Haryana State Board HBSE 10th Class Social Science Important Questions Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste Important Questions and Answers.
Haryana Board 10th Class Social Science Important Questions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste
Multiple Choice Questions
Gender Religion And Caste Class 10 Important Questions And Answers HBSE Question 1.
A man or a woman who believes in equal rights and opportunities for women and men is :
(a) Socialist
(b) Communist
(c) Feminist
(d) Humanist
Answer:
(c) Feminist
HBSE 10th Class Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste Question 2.
Which of the following is correct for a patriarchal society?
(a) Women-dominated society
(b) Male-dominated society
(c) Educated society
(d) None of these.
Answer:
(b) Male-dominated society
Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste HBSE 10th Class Civics Question 3.
In which of the following countries, the participation of women in public life is very high?
(a) India
(b) Sweden
(c) Sri Lanka
(d) Pakistan
Answer:
(b) Sweden
Question 4.
In which of the following countries, the female participation in public life is not so high?
(a) Pakistan
(b) Sweden
(c) England
(d)USA
Answer:
(a) Pakistan
Question 5.
Laws concerning family matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption, etc. are known as
(a) Family laws
(b) Constitutional laws
(c) Educational laws
(d) Civil laws.
Answer:
(a) Family laws
Question 6.
Who said that religion can never by separated from politics?
(a) Dr B. R. Ambedkar
(b) Mahatma Gandhi
(c) P. R. Naicker
(d) None of these
Answer:
(b) Mahatma Gandhi
Question 7.
Which one of the following is not a cause of communalism?
(a) Religion is taken as the basis of the nation
(b) When one religion is discriminated against other
(c) State has no official religion
(d) Demands of one religious group are formed in opposition to another.
Answer:
(c) State has no official religion
Question 8.
India is a secular state because :
(a) It allows freedom to practise any religion
(b) There is no official religion
(c) It prohibits discrimination on religious grounds
(d) All of these.
Answer:
(d) All of these.
Question 9.
Which of the following divisions is unique to India?
(a) Gender division
(b) Caste division
(c) Economic divison
(d) Religious division
Answer:
(b) Caste division
Question 10.
What does caste hierarchy mean9
(a.) A shift from rural areas to urban areas
(b) Shift from one occupation to smother
(c) A ladder-like formation in which all caste groups are placed from the highest to the lowest
(d) All of these.
Answer:
(c) A ladder-like formation in which all caste groups are placed from the highest to the lowest
Question 11.
Which of these was a social reformer?
(a) Mahatma Gandhi
(b) B. R. Ambedkar
(c) Jyotiba Phule
(d) All of these.
Answer:
(c) Jyotiba Phule
Fill in the Blanks
1. …………… tends to be understood as natural and unchangeable.
2. Women in different parts of the world organised and protested for …………..
3. The radical women’s movements which aimed at equality in personal and family life, are known as ………….. movements.
4. India has reserved …………… of seats for women in local government bodies, i.e. panchayats and municipalities.
5. Many countries including india have followers of ……………. in their population.
6. The most common form of …………. is in everyday beliefs.
7. There is no …………… for the Indian states.
8. Communal politics is based on the idea that ……………. is the principal basis of social community.
9. …………….. prohibited any caste-based discrimination.
10. Religion can never be separated from ……………
Answer:
1. Gender division
2. equal lights
3. Feminist
4. one-third
5. defferent religions
6. comunialism
7. official religion
8. religion
9. Third Constitution of india
10. politics
Very Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1.
Which form of hierarchical social division is seen everywhere ?
Answer:
Gender Division.
Question 2.
What does gender division refer to?
Answer:
Gender division refers to the unequal roles assigned by the society to men and women.
Question 3.
What is the basis of ‘Gender Division’?
Answer:
Gender division is not based on biology, but on social expectations and stereotype.
Question 4.
What is meant by ‘Sexual Division of Labour’?
Answer:
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.
Question 5.
What do yOu mean by Feminist?
Answer:
Feminist is a person who believes in equality of men and women.
Question 6.
What do you know about ‘Feminist Movements’?
Answer:
The more radical women’s movements, aimed at equality between men and women in personal and family life are known as ‘Feminist Movements’.
Question 7.
What is the conclusion of Feminists and women’s movements?
