Gender, Religion

4 and Caste

BASIC CONCEPTS � A FLOW CHART

COMMUNALISM

Communalism is The followers Communal Ultimate The demands of The problem

a situation where of a particular politics is result is one religion becomes acute
one community religion must based on idea division on formed in when one religion
tries to promote belong to one that religion is the basis of opposition to is presented as
its own interest at community. the basis of a religion. others when one superior to
the cost of others. religious group tries to others.
community dominate others.

STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIA

• India has a patriarchal society, a society that gives more power to man, values them more and considers them superior
to women.
• The literacy rate among women is 54% as compared to the 76% among men.
• Every year girls do better than boys in school results, but more girls dropout as parents want to spend their resources on
their son’s education.
• Though there is an Equal Wages Act which states that women should be paid equal wages for equal work, women are
still paid less for the same work.
• A women works an hour more than a man on an average, yet her work is neither valued paid.
• The percentage of elected women members in Lok Sabha has never even reached 10% of the total members.

CASTE IN ELECTORAL POLITICS

No parliamentary All Voters belonging to Sometimes more than one The ruling party MPs and
constituency has only one caste, do not vote candidate of the same MLAs lose elections
one caste dominating it. for the same party. caste stands for elections frequently. This could not
and sometimes the voters happen in all voters voted
may find no candidate of according to caste.
their own caste.

POLITICS IN CASTE

Each caste group tries New caste groups Caste politics have Various caste Political parties make
to increase in numbers come up, like helped Dalit & OBC groups get into a demands, agitate
by including sub-castes backward, and castes to gain coalition with against discrimination
or neighbouring castes. forward caste groups. better access to other castes on the basis of caste.
decision making. during elections. They demand more
dignity, more resources,
more opportunities.

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 IMPORTANT TERMS

1. Caste: It is a social category to which a person belongs involuntarily.

2. Sexual Division of Labour: A term referring to the specialized gender roles of male
breadwinner and female housewife.
3. Feminism: The belief that women are and should be treated as potential intellectual
equals and social equals to men.
4. Feminist: A person who supports feminism.
5. Patriarchal relating to or denoting a system of society or government controlled by men.
6. Wages: A fixed regular payment earned for work or services, typically paid on a daily or
weekly basis.
7. Communalism: It means that people of the same religion have common cultural,
economic, political and social interests. Thus, religion based communities form as the
primary unit of society.
8. Communal Politics: Based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of social
community. Communalism involves thinking along the following lines; The followers of
a particular religion must belong to one community.
9. Outcast: A person who is expelled from the caste.
10. Urbanisation: An increase in a population in cities and towns. Urbanisation began during
the industrial revolution, when workers moved towards manufacturing hubs in cities to
obtain jobs in factories as agricultural jobs became less common.
11. Occupational Mobility refers to the ease with which workers can switch career fields to
find gainful employment or meet labour needs.
12. Caste Hierarchy is a class structure that is determined by birth. Loosely, it means that
in some societies, if your parents are poor, you’re going to be poor too. Same goes for
being rich.
13. Universal Adult Franchise: It means that the right to vote should be given to all adult
citizens without the discrimination of caste, class, colour, religion or gender. It is based
on equality, which is a basic principle of democracy.
14. MP: Member of Parliament.
15. MLA: Member of Legislative Assembly.

