation, political power, endogamy, social culture and social class. It can also be defined as a class structure that is determined by birth.
Dalits: The Scheduled Castes (SCs) are commonly known as Dalits.
Electorate: All the people in a country or area who are entitled to vote in an election.
Feminist: A person who believes in equal rights and opportunities for women.
Feminism: It is concerned with the empowerment of women and giving them equal status in the society as men.
Family Laws: The laws that deal with family related matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, etc. In our country, different family laws apply to followers of different religions.
Gender Division: It is a form of hierarchical social division based on social expectations and stereotypes.
Literacy Rate: Literacy rate is the ratio of educated people among the whole population of a country.
Occupational Mobility: Shift from one occupation to another, usually when a new generation takes up occupations other than those practiced by their ancestors.
Patriarchy: A system where the father is the head of the family.
Prejudice: An unreasonable dislike or preference for a person, group, custom, etc., especially when it is based on their race, religion, sex, etc.
Sex Ratio: It is defined as the number of females per 1000 males in a country in a given period of time.
Sexual Division of Labour: A system in which all work inside the home is either done by the women of the family or organised by them through the domestic helpers.
Stereotype: An image or idea of a particular type of person or thing that has become fixed through being widely held.
Secular State: A state which does not have any official religion. It provides equal status to all religions.
Secularism: A belief that religion should not be involved in the organization of society.
Urbanisation: Shift of population from rural areas to urban areas.
Universal Adult Franchise: It means that all citizens whose age is 18 years or above have the right to vote.
Important Notes
Feminist Movements
Agitations or movements demanding enhancement in the political and legal status of women and improving their education and career opportunities are called Feminist Movement. The main objective of the Feminist Movement is to attain equality among men and women.
The political demands of the Feminist Movements in India were :
(i) More women representatives in local government bodies.
(ii) More political representation for women by having elected women representatives.
(iii) Reserving at least one-third of the seats in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies for women.
Gender Division in Indian Society
(i) In Indian society, gender division tends to be understood as natural and unchangeable. It is based on social expectations and stereotypes.
(ii) This attitude leads to sexual division of labour i.e., boys and girls are brought up to believe that the main responsibility of women is housework and bringing up children whereas all the outside works are to be done by men.
(iii) The result of this division of labour is that though the women constitute almost half the population, their role in public life is minimal.
(iv) Political expression and political mobilisation on this question helped to improve women’s role in public life. We now find women working as scientists, doctors, engineers, teachers, etc. Now, with a lot of efforts, 33% seats are reserved for women in local government bodies.
Sexual Division of Labour
Sexual division of labour means the division of work on the basis of the gender difference and according to this concept, all housework and responsibility of bringing up children is women’s work.
Women all over the world have been demanding:
(i) Equal voting rights.
(ii) Enhancement of the political and legal status of women.
(iii) Improvement of educational and career opportunities for women.
The status of women’s representation in India’s legislative bodies is as follows :
(i) Central Legislature : Less than 10% of its total strength are women.
(ii) State Legislature : Less than 5% of its total strength are women.
(iii) Panchayati Raj : One-third of the seats are reserved for women.
(iv) India is among the bottom group of nations in the world, in this aspect.
(v) Women’s organizations and activists have been demanding a similar reservation of at least one-third of seats in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. But the bill to this effect has not been passed.
Women face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in various ways :
(i) The literacy rate among women is only 54 per cent as compared with 76 per cent among men.
(ii) Similarly, a smaller proportion of girl students go for higher studies. Girls are performing as good as boys in school. But they drop out because parents prefer to spend their resources for their boys’ education rather than spending equally on their sons and daughters.
(iii) The proportion of women among the highly paid and valued jobs is still very small. On an average, an Indian woman works one hour more than an average man everyday.
(iv) The Equal Wages Act provides that equal wages should be paid to equal work. However, 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.
(v) In many parts of India, parents prefer to have sons and find ways to have the girl child aborted before she is born. Such sex-selective abortion led to a decline in child sex ratio.
(vi) Woman face harassment, exploitation and violence on the domestic front.
Communalism
When beliefs of one religion are presented as superior to those of other religions, when the demands of one religious group are formed in opposition to another and when state power is used to establish domination of one religious group over the rest, is called Communalism.
There are three kinds of social differences that can take the form of social divisions and inequalities. These social differences are based on gender, religion and caste.
Gender division is a form of hierarchical social division. It seems to be natural and unchangeable. In our societies, sexual division of labour is widespread. Boys and girls are brought up to believe that the main responsibility of women is housework and bringing up children. On the other hand, men are expected to do all the work outside home.
