chapter-4 , Gender , Religion and Caste (class -10th) Pol. Sc.

                  CHAPTER- 4

       GENDER, RELIGION AND CASTE

Q1. What is a patriarchal society?

Ans. A male dominating society in which all the decisions are taken by male members and women face disadvantage, discrimination and operation is called a patriarchal society.

Q2. Examine the women’s political representation in India.   Or

Justify that women representation in India is very low?

Ans. 1) In India, the proportion of women in legislature has been very low.

2) For example, the percentage of elected women members in Lok Sabha has crossed 10 percent of its total strength for the first time in 2009.

3) Their share in the state assemblies is less than 5 percent.

4) India is among the bottom group of nations in the world with respect to women’s political representation.

5) In the government, cabinets are largely all male even when a women becomes the chief minister or the prime minister.

Q3. How can the women’s political representation can be increased? Or

How can the condition of women in India can be improved?

Ans. 1) Many feminists and women’s movements concluded that unless women control power, their problems will not get adequate attention.

2) One way to ensure this is to have more women as elected representatives.

3) It should be made legally binding to have a fair proportion of women in the elected bodies.

Q4. Define communalism.

Ans. Communalism arises in a country when people of one particular region consider themselves superior to the other religion whereby they take actions to benefit the people of their religion at the cost of harming the other religion.

  

Q5. Give 3 examples to prove that mixing of religion with politics is not always wrong.

Ans. 1) Gandhi ji used to say that religion can never be separated from politics. He believed that politics must be guided by ethics drawn from religion.

2) Human rights groups in our country have demanded that the government take special steps to protect religious minorities.

3) Women’s movement has argued that family laws of all religious discriminate against women. So they have demanded that government should change these laws to make them more equitable.

Q6. “ Mixing of religion with politics is not always wrong or dangerous”. Explain.

Ans. 1) Ideas, ideals and values drawn from different religions can and should play a role in politics.

2) People should be able to express in politics their needs, interests and demands as a number of a religious community.

3) Those who hold political power sometimes be able to regulate the practice of religion so as to prevent discrimination and oppression.

4) These political acts are not wrong as long as they treat every religion equally.

Q7. When do mixing of religion with politics become a problem for a country?

Ans. 1) The problem begins when religion is seen as the basis of the nation.

2) The problem becomes more acute when religion is expressed in politics in exclusive and separation terms.

3) It happens when one religion and its followers are pitted against another.

4) This happens 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.

5) The problem becomes more severe when state power is used to establish domination of one religious group over the rest.

Q8. Examine the views of the communal thinkers? Or

On what lives is communal thinking based?

Ans. 1) The followers of a particular religion must belong to one community.

2) Their fundamental interests are the same and any difference that they may have is irrelevant or trivial for community life.

3) It also follows that people who follow different religions cannot belong to the same social community.

4) Their interests are bound to be different and involve a conflict.

5) In its extreme form communalism leads to the belief that people belonging to different religions cannot live as equal citizens within one nation.

Q9. “Communal thinking is fundamentally fraud”. Justify.

Ans. The above statement is true. This can be justified with following points.

1)                      People of one religion do not have the same interests and aspirations in every context.

2)                      Everyone has several other roles, positions and identities.

3)                      There are many voices inside every community. All these voices have a right to be heard.

4)                      Therefore any attempt to bring all followers of one religion together in context other than religion is bound to supress many voices within that community.

Q10. What are the various forms in which communalism is expressed in politics?

Ans. Communalism can take various forms in politics-

1)    The most common expression of communalism is in everyday beliefs. This is so common that we often fail to notice it even when we believe in it.

2)     For those who belong to majority community, this takes the form of majoritarian dominance.

3)         Foe those belonging to the minority community, it can take the form of a desire to form a political unit.

4)   Political mobilisation on religious lives is another frequent form of communalism. This involves the use of sacred symbols, religious leaders, emotional appeal and plain fear.

5)      Sometimes communalism takes its most ugly form of communal violence, riots and massacre.

Q11. Why do our constitution makers declared India a secular state?

Ans. 1) Communalism was and continues to be one of the major challenges to democracy in our country.

2) The makers of our constitution were aware of this challenge.

3) That is why they chose the model of a secular state.

Q12. Justify with 5 points that India is a secular country.

    Ans. 1) There is no official religion for the Indian state.

2) Our constitution does not give a special status to any religion.

3) The constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practice and propagate any religion, or not to follow any.

4) The constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.

5) The constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion in order to ensure equality within religious communities.

Q13. Explain that secularism is not just an ideology of some parties or persons?

Ans. 1) Secularism is not just an ideology of some parties or persons.

2) This idea constitutes one of the foundations of our country.

3) Communalism should not be seen as a threat to some people in India but it threatens the very  idea of India.

4) That is why communalism needs to be combated.

5) A secular constitution like ours is necessary but not sufficient to combat communalism.

6) Communalism can only be put to end by propagating and practising secularism in everyday life.

Q14. Distinguish between caste system and caste casteism?

Ans. CASTE SYSTEM

1. It was a 4 field order where by the society was divided into 4 castes or Varna’s namely Brahmin Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra.