NCERT Exercises
Q. 1. Mention different aspects of life in which women are discriminated or disadvantaged in
India.
Ans. The different aspects of life in which women are discriminated or disadvantaged in India are:
(i) There are sex-selective abortions in India. A girl child is aborted due to preference of a male
child among several Indian parents and the assumption that a girl child will be a burden on
the economic wealth of the parents. The sex ratio in India is 927 girls to every 1000 boys
which have fallen to even 800:1000 in some parts of India.
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 (ii) The literacy rate of women is only 54% as compared to 76% among men in India. Many girls
in India tend to leave their education midway because economically weak parents prefer to
spend their money for the education of their son as compared to that of their daughter. Also
money that can be invested for the education of a daughter is rather saved for her dowry and
marriage.
(iii) Women form a small portion among highly paid and valued jobs. Many girls are not able to
pursue higher education in India due to early marriage, inaccessibility to higher education
institutes or lack of money to pursue higher education. Therefore they do not have the
qualication to apply for high paying jobs.
(iv) There are instances of sexual harassment and domestic violence against women which deters
the formation of a supportive environment for a woman to pursue her ambitions and full
her dreams as per potential. There conditions are created due to assumption of women being
physically weaker, lack of protection from State agencies such as police and structure of the
patriarchal society.
Q. 2. State different forms of communal politics with one example each.
Ans. Religious identities are used to divide different religious communities. Social differences based
on religion lead social divisions when religious identity is used to stereotype one community.
This stereotype forms the basis of prejudice by another community thereby causing the second
community to believe they are superior or feel threatened. The Divide and Rule policy of the
British caused social differences among Hindus and Muslims to turn into Social Divisions.
There is political mobilisation based on religious divisions. It involves the use of religious symbols
to gather followers of one religion and then building fear of another community in order to divide
the followers of different religions. This causes social divisions to turn into political divisions
thereby leading to Communal Politics. This existed in Northern Ireland where the Protestants and
Catholics were politically mobilized by different political parties.
Communal politics often leads a desire for political dominance of one religious community over
another. This can take shape in form of dominance of the majority community or a desire for
separate political units for different religious communities thereby leading to conict and even
violence. Communal politics lead to the division of Yugoslavia and violence among different
religious groups.
Q. 3. State how caste inequalities are still continuing in India.
Ans. Caste continues in form of social traditions such as in marriage whereby people still marry
within their own caste or tribe. Access to education to caste groups that did not have it earlier
has progressed slowly in India thereby creating inequalities in literacy and jobs. The inequality
in access to jobs has further created gaps in wealth among caste groups. Disadvantaged caste
groups also had lower wealth such as land to pass to future generations which is reected today in
wealth inequality among caste groups. The belief that caste as the basis of social community has
caused social divisions among caste communities and therefore they are not united to struggle for
common interests.
Q. 4. State two reasons to say that caste alone cannot determine election results in India.
Ans. (i) No parliamentary constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste. So every
candidate and party needs to win the condence of more than one caste and community to
win elections.
(ii) No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community. When people say that a
caste is a ‘vote bank’ of one party, it usually means that a large proportion of the voters from
that caste vote for that party.
Q. 5. What is the status of women’s representation in India’s legislative bodies?
Ans. The proportion of women in legislature has been very low. The percentage of elected women
members in Lok Sabha has never crossed 10% of total members. Their share in the state

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 assemblies has in general been less than 5%. Although there are more than 10 lakh elected women
representatives in panchayats and municipalities due to reservation of 1/3 of seats for women.
A Bill demanding reservation of at least 1/3 of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for
women has been pending before the Parliament for more than a decade.
Q. 6. Mention any two constitutional provisions that make India a secular state.
Ans. 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 grounds of religion.
Q. 7. When we speak of gender divisions, we usually refer to:
(a) Biological difference between men and women
(b) Unequal roles assigned by the society to men and women
(c) Unequal child sex ratio
(d) Absence of voting rights for women in democracies
Ans. (b) Unequal roles assigned by the society to men and women
Q. 8. In India, seats are reserved for women in
(a) Lok Sabha
(b) State legislative assemblies
(c) Cabinets
(d) Panchayati Raj bodies
Ans. (d) Panchayati Raj bodies
Q. 9. Consider the following statements on the meaning of communal politics. Communal
politics is based on the belief that:
A. One religion is superior to that of others.
B. People belonging to different religions can live together happily as equal citizens.
C. Followers of a particular religion constitute one community.
D. State power cannot be used to establish the domination of one religious group over
others.
Which of the statements is/are correct?
(a) A, B, C, and D (b) A, B, and D (c) A and C (d) B and D
Ans. (c) A and C
Q. 10. Which among the following statements about India’s Constitution is wrong? It
(a) Prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
(b) Gives ofcial status to one religion.
(c) Provides to all individuals freedom to profess any religion.
(d) Ensures equality of citizens within religious communities.
Ans. (b) Gives ofcial status to one religion.
Q. 11. Social divisions based on Caste are peculiar to India.
Q. 12. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:
List I List II
1. A person who believes in equal rights and opportunities for women A.Communalist
and men
2. A person who says that religion is the principal basis of community B. Feminist
3. A person who thinks that caste is the principal basis of community C. Secularist
4. A person who does not discriminate others on the basis of religious D. Castiest
beliefs

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 1 2 3 4
(a) B C A D
(b) B A D C
(c) D C A B
(d) C A B D
Ans. (b)

VERY SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS [1 mark]