Answer:
The conclusion of Feminists and women’s moveme power, their problems will not get adequate attention.
Question 8.
In which countries, women’s representation in politics is very high?
Answer:
In Sweden, Norway and Finland, women’s representation in politics is very high.
Question 9.
Define the term ‘Patriarchy’
Answer:
Patriarchy is a system that values men more, and gives them power over women.
Question 10.
What is the cause of decline in ‘child sex ratio’?
Answer:
Indian parents prefer to have sons and find ways to have the girl child aborted before she is bom. This has led to a decline in child sex ratio.
Question 8.
What is meant by sex ratio?
Answer:
Sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population.
Question 12.
What is the child sex ratio in India?
Answer:
In India, the child sex ratio is 919:1000.
Question 13.
Why are urban areas not safe for women?
Answer:
In urban areas, women are not safe even in their houses. They face beating, harassment and other forms of domestic violence.
Question 14.
What is the proportion of women in the Indian Legislature?
Answer:
The percentage of elected women members in the national Parliament is 14.36 percent, and in the State Assemblies, it is less than 5 percent.
Question 15.
Suggest any one way to protect women from domestic oppression.
Answer:
One way to protect women from domestic oppression is to raise awareness and explain their rights so that they can protect themselves.
Question 16.
How many seats are reserved for women in the local bodies in India?
Answer:
India has reserved one-third of seats in local government bodies, i.e. panchayats and municipalities for women.
Question 17.
Which is the principal basis of the social community?
Answer:
Religion is the principal basis of a social community.
Question 18.
What were Gandhiji’s views on religion?
Answer:
Gandhiji used to say that religion can never be separated from politics. According to him, religion means moral values that all religions teach.
Question 19.
What is ‘Family Law’?
Answer:
The laws related to marriage, divorce, adoption and succession are known as family law.
Question 20.
What are the views of the Women’s movement about the family laws of all religions?
Answer:
In the views of Women’s movement, family laws of all religions discriminate against women. They demanded a change in laws.
Question 21.
Which is the greatest threat or danger to democracy in our country?
Answer:
Communalism is the greatest threat to democracy in our country.
Question 22.
What is ‘Communal politics’?
Answer:
When state power establishes the domination of one religion, it is known as ‘Communal Politics’.
Question 23.
Give the names of social reformers who struggled to establish a society without any discrimination based on castes.
Answer:
Jyotiba Phule, Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar struggled to establish a society without any discrimination based on castes.
Question 24.
Who is referred to as ‘Adivasis’?
Answer:
The Scheduled Tribes (STs) are referred to as ‘Adivasis’.
Question 25.
How much of India’s population do the SC, ST and OBC groups comprise?
Answer:
The SC, ST and OBC groups constitute about two-thirds of the country’s population.
Question 26.
Define the term ‘Urbanization’.
Answer:
The migration of the people from rural to urban areas is known as ‘Urbanization’.
Question 27.
Define the term ’Caste Hierarchy’.
Answer:
Caste Hierarchy is a ladder-like formation in which all caste groups are placed from the highest to the lowest caste.
Question 28.
Which two factors other than caste, are kept in mind by the voters while exercising their franchise?
Answer:
The two factors other than caste, which are kept in mind by the voters are past performance and popularity of the candidate.
Question 29.
What is the economic status of various caste groups in India?
Answer:
The upper castes are well off, while the Dalits and the Tribal communities are worst off. Backward castes fall between these two groups.
Question 30.
Mention in brief, the dangers inherent in caste politics.
Answer:
(i) It can divert attention from other important issues like poverty, corruption, etc.
(ii) It also leads to tension and violence.
Question 31.
What are the major problems before Indian democracy?
Answer:
Casteism, communalism, gender bias, economic inequality, unemployment, poverty and illiteracy are the major problems before Indian democracy.
Question 32.
What is majoritarian dominance?
Answer:
The community belonging to a majority category acquires the status of majoritarian dominance over the minorities.
Short Answer Type Question – I
Question 1.
Give the chief features of gender division.
Answer:
(1) It is not based on biology but on social expectations and stereotypes.
(ii) It is a form of hierarchical social division.
(in) It tends to be understood as natural and unchangeable.
Question 2.
Throw light on the present condition of women in Indian society.