Women in different parts of the world organised and agitated for equal rights and voting rights for women. They also demanded enhancement in the political and legal status of women and improvement in their educational and career opportunities.
More radical women’s movements aimed at equality in personal and family life as well. These movements are called feminist movements. These movements improved women’s role and status in public life. Now women are working as scientists, doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. In countries like Sweden, Norway and Finland, the participation of women in public life is very high.
But in our country, women still lag much behind men despite some improvement since independence. It’s because Indian society is male dominated, patriarchal society. It values men over women and gives them more power and women face discrimination and oppression in many ways.
The literacy rate among women is still lower than men. Women still have a small share in the highly paid jobs. They are exported and harassed at the workplace as well as at home. In India, women’s participation in the political area is very low. The women strength in the Lok Sabha is not even 10%. Their share in state assemblies is less than 5%.
Communalism is based on ideology that the followers of a particular religion must belong to one community. It is believed that people who follow different religions cannot belong to same social community. In its extreme form communalism leads to the belief that the people belonging to different religions cannot live as equal citizens in one nation. The superior religious group is expected to rule the nation or it ends in disintegration of the nation.
Communalism is a hindrance in the functioning of our democracy as:
(i) Communalism leads to the belief that people belonging to different religions cannot live as equal citizens within one nation. Either, one of them has to dominate the rest or they have to form different nations.
(ii) Any attempt to bring all followers of one religion together in a context other than religion is bound to suppress many voices within that community.
Measures to check communalism in India are:
(i) Communal prejudices and propaganda need to be countered in everyday life.
(ii) Religion based mobilisation needs to be countered in the arena of politics.
Various forms of communalism in politics
(a) The most common expression of communalism is in everyday beliefs : The most common expression of communalism is in everyday beliefs. These routinely involve religious prejudices, the stereotype of religious communities and belief in the superiority of one’s religion over other religions. This is so common that we often fail to notice it, even when we believe in it.
(b) A communal mind often leads to a quest for political dominance of one’s own religious community. For those belonging to the majority community, this takes the form of majoritarian dominance. For those belonging to the minority community, it can take the form of a desire to form a separate political unit.
(c) Political mobilisation on religious lines is another frequent form of communalism. This 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.
(iv) Sometimes, communalism takes its most ugly form of communal violence, riots and massacre.
The makers of our Constitution were aware of this challenge. That is why they chose the model of a secular state. This choice was reflected in several constitutional provisions like
(i) There is no official religion for the Indian state.
(ii) The Constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practice and propagate any religion, or not to follow any.
(iii) The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
(iv) At the same time, the Constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion in order to ensure equality within religious communities.
The religious differences are often expressed in the field of politics, i.e.
(i) Gandhian View: Gandhiji used to say that religion can never be separated from politics, what he meant by religion was not any particular religion like Hinduism or Islam, but moral values that infirm all religions. He believed that politics must be guided by ethics drawn from religion.
(ii) Human Rights View: Human right groups in our country have argued that most of the victims of communal riots in our country are people from religious minorities. They have demanded that the government take special steps to protect religious minorities.
(iii) Women’s Movement View: Women’s movement has agreed that family laws of all religions discriminate against women. So they have demanded that government should change these laws to make them more equitable.
The Government of India gives holidays for the festivals of most of the religions because
(i) India is a secular state, there is no official religion in our country.
(ii) The Constitution provides freedom to all to profess, practice and propagate any religion or not to follow any.
(iii) The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the ground of religion.
Secularism
Secularism means no special status is given to any religion. It is just not an ideology of some parties or persons.
The Constitution of India ensure that India remains a secular state by:
(i) There is no official religion for the Indian states, unlike the status of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, or that of Islam in Pakistan.
(ii) The Constitution provides freedom to all to protest, practice and propagate any religion, or not to follow any.
(iii) The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
(iv) The Constitution allows state to intervene in the matters of religion in order to ensure equality within religious communities. For example, it bans untouchability.
Secularism is the foundation of our country –
(i) There is no official religion of India.
(ii) Our Constitution does not give special status to any religion.
(iii) The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the ground of religion.
(iv) The Constitution provides all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practice and propagate any religion or not to follow any religion.
(v) The Constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion in order to ensure equality.
The relationship between Politics and Religion
Beneficial :
(i) Influence of religion can make politics value based.
(ii) Religious communities can politically express their needs and interests.