Q. 1. What is sexual division of labour?
Ans. A system in which all the work inside the home is either done by the women of the family, or
organised by them through the domestic helpers.
Q. 2. How are boys and girls brought up in India for the division of labour?
Ans. Boys and girls are brought up to believe that the main responsibility of women is house work and
bringing up children.
Q. 3. How is sexual division of labour done in India?
Ans. In most families, women do all the work inside the home such as cooking, cleaning, washing
clothes, tailoring, looking after children, etc. and men do all the work outside the home.
Q. 4. Does women’s work get recognition?
Ans. The majority of women do some sort of paid work in addition to domestic labour, but their work
is not valued and does not get recognition.
Q. 5. Why are men tailored not to do the household work?
Ans. It is not that man cannot do housework; they simply think that it is for the women to attend to
these things. When these jobs are paid for, men are ready to take up these works. Like most tailors
or cooks in hotels are men.
Q. 6. What is the role of women in public division of labour?
Ans. Although women constitute half of the humanity, their role in public life, especially politics is
minimal in most societies.
Q. 7. What are feminist movements?
Ans. Women in different parts of the world organised and agitated for equal rights. These agitations
demanded enhancing the political and legal status of women and improving their educational and
career opportunities. These movements are called ‘feminist movements’.
Q. 8. What is the perception of a modern women now?
Ans. We now nd women working as scientists, doctors, engineers, lawyers, managers and college and
University teachers, which were not considered suitable for women earlier.
Q. 9. How do women in India lack in literacy rate?
Ans. The literacy rate among women is only 54 percent compared to 76 per cent among men.
Q. 10. Why is girl student’s dropout more in higher studies?
Ans. It is so because parents prefer to spend their resources for their boys’ education rather than
spending equally on their sons and daughters.
Q. 11. How far is it true that proportion of women among the highly paid and valued jobs is still
very small?
Ans. On an average an Indian woman works one hour more than an average man every day. Yet much
of her work often not valued and therefore not paid.

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 Q. 12. Has Equal Wages Act provided any comfort in women’s jobs?
Ans. In almost all areas of work, from sports and cinema, to factories and elds, women are paid less
than men, even when both do exactly the same work. So, Equal Wages Act doesn’t work.
Q. 13. Why is there a decline in sex ratio in India?
Ans. In many parts of India, parents prefer to have sons and nd ways to have the girl child aborted
before she is born. Such sex selective abortion led to a decline in child sex ratio.
Q. 14. What is country’s sex ratio at present?
Ans. At present, country’s sex ratio is 914 women per thousand males.
Q. 15. Why is it said that urban areas have become particularly unsafe for women?
Ans. Urban areas are unsafe for women. Women are not safe even within their own home from beating,
harassment and other forms of domestic violence. Even in work place, there is a sexual harassment.
Q. 16. What is the proportion of women in legislature of India?
Ans. In India, the proportion of women in legislature has been very low. The percentage of elected
women members in Lok Sabha has never reached even 10 per cent of its total strength. India is
among the bottom groups of nations in the world.
Q. 17. What is the proportion of women in India’s local bodies?
Ans. One third of the seats in local government bodies—in panchayats and municipalities are now
reserved for women. Now there are more than 10 lakh elected women representatives in rural and
urban local bodies.
Q. 18. “Religion can never be separated from politics” by Mahatma Gandhi. Elaborate the
Statement.
Ans. According to him, religions was not only particular religion like Hinduism or Islam but moral
values that inform all religions. He believed that politics must be guided by ethics drawn from
religion.
Q. 19. Why did human rights groups of India demand protection for religious minorities?
Ans. Human rights 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
should protect religious minorities.
Q. 20. What is the family laws’ role for women in different religions?
Ans. Women’s movement has argued that family laws of all religions discriminate against women. So,
they have demanded that government should change these laws to make them more equitable.
Q. 21. What is Communal politics?
Ans. Communal politics is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of social community.
Q. 22. What does communalism lead to in its extreme form?
Ans. In its extreme form, 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.
Q. 23. What is the most common expression of communalism?
Ans. The most common expression of communalism is in everyday beliefs. These routinely involve
religious prejudices, stereotypes of religious communities and belief in the superiority of one’s
religion over other religions.
Q. 24. How political mobilisation on religious lines are a form of communalism?
Ans. Political mobilisation 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.
Q. 25. What is the most ugly form of communalism?
Ans. The most ugly form of communalism is communal violence, riots and massacre. India and Pakistan
suffered some of the worst communal riots at the time of partition.
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Q. 26. What do you understand by secularism?
Ans. There is no ofcial religion for the Indian state. Our constitution does not give a special status to
any religion. All religions are treated equally by the law.
Q. 27. What are the provisions for a secular state according to the Indian constitution.
Ans. The constitution provides to all individuals and communities the freedom to profess, practise and
propagate any religion, or not to follow any.
Q. 28. What is the extreme form of caste system in India?
Ans. Members of the same caste group were supposed to form a social community that practised the
same or similar occupation, married within the caste group and did not eat with members from
other caste groups.
Q. 29. Mention some reforms of history against caste system.
Ans. Social reformers like Jyotiba Phule, Gandhiji, B.R. Ambedkar and Periyar Ramaswami Naiker
advocated and worked to establish a society in which caste inequalities are absent.
Q. 30. Which factors are responsible to bring changes in caste system in India?
Ans. With the 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.
Q. 31. What is occupational mobility?
Ans. Shift from one occupation to another, usually when a new generation takes up occupations other
than practised by their ancestors.
Q. 32. What does ‘Caste hierarchy’ mean?
Ans. It is a ladder like formation in which all the caste groups are placed from the ‘highest’ to the
‘lowest’ castes.
Q. 33. What is the role of Indian Constitution to remove caste system?
Ans. The Constitution of India prohibited any caste based discrimination and laid the foundations of
policies to reverse the injustices of the caste system.
Q. 34. How is caste system still prevailing in contemporary India?
Ans. Some of the older aspects of caste have persisted. Even now, most people marry within their own
caste or tribe. Untouchability has not ended completely despite constitutional prohibition.
Q. 35. Is it true that caste is the sole basis of social community?
Ans. According to this way of thinking, people belonging to the same caste belong to a natural social
community and have the same interests which they do not share with anyone from another caste.
Q. 36. How do political parties keep castes in their minds during elections?
Ans. When parties choose candidates in elections, they keep in mind the cast composition of the
electorate and nominate candidates from different castes so as to muster necessary support to
win elections. They make appeals to caste sentiments to gather support.
Q. 37. Does any one single caste get a clear majority of one single caste?
Ans. No, parliamentary constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste. So, every
candidate and party needs to win the condence of more than one caste and community to win
elections.
Q. 38. What do you understand by vote bank of a caste?
Ans. When people say that caste is a vote bank of one party, it usually means that a large proportion of
the voters from that caste vote for that party.
Q. 39. How does caste get politicised?
Ans. Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it the neighbouring castes or
sub-castes, which were earlier excluded from it.