Answer:
Though many efforts have been made by Feminist Movements to improve the condition of women and many positive results have been seen, yet Indian women face discrimination and harassment in many ways. Specially, ¡n urban areas they face even
domestic violence.
Question 3.
Discuss the increasing role of women in public life.
Answer:
- Women perform all household work.
- In villages, women help in agricultural work also.
- In urban areas, poor women work as maid servants.
- In modern times, women have occupied many eminent positions in various professions, such as doctors, engineers, teachers, etc.
Question 4.
What measures should be adopted to remove inequality of women?
Answer:
Women’s empowerment will remove the inequality of women. For this purpose, the following steps should be taken:
- Through legislation equality should be maintained between men and women.
- Women should organize themselves for equal rights.
- Women should be given at least 33% representation in legislatures.
Question 5.
What do you know about Patriarchal Society?
Answer:
Patriarchal Society is that society which is mainly dominated by males. Family is controlled and administered by father and he takes all the important decisions for the family.
Question 6.
Give the chief aspects of ‘religious differences.
Answer:
- Though religious diversity is not universal like gender division yet it is widespread.
- Many countries including India, have in their population the people of different religions.
- Religious differences are often expressed in the field of politics.
Question 7.
Give three instances to show the relationship between religion and politics.
Answer:
- Gandhiji used to say that religion can never be separated from politics. He believed that politics must be guided by ethics.
- Human Rights Groups’ in our country have demanded that government should take special steps to protect religious minorities.
- Women’s movement demanded that government should change family laws of all religions to make them equitable.
Question 8.
How do ideas, ideals and values play a role in politics?
Answer:
(i) People should be able to express their needs, interests and demands as members of religious communities in politics.
(ii) The people should sometimes be able to regulate religion, so as to prevent discrimination by use of political power.
Question 9.
What do you mean by ‘Secular State’? Why did India adopt the model of secular administration?
Answer:
In a secular state, no special status is given to any religion. Every citizen is free to practise and propagate his own religion. Communalism has been a challenge to our democracy. There were communal riots at various places at the time of partition. That’s why, the Constitution framers adopted the model of ‘Secular State’.
Question 10.
Which provisions of the Constitution make India a ‘Secular State’?
Answer:
- Special status is not given to any religion.
- Every person and community is free to follow, practise and propagate the religion of his/her choice.
- The Constitution of India restricts any discrimination based on religion.
- To ensure equality among various religions, the Constitution has the right to interfere.
Question 11.
Why is caste division special to India?
Answer:
In India, the members of the same caste group were supposed to form a social community that practised the same occupations, married within the caste group. This hereditary occupational division was sanctioned by rituals.
Question 12.
Which factors are responsible for breaking down the old notions of caste hierarchy?
Answer:
The caste hierarchy is breaking down due to the following factors:
(a) Urbanisation on large scale
(b) Economic development
(c) Growth of literacy
(d) Occupational mobility
(e) Decline in the influence of landlords in villages.
Question 13.
What forms can caste take in politics?
Answer:
In politics, there are some occasions when caste emerges as the main consideration:
- When parties choose candidates in elections.
- When governments are formed.
- At the time of election campaigning.
- While mobilising and securing political support.
Question 14.
Even though no constituency has a clear majority of any single caste, candidates selected on the basis of caste get elected. Explain why?
Answer:
A. Generally, there are always more than Ofl political party. White most nwrnbers of a particular caste vote as a vote bank the rest of the votes are split. In this way, the candidate who is selected on the basis of caste manages to get more votes than any
another candidate.
Question 15.
What compelled political leaders to gear up the task of mobilizing vote banks?
Answer:
Universal adult franchise and the principle of one person-one vote’, compelled political leaders to gear up the task of mobilizing and securing political support. It also brought new consciousness among the people of castes that we were treated as inferior or low.
Question 16.
What are the positive traits of caste politics?
Answer:
- Caste politics has helped people from ‘Dalits’ and ‘OBC’ castes to gain better access to decision making.
- Demand has been made to end discrimination against lower castes.
- It is demanded that equal opportunities in economic, social and political fields should be provided.
Question 17.
What are the dangers or the negative results of caste politics?
