GENDER, RELIGION AND CASTE

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Gender, Religion and Caste

In India, gender, religion and caste differences are the three biggest issues which have
challenged social equality.
Gender Politics
Gender differences assume the following forms in India:
• There is sexual division of work in our society. While office work and high-paid jobs are
considered men’s domain in India, household work such as washing, cooking and
tailoring are done by women.
• It is only when these forms of work become paid jobs do men readily accept them; for
example, chefs. Even women work outside their homes; for example, they plough the
fields in villages, fetch water etc., but again, these forms of work are neither valued nor
acknowledged.
• Although women constitute fifty percent of society, they do not enjoy equal power with
men. Women had to struggle hard to gain voting and other democratic rights in many
countries. While women in Scandinavian countries such as Finland and Norway actively
participate in public life, women in India are far behind men in many spheres.
• Indian society is a patriarchal society; it is dominated by men.
• The literacy rate is only 54% for women compared to 76% for men. At the school level,
although girls perform better than boys, they drop out during higher education as
parents prefer to spend money on educating boys.
• Only few women are currently working in highly paid jobs. Although the Equal Wages
Act lays down that equal wages should be given to both men and women for the same
work, women are still paid less than men.
• As the Indian society is patriarchal, many girls are aborted, resulting in a decline in the
child sex ratio. The child sex ratio is the number of girl child per thousand boys.
• Domestic violence against women and the physical and mental harassment of women at
the office place are some issues which most women face in the country.
Political Representation of Women
It has to be realised that until women get an adequate representation in the legislatures of
their countries, their conditions will not improve. Institutions such as the Panchayati Raj
have reserved one-third of their seats for women. Many women’s organisations are also
demanding reservation of one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. This bill
however has not been passed.
Women's political participation has been significantly lower than men's across the globe.
Women's well-being can be improved by providing them political power and placing them
in decision-making and law-making roles in society. When women gain power, they will

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devote their efforts to meeting women's demands and finding answers to their challenges.

• Women's political participation in India is lower than the global average. In India,
women make up about 10% of legislators, compared to 19% globally.
• In India, women are underrepresented in state legislatures. Only roughly 5% of the
population.
• The Panchayati Raj Act mandates that women candidates be given 1/3 of all seats in
local bodies. Women's participation in municipalities and panchayats has increased as a
result of this.
• However, attempts to introduce such legislation in the Lok Sabha and various state
legislatures have failed. The law was never passed because political parties were unable
to reach an agreement on it.
Religion, Communalism and Politics
Religion: Religious divisions frequently manifest themselves in the realm of politics. There
are people who follow several religions in India. As members of a religious community,
people should be able to express their needs, interests, and demands in politics.
Family Law: These are the laws that govern family-related issues such as marriage, divorce,
inheritance, and adoption, etc. Different family laws apply to people of various religions in
our country.
Communalism

Communalism is one of the major problems faced by our country currently. Communalism
becomes a problem when
• Religious fanaticism reaches its height and religion becomes more important than the
interests of the wider society or a nation
• One religious community is pitted against the other religious community
• Beliefs of one religion is regarded as superior to the other religion
• Religion becomes an inseparable part of politics; the state power is used to emphasise
superiority and domination of one religion over the other
• In politics, communalism can acquire various forms. These are
1. When religious beliefs of a person involve prejudices and stereotypes, claiming one
religion’s ideas to be superior than another.
2. When a majority community tries to establish its domination over the other
communities with the help of the state. Minority communities under such
circumstances, retaliates by demanding the formation of separate state for them.
Political mobilisation on religious lines occurs when religious symbols and leaders
make an emotional appeal to the people in order to bring the members of a

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particular community together.

3. Communal violence is the worst form of communalism. It acquires the political form
when it is sponsored by the state.

A Secular State - India

The framers of our Constitution declared India as a secular state. The Constitution of our
country declares India as a secular state. This is reflected in many constitutional provisions.

Caste and Politics

The caste system has been an integral part of Indian society since ancient times. It is based
on the occupations of the people which are hereditary. People belonging to the lower caste
are considered outcastes and untouchables. We find that caste inequalities are breaking
down because of the following reasons:
• Development of urban centres
• Weakening of the position of the landlords
• Occupation mobility
• Economic growth and development
However, the caste system has not disappeared from the country altogether. It still exists in
most rural societies and to some extent in urban societies. The caste system takes the
following forms in politics:

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• While choosing candidates for contesting the elections, the caste composition of the
electorate is always kept in mind. This is done to win the support of the people for a
candidate belonging to a particular caste.
• When forming the Government, political parties try to include representatives of
different castes and tribes.
• Political parties appeal to the caste sentiments of the people to help their candidates to
win the elections.
Caste Inequalities: Occupation is typically passed down from generation to generation in
most countries. This is taken to its logical conclusion in the caste system. Members of the
same caste were intended to establish a social community that practiced the same or
comparable occupations, married within the caste group, and did not eat with members of
other caste groups, according to this system.
The traditional conceptions of Caste Hierarchy are crumbling as a result of economic
progress, large-scale urbanization, increased literacy and education, job mobility, and the
weakening of the status of landowners in communities. The Indian Constitution outlawed
caste-based discrimination and set the groundwork for policies to correct the system's
inequities.
Caste in Politics
However, we also need to keep in mind that the caste system always does not play a role in
shaping politics or deciding the candidates from a constituency. This is due to the following
reasons:
• Not every constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste. Therefore,
every party is required to win the trust of the people belonging to different castes.
• No political party wins all the votes of a particular favoured caste or community. When
people say that caste is a ‘vote bank’, they simply mean that many people from that one
particular caste may vote for the party.
• Because several political parties fight elections, there may be many candidates from the
same caste fighting elections against each other.
• It has been seen that many elected MPs or MLAs may lose the elections. If candidates
are elected on caste lines, then no candidate can ever lose the elections.
Politics in Caste
The caste system in India can also become politicised in the following ways:
• When a particular caste tries to gain prominence by adding many neighbouring castes
and sub-castes which were earlier not included.

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• The caste system also becomes politicised when caste groups are required to enter into
a coalition with other castes. In such a case, every caste tries to gain maximum benefits
for itself.
• Of late, many caste groups have gained entry into politics by terming themselves as
‘backward’ or ‘forward’ caste groups.
It is to be noticed that the existence of the caste system is itself not healthy for any
democracy. It mostly produces negative results. In India, it has resulted in the vicious circle
of poverty, unemployment and illiteracy for many castes. The caste system may also lead to
caste division, caste violence and conflicts resulting in violence.

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