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SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS [3 marks]
Q. 1. What would happen if politics and religion go hand in hand?
Ans. l Gandhiji used to say that religion can never be separated from politics. What he meant by
religion was not Hinduism or Islam but moral values that inform all religions. He believed that
politics must be guided by the morals and ethics drawn from religion.
l Human rights group in one country has argued that most of the victims of communal riots in
India are people from religious minorities. They have demanded that the government should
protect religious minorities.
lWomen’s movements have argued that ‘family laws’ of all religions discriminate against
women. So they have demanded that the government should change these laws to make them
more equitable.
Q. 2. How can you say that women’s role in public life is minimal?
Ans. l Earlier, only men were allowed to participate in public affairs, vote and contest for elections
and public ofces.
l Gradually, the gender issue was raised in politics.
l Women in different parts of the world organised and agitated for equal rights.
l There were agitations in different countries for the extension of voting rights to women.
l These agitations demanded enhancing the political and legal status of women and improving
their educational and career opportunities.
l More feminist movements have taken place for equality of women.
We now nd women working as scientists, doctors, engineers, lawyers, managers and college and
university teachers, which were earlier not considered suitable for women.
Q. 3. How are religious differences expressed in politics?
Ans. l A communal mind often leads to a quest for political dominance of one’s own religious
community.
l Political mobilisation on religious lines is another frequent form of communalism.
l Sometimes, communalism takes its most ugly form, in communal violence riots and massacres.
Q. 4. How can a relationship between religion and politics be established?
Ans. The relationship between religion and politics can be established by setting up the following
constitutional provisions:
(i) There is no ofcial religion. The Indian Constitution does not give special status to any religion.
(ii) The Constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practise
and propagate any religion, or not to follow any.
(iii) At the same time, the Constitution allows the state to intervene in matters of religion in order
to ensure equality within religious communities.
Q. 5. Do you agree that caste has not disappeared from contemporary India?
Ans. l Some of the older aspects of caste are continuing.
l Even now, most people marry within their own caste or tribe.
l Untouchability has not ended completely, despite constitutional prohibition.
l The caste groups that had access to education under the old system have done very well in
acquiring modern education as well.
l Those groups that did not have access to education or were prohibited from acquiring it have
naturally lagged behind.
Caste continues to be closely linked to economic status.
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Q. 6. What factors matter in politics other than caste?
Ans. l The voters have strong attachment to political parties which is often stronger than their
attachment to their caste or community.
l People within the same caste or community have different interests depending on their
economic conditions.
l Rich and poor or men and women from the same caste often vote very differently.
People’s assessment of the performance of the government and the popularity rating of the
leaders matter and are often decisive in elections.
Q. 7. What does ‘gender-division’ mean?
Ans. Gender division is a form of hierarchical social division seen everywhere, but rarely recognised
in the study of politics. It tends to be understood as natural and unchangeable. However, it is not
based on biology but on social expectations and stereotypes.
Q. 8. What do you understand by ‘sexual division of labour’? Give some examples.
Ans. It is 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.
It is reected in most of the families. Women do all the work inside the home such as cooking,
cleaning, washing clothes, tailoring, looking after children, etc. and men do all the work outside
the home.
It is not that men cannot do housework; they simply think that it is for women to attend to these
things.
In villages, women fetch water, collect fuel and work in the eld.
Q. 9. What does ‘feminist’ mean? What are feminist movements?
Ans. Feminist can be a woman or a man who believes in equal rights and opportunities for women and
men.
Feminist movements aim at equal rights and opportunities for women and men. More radical
women’s movements aimed at equality, both in personal and family life.