Answer:
Politics based on caste cannot be considered as a positive or healthy sign for any democracy. In caste politics, attention can be diverted from other pressing issues such as economic growth, literacy, unemployment, poverty, etc. It can also give rise to tensions and violence.
Short Answer Type Questions – II
Question 1.
Would women be able to improve their status if their demands had not have raised in the political domain?
Answer:
Women would not be able to improve their status if their demands had not been raised
in the political domain because:
- The Feminist Movement believed that without the power of decision-making, women couldn’t make any progress in society.
- Women’s organizations had to fight long battles to get the voting rights.
- Reservation of one-third seats in local bodies helped women in voicing their interests.
- The women-oriented movements demanded equal social, political and economic rights for women.
- There is also a long-standing demand that one-third seats should be reserved for women in Parliament and State Assemblies.
Question 2.
Write a short note on ‘Sexual Division of Labour.
Answer:
The sexual division of labor is a system, in which all work inside the home is either done by the women of the family or organized by them through the domestic helpers. Women do all work inside the home such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, looking after children, etc. and men do all the work outside the home. This does not meaii that men cannot do housework. They simply think that it is for women to attend to these things. When these jobs are paid for, men are ready to take them up. Most tailors or cooks in hotels are men. Similarly, women also do paid work outside their homes.
Question 3.
How can the problem of giving more representation to women in political institutions be solved?
Answer:
(i) There should be a legal provision to have a fair proportion of women in the elected bodies.
(ii) Women’s organizations have been demanding a similar reservation of at least one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. In this regard, a bill has been pending before the Parliament for more than a decade.
(iii) One-third of seats in local government, bodies in Panchayats and Municipalities are now reserved for women.
(iv) There are more than 10 lakh elected women representatives in rural and urban local bodies.
Question 4.
What efforts have bee: inade for gender empowerment in India?
Answer:
Earlier, only men were allowed to participate in public affairs, to vote and contest for public offices. Gradually, the gender issue was raised in politics. Women in different parts of the world organized campaigns and agitated for equal rights. More radical women’s movements aimed at equality in personal and family life. The question of political mobilization also helped to improve women’s role in public life. Now, Women are working in various fields of life. According to Feminists, unless women control power, their problems will not get adequate attention. Panchayati Raj is also an important step in this direction.
Question 5.
Write a short note on Feminist inconvenient.
Answer:
Women in different parts of the world organized and agitated for equal rights. There were agitations in different countries for the extension of voting rights to women. These agitations demanded enhancing the political and legal status of women and improving 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.
Question 6.
“Communal politics is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of social community”. Discuss
Answer:
It is true that communal politics is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of social community.
It is proved by the following facts:
- Communalism involves the idea that the followers of particular religion rust belong to OflC community. Their interests are also the same.
- The people who follow different religions cannot belong to same social community.
- Communalism leads to a belief that people belonging to different religions cannot live as equal citizens within one nation. They have to form different nations or one of them has to dominate the rest.
Question 7.
What is the root of casteism? In what sense is caste division special to India?
Answer:
The root of casteism lies in the belief that caste is the sole basis of social community. According to this way of thinking, people of same caste belong to a natural social community. They have the same interests which cannot be shared with the people of other communities.
In India, the special features of caste division are as follows:
(i) Hereditary occupational division was sanctioned by rituals.
(ii) Same caste group is supposed to form same community that practised the similar occupations. They married within the caste of same group.
Question 8.
Explain any three factors which are responsible for breaking down of old notions of vaste hierarchy.
OR
Which have contributed to changes in caste system.
Answer:
Three reasons which have contributed to changes in caste system:
(i) Efforts of political leaders and social reformers like Grandhiji, B. R. Ambedker who advocated and worked to establish a society in whioh OHSte inequalities are absent.
(ii) Socio-economic changes such as:
- Urbanisation
- Occupational Mobility
- Growth of literacy and education
- Breaking down of caste hierarchy
(iii) The constituion of India prohibited any caste-based discrimination and laid the foundations of policies to reverse the injustice of the caste system.
Question 9.
Describe any five features of the caste system in India.
Answer:
Five features of the caste system in India ; Following are the five features of the caste system in India.
- It was a hierarchical occupational division of the society.
- Caste system is both hierarchical and segmented.
- Most important aspect of caste system is .’untouchability’.