(iii) Political authorities can monitor and control religious discrimination and oppression.
Problematic :
(i) Religion can become the base for the development of nationalist sentiments which can lead to conflicts.
(ii) Political parties will try to make political gains pitting one group against the other.
(iii) State power may be used to establish the domination of one religious group over another.
Castesim
Advantages of the political expression of caste differences are :
(i) It gives disadvantaged groups the opportunity to demand a share in power and decision- making.
(ii) Many political parties take up the issue of ending caste discrimination.
(iii) Measures for uplifting the status of the backward castes will be undertaken.
Adverse effects of caste in politics in India :
(i) Political parties try to use caste to gain votes.
(ii) They promise to take care of the interests and demands of different castes.
(iii) It leads to conflicts and tensions among various caste groups.
Caste get politicised :
(i) Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within its neighbouring castes or sub-castes which were earlier excluded from it.
(ii) Various caste groups are required to enter into a coalition with other castes or communities and thus enter into a dialogue and negotiation.
(iii) New kinds of caste groups have come up in the political area like ‘backward’ and ‘forward’ caste groups.
Factors for Breaking Down of Caste System:
(i) Social and economic development.
(ii) Urbanization.
(iii) Occupational mobility.
(iv) Growth of literacy and education.
(v) The Constitution of India prohibited any caste-based discrimination.
(vi) Constitutional prohibition of untouchability.
Impact of caste system on Indian Democracy
(i) Expression of caste differences in politics gives many disadvantaged communities the space to demand their share of power. In this sense, caste politics has helped Dalit and OBC to gain better access to decision-making.
(ii) Several political and non-political organizations have been demanding and agitating for an end to discrimination against particular castes, for more dignity and more access to land, resources and opportunities.
(iii) Exclusive attention can produce negative results as well. It can divert attention from other pressing issues such as poverty, development and corruption. In some cases, it leads to violence.
The factors that have led to the weakening of the caste system in India or reasons for the declining caste system in India or socio-economic changes responsible for breaking down the old notion of caste hierarchy in India are :
(i) Efforts of social reformers like Phule, Gandhiji, Ambedkar against caste system have helped to promote a casteless society.
(ii) Economic development has reduced the emphasis on caste.
(iii) Large scale urbanisation has diminished the awareness of caste, as people rub shoulders in buses, trains and offices.
(iv) Growth of literacy and education has helped to decrease the belief in caste.
(v) Occupational mobility is possible now and children are not compelled to continue the profession of the family or father.
(vi) Weakening of the position of landlords in the villages has led to decline of the rigid caste barriers in villages.
(vii) Constitutional provisions such as Right to Equality of all before law have helped to prevent discrimination legally.
(viii) Policy of reservation of seats in local self- government bodies and legislatures as well in educational institutes have helped to uplift the political, social and economic position of lower castes.
Influence of Caste on Politics
(i) While choosing candidates for election, political parties consider the caste composition of the voters to win support.
(ii) When the government is formed, political parties take care that representative from different castes find a place in the government.
(iii) Political parties make an appeal to the caste sentiments to win votes.
(iv) Some political parties are known to favour some particular caste.
(v) Universal Adult Franchise and the principle of one-person-one-vote have compelled the political leaders to bring caste sentiments into politics to muster support.
Example to show that caste has not still disappeared from contemporary India are :
(i) Most people marry within their own caste or tribe.
(ii) Untouchability has not ended despite provisions in the Constitution.
(iii) Effects of centuries of advantages and disadvantages continue to be felt today.
(iv) A large mass of low caste people still do not have access to education.
(v) Caste is continued to be linked to economic status.
Advantages of the political expression of caste differences
(i) It gives disadvantaged groups the opportunity to demand a share in power and decision- making.
(ii) Many political parties take up the issue of ending caste discrimination.
(iii) Measures for uplifting the status of the backward castes will be undertaken.
Disadvantages of the political expression of caste differences
(i) Caste-based politics diverts attention from main issues such as poverty, corruption etc.
(ii) Caste-based politics leads to tensions, conflicts and violence.
Influence of Politics on Caste
(i) Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within its sub-castes.
(ii) Various caste groups are required to enter into a coalition with other castes or communities.
(iii) New kinds of caste groups have entered politics like ‘backward’ and ‘forward’ castes.
(iv) Politics in caste has allowed many disadvantaged caste groups to demand their share of power.
(v) Caste politics has helped the dalits and OBCs to gain better access to decision-making.
| Class 10 Civics – Notes & Study Material |
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