2. The criteria of division is occupation.

CASTE CASTEISM

1. It is a system of division of society into 2 castes upper and lower caste where by the people of lower caste are exploited by the people of upper caste.

2. The criteria of division is birth of the people.

Q15. Name the social reformers who have worked against the caste system?

Ans. Jotiba Phule, Gandhij, B.R. Ambedkar and Periyar Ramaswami

Q16. What changes have come in the caste system in modern India? Or

“The caste system in modern India has undergone many changes”? Explain.

Ans. 1) Partly due to their efforts and partly due to other socio-economic changes, castes and caste system in modern India have undergone great changes.

2) With economic development, large scale urbanisation, growth of literacy and education, occupational mobility and the weakening of the position of landlords in the villages. The old notions of caste hierarchy are breaking down.

3) The constitution of India prohibited any caste based discrimination and laid the foundations of policies to reverse the injustices of the caste system.

Q17. “Caste has not yet disappeared from contemporary India” Explain.

Ans. 1) Some of the older aspects of caste have persisted given today.

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

3) Untouchability has not ended completely, despite constitutional prohibition.      

4) Effects of centuries of advantages and disadvantages continues to be felt today.

Q18. Explain how caste is expressed in politics?

Ans. 1) When parties choose candidates in elections, they keep in mind the caste composition of the electorate and nominate candidates from different castes so as to muster necessary support to win elections.

2) When governments are formed, political parties usually take care that representatives of different castes and tribes find a place in it.

3) Political parties and candidates in elections make appeals to caste sentiment to support.

4) Some political parties are known to favour some castes and are seen as their representatives.

Q19. Justify that elections are not all about caste?

Ans. 1) No parliamentary constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste.

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

3) Many political parties may put up candidates from the same caste if that caste is believed to dominate the electorate in a particular constituency.

4) The ruling party and the sitting MP or MLA should have never lose elections if all castes and communities were frozen in their political preferences.

Q20. “While caste matters in electoral politics, so do many other factors”? Explain.

Ans. 1) The voters have strong attachment to political parties which is often stronger than their attachment to their caste or community.

2) Rich and poor or men and women from the same caste often vote very differently.

3) People’s assessment of the performances of the government and the popularity rating of the leaders matter and are often decisive in elections.

Q21. How do positives influence caste? Or

“It is not the politics that get caste ridden, it is the caste that get caste ridden, it is the caste that get politicised? Explain.

Ans. It is not politics that gets caste-ridden, it is the caste that gets politicised.

1) Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it neighbouring castes or sub-castes which were earlier excluded from it.

2) Various caste groups are required to enter into a coalition with other castes or communities

and thus enter into a dialogue and negotiation.

3) New kinds of caste groups have come up in the political arena like ‘backward’ and ‘forward’ caste groups.    

Q22. Examine the positive and negative influence of mixing of caste with politics? Or

Explain that caste plays different kinds of role in politics?

Ans. POSITIVE

1) In some situations, expression of caste differences in politics gives many disadvantaged communities the space to demand their share of power.

2) In this sense-caste politics has helped people from Dalits and OBC castes to gain better access to decision making.

3) Several political and non-political organisations have been demanding and agitating for an end to discrimination against particular castes.

NEGATIVE

1) Exclusive attention to caste can produce negative results as well.

2) Politics based on caste identity alone is not very healthy in a democracy.

3) It can divert attention from other pressing issues like poverty, development and corruption.

4) In some cases caste division leads to tensions, conflict and even violence.

Q23. Explain the sexual division of labour. What was the result of this division?

Ans. 1) A historical division of labour between men and women where by men will work outside and earn for the family and women will stay at home and will take care of family.

2) The result of this division of labour is that although women constitute half of the humidity, their role in public life, especially politics minimal in most societies.

Q24. What are feminist movement? What issue are raised by these feminist movement?

Ans. Radical women’s movement aimed at equality in personal and family life.

  1) Women in different parts of the world organised and agitated for equal rights.

2) There are agitation in different countries for the extension of voting rights to women.

3) These agitations demanded enhancing the political and legal status of women and improving their educational and career opportunities.

Q25. What is the result of a political expression of gender division?

Ans. Political expression of gender division and political mobilisation on this questions helped to improve women’s role in public life. Women working as scientist, doctors lawyer and collage was not suitable for women.

In some parts of the world Example - In scandinavion countries such as Sweden, Norway and Finland.

Q26. Justify that Indian society is a  Patriarchal society ? Or

What discrimination and expression are being faced by individual women in society?

Ans. 1) The literacy rate among women is only 54 percent compared 76 percent among men similarly a smaller proportion of girl students go for higher studies.

2) The proportion of women among the highly paid valuable jobs is still very small.

3) Almost all areas of work, from sports and cinema to factories and field women are paid less than men, even when both do exactly the same work.

4) In many parts of India prefer to have son and find ways to have girl child aborted before she is born.

5) There are reports of various kind of harassment, exploitation and violence against them.

Q27. What is communal politics?

Ans. When the power of state is used to establish domination of one religious group over the others. It is known as communal politics.