- In caste system, the people belonging to higher castes started treating others as belonging to lower castes and then started the practice of untouchability.
- In caste system, the members of the same caste group formed a social community that followed similar occupations, married within the caste and did not mingle with other castes.
Question 10.
What do you understand by casteism?
OR
Explain casteism.
Answer:
All societies have some kind of social inequality and divison of labour. In India these are based on caste divison. This is known as casteism. In caste system, heriditary occupational division was sanctioned by rituals. Members of the same caste group are supposed to from a social community. This social community practices the same or similar occupation. Casteism prefers marriage within the same caste group. It also prohibits eating with members from other caste groups. Casteism is based on exclusion of and discrimination against the outcast group who are regarded as ‘untouchable’. Casteism maintains a ladder like formation in which all the caste groups are placed from the highest to the lowest castes.
Question 11.
“Caste can take various forms in politics”. Describe the chief forms.
Answer:
Caste can take the following forms in politics :
(i) When parties choose candidates in elections they keep in mind the caste composition of the electorate.
(ii) When governments are formed, political parties usually take care that representatives of different castes finds a place in it.
(iii) Political parties and candidates in elections make appeals to caste sentiments. Some political parties are known to favour some castes.
(iv) Universal Adult Franchise compelled political leaders to gear up to the task of public mobilisation.
Question 12.
The concept that ‘election is a game of castes and nothing else’ is not true. Explain.
Answer:
The concept that ‘election is a game of castes and nothing else’ in not true. This is completely right. We can prove this on the basis of the following points:
- There is no majority of a single caste. So, every political party and candidate has to win the confidence of more than one caste.
- The history of elections proves that caste plays an important role in the elections though caste is not the only basis of elections.
- Sometimes, there can be more than one candidate of a caste or not a single candidate of a caste.
- A single caste can have many alternatives.
Question 13.
How does politics influence the caste system and caste identities?
Answer:
- Politics brings caste system and caste identities into the political arena. Politics is not caste-ridden but it is the caste that is politicized.
- Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within its sub-castes, people which were earlier excluded from it.
- Various caste groups are required to enter into a coalition with other castes.
- New kinds of caste groups have come up in the political arena.
Question 14.
Suggest any two measures to integrate the people belonging to different ethnic groups in a society. (CBSE2016)
Answer:
The measures to integrate the people belonging to different ethnic groups in a society are following :
- Everyone, including political leaders, social reformers and general people, should discourage casteism and work for socio-economic and political harmony.
- The rational and regional political parties based on caste should be derecognised.
- The name and aim of educational institutions referring to castes should be given up.
Question 15.
“The government of India gives holidays for the tèstivals of most of the religions”. Why is it so ? Give your view points.
Answer:
The government of India gives all religious holidays because India is a secular state. Certain provisions were adopted in the constitution to make India a secular state:
- There is no official religion for the Indian state. Unlike the status of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Islam in Pakistan, our constitution does not give any special status to any religion.
- The constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practice and propagate any religion or not to follow any.
- The constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion.
- Constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion in order to ensure equality with religious communities, for example; it bans untouchability.
Question 16.
How does religion influence the political set up in our country? Explain.
Answer:
Religion influences the political setup in our country in the following way –
(i) A communal mind often leads to a quest for political dominance of one’s own religious community. For those belonging to majority community, this takes the form of majoritarian dominance.
(ii) Political mobilisation on religious lines is another frequent form of communalism. This involves the use of sacred symbols, religious leaders, emotional appeal and fear in order to bring the followers of one religion together in the political arena.
(iii) Sometimes communalism takes its most ugly form of communal violence, riots and massacre. India and Pakistan suffered some of the worst communal riots at the time of the partition.
Question 17.
Mention any three features of ‘secularism’ described in the Indian constitution.
OR
“Secularism is not an ideology of some political parties or persons, but it is one of the foundations of our country.” Examine the statement.
Answer:
It is true that secularism is not an ideology of some political parties or persons, but it is one of the foundations of our country. This statement can be examined by the following points/features of secularism.
- There is no official religion for the Indian state. Unlike the status of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, that of Islam in Pakistan and of Christianity in England, our constitution does not give a special status to any religion.
- The constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practice and propagate any religion or not to follow any.
- The constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion in order Lo ensure equality within religious communities. For example, it bans untouchability.
Question 18.
Suppose a politician seeks your vote on religious ground, why is his act considered against the norms of democracy? Explain.
Answer:
If a politician seeks votes on religious grounds, he is acting against the norms of democracy because:
- This act of his is against the constitution. He is exploiting differences which may create social discord and lead to social division.
- Religion becomes a problem when it is expressed in politics and when one religion and its followers are pitted against another,
- When beliefs of one religion are presented as superior to those of other religious and the demands of one religious group are formed in opposition to another and the state power is used to establish the domination of one religious group over the rest, it leads to communal politics.
Question 19.
Explain any four features of secularism in India.
OR
Why is India called a secular state ? Explain.
Answer:
- There is no official religion for the Indian state. Unlike the status of Buddhism in Sri Lanka that of Islam in Pakistan and that of Christianity in England, our constitution does not give a special status to any religion.
- The constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practise and propagate any religion, or not to follow any.
- The constitution of India prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
- At the same time, the constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion in order to ensure equality within religious communities. For example: it bans untouchability.
Question 20.
Why has the caste system undergone changes in the modern time?
Answer:
(i) Though the caste system has not disappeared completely, it has lost its-grip. Political leaders and social reformers like Jotiba Phule, Gandhiji, B. R. Ambedkar and Periyar Ramaswami Naicker advocated and worked to establish a society in which caste inequalities are absent.
(ii) Due to the economic development, large-scale urbanization, growth of literacy, and occupational mobility, the caste system is not prevalent in urban India.
(iii) The constitution of India also prohibits caste-based discrimination as untouchability has been banned by the law, and fundamental rights to equality ensure that everyone is equal in the eyes of law, irrespective of gender, caste and religion.
Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1.
Describe the Feminist Movements. Highlight women’s political representation.
Answer:
Feminist Movements: Those movements which aimed at providing equal status to females as compared to males arc known as Feminist Movements. It means that those radical women’s movements are called Feminist Movements, which aimed at getting equality of gender in personal and family life. Women’s Political Representation in India: The proportion of women in legišlature has been very low in India. For instance, the percentage of elected women members in Lok Sabha has reached a meagre 14.36 per cent of its total strength.
Women’s share in the State Assemblies is less than 5 per cent. In this respect, India is among the bottom group of nations in the world. India is behind the averages for several developing countries of Latin America and Africa. One important way to solve this problem is to make it legally binding to have a fair proportion of women in the elected bodies. This is what the Panchayati Raj has done in India. One-third of seats in local self-government bodies are now reserved for women. At least, one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies should also be reserved for women.
Question 2.
“In India, women still lag behind men despite some improvement 8ince independence.” Support the statement with examples.
Answer:
A. In India women still lag behind men despite some improvement since independence. This can be analysed in the following ways.
- As India is still dominated by patriarchal society, gender discrimination is prevalent at present, parents prefer to spend money for boy’s education, thus dropout rate among girl child is high in schools.
- Girls perform as well as boys in school, but the literacy rate among women in only 65.46 percent compared with 82.14 per cent among men.
- The proportion of women among the highly paid and valued jobs is still very little. Much of her work is not paid and therefore not valued. .
- In almost all areas of work, women are paid less than the men, even when both work exactly the same.
- Women still face harassment, exploitation and violence in our society.
Question 3
Explain the concept of communalism. What are the different forms of its expression in Indian Politics?
OR
‘Communalism can take various forms in Politics’. Elaborate this statement.
Answer:
Communalism:
Communalism is a situation when a particular community tries to promote its own interests at the cost of other communities. This happens when beliefs of one religion are presented as superior to those of other religions and when state power is used to establish domination of one religious group over the rest. This manner of using religion in politics is known as communal politics.
Forms of Communalism: Communalism can take various forms in politics like:
(i) Expression of Communalism in Everyday Beliefs:
The most common expression of communalism is in everyday religious beliefs. People often believe that the ideas of their religion are superior to the ideas of other religions. The ideas, ideals and interests of a particular religion are given more importance. The demand of a religious group are against the demand of other religious groups.
(ii) Quest for Political Dominance: People of a particular religion often want the maximum representation of their religion in politics. They want elected representatives in the political system to be from their own religion. This often results in domination of those
belonging to the majority religious community. People of the minority communities then demand a separate political unit for themselves.
(iii) Political Mobilisation on Religious Lines: Political mobilisation on religious lines is another frequent form of communalism. It involves the use of sacred religious symbols, religious leaders, emotional appeal and also fear in order to bring the followers of one
religion together.
(iv) Communal Riots, Violence and Massacre: Sometimes communalism takes its mo8t ugly form in communal riots, violence and massacre. For instance, India and Pakistan suffered some of the worst communal riots at the time of the partition. The Post- Independence period has also seen large-scale communal violence.
Question 4.
What is communal politics ? Explain the idea behind the communal politics.
Answer:
The use of religion in politics, where one religion is shown as superior to other religions, is called communal politics. Here, one religious group is against the other religious group and the demands of one religious group are against the demands of the other religious group.
The idea behind communal politics are is as follows:
- Communal politics is based on the idea that religion is the only basis of forming a community. It believes that followers of one religion belong to the same community. Their interests, ideas and opinions are the same.
- Communal politics follows that people belonging to different religions cannot be a part of the same community. Their ideas and demands are bound to be different.
- In an extreme case of communalism, communal politics follows that people from different religions are not equal citizens and cannot live together within one nation, which leads to partition of that country.
- The idea of communal politics that a particular community has same voice is fundamentally wrong. People of one religion do not have the same interests and aspirations in every context. All voices inside a community have a right to be heard.
Question 5.
What is Casteism? What forms can caste take in Indian Politics? Explain it.
OR
Have can caste take several forms in politics?
OR
Mention the problem of ‘casteism’ in Indian politics.
Answer:
Casteism: Casteism is the hereditary system of occupation, political power, endogamy, social culture and social class. In casteism, the assignment of individuals to places in social hierarchy is determined by social groups and cultural heritage. Caste can take the following forms in Indian Politics:
(i) Sometimes, candidates for the elections are chosen on the basis of their caste. It is done to ensure that there is some representative from every caste. Special attention to their demands is given by the political parties. This helps the political parties in winning more votes.
(ii) When government is formed by various political parties, they usually take care that representatives of different castes and tribes find a place in it.
(iii) Political parties and nominated candidates appeal to special caste groups. They promise that the interests of the caste groups would be taken care of and their demands would be fulfilled. These promises help the political parties and candidates in gRining electoral support.
(iv) Universal adult franchise and one person-one vote system means that every single vote is important for the political parties to win the elections. This has resulted in political parties paying special attention to various caste groups. Castes which were considered inferior and low, cannot be ignored anymore, since their votes are also counted in the elections.
Question 6.
“There is ‘Caste in Politics’ and ‘Politics in Caste’ in India.” Do you agree with the statement? Explain.
Ans.
Yes, I agree with this statement. There is a two-way relation between caste and politics. Caste influences politics and politics too influence the caste system.
Arguments in Favour of ‘Caste in Politics:
Casteism: Casteism is the hereditary system of occupation, political power, endogamy, social culture, and social class. In casteism, the assignment of individuals to places in the social hierarchy is determined by social groups and cultural heritage.
Caste can take the following forms in Indian Politics:
(i) Sometimes, candidates for the elections are chosen on the basis of their caste. It is done to ensure that there is some representative from every caste. Special attention to their demands is given by the political parties. This helps the political parties in winning more votes.
(ii) When the government is formed by various political parties, they usually take care that representatives of different castes and tribes find a place in it.
(iii) Political parties and nominated candidates appeal to special caste groups. They promise that the interests of the caste groups would be taken care of and their demands would be fulfilled. These promises help the political parties and candidates in gRining electoral support.
(iv) Universal adult franchise and one person-one vote system means that every single vote is important for the political parties to win the elections. This has resulted in political parties paying special attention to various caste groups. Castes which were considered inferior and low, cannot be ignored anymore, since their votes are also counted in the elections.
Question.
Arguments in Favour of ‘Politics in Caste –
(i) Every caste group tries to increase its members by including various sub-castes and auxiliary castes.
(ii) Various castes join together and form a coalition. Then they discuss their demands jointly.
(iii) New kinds of caste groups have been formed, such as backward and forward caste groups, in the political arena.