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS [5 marks]

Q. 1. What is communal politics? How is it preferred?
Ans. Communal Politics: It is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of social community.
Communalism involves thinking that the followers of a particular religion must belong to one
community. Their fundamental interests are the same. Any difference that they may have is
irrelevant or trivial for community life. It also follows that people who follow different religions
cannot belong to the same social community. If the followers of different religions have some
commonalities, these are supercial and immaterial. Their interests are bound to be different and
involve a conict.
Q. 2. How is caste preferred in politics?
Ans. (i) No parliamentary constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste. So every
candidate and party needs to win the condence of more than one caste and community to
win elections.
(ii) No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community. When people say that a
caste is a ‘vote bank’ of one party, it usually means that a large proportion of the voters from
that caste vote for that party.
(iii) 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.
(iv) The ruling party and the sitting MPs or MLAs frequently lose elections in a country. That would
not have happened if all castes and communities were frozen in their p olitical preferences.

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 Q. 3. “The problem begins when religion is seen as the basis of nation.” Explain the statement
with an example.
Ans. When religion becomes the basis of nation, it becomes communalism.
When people of one religion consider themselves as superior to other religions, the problem
of communalism erupts. This problem of communalism takes another sharp turn when it gets
mixed with politics. The state power is used to establish domination of one religious group over
the other religion. The manner in which religion is used in politics is called ‘communal politics’.
Sometimes people also use politics to express their needs, interests as members of a particular
religious community.
Q. 4. What changes can be seen in the caste system in modern India?
Ans. Partly due to social reformers and political leaders’ efforts and partly due to other socio-economic
changes, castes and caste system in modern India have undergone great changes.
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. Now most of the times, in urban areas, it does
not matter much who is walking along next to us on a street or eating at the next table in a
restaurant. The Constitution of India prohibited any caste-based discrimination. If a person who
lived a century ago were to return to India, he/she would be greatly surprised at the change that
has come about in the country.

HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills)

Q. 1. How does communalism threaten the Indian democracy? Explain.
Ans. l The most common expression of communalism lies in our everyday beliefs. These routines
involve belief in the superiority of one’s religion above other religions.
l A communal mind often leads to a quest for political dominance of one’s own religious
community; it can take the form of a desire to form a separate political unit.
l Political mobilisation based on religion is another form of communalism. This involves the
use of sacred symbols, religious leaders, emotional appeal to bring the followers of one religion
together in the political arena.
l Sometimes, communalism takes its most ugly form in violence riots and massacres. India and
Pakistan suffered some of the worst communal riots at the time of partition.
Q. 2. ‘‘In politics, the focus on caste can sometimes give an impression that elections are all
about caste and nothing else.’’ Justify the statement.
Ans. l 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 get necessary support to
win elections.
l Political parties and candidates in elections make appeal to caste sentiment to muster support.
Some political parties are known to favour some castes and are seen as their representatives.
l Universal adult franchise and the principle of ‘one person one vote’ compelled political leaders
to gear up to the task of mobilising and securing political support.
Q. 3. Highlight the positive and negative impact of casteism with regard to political expression.
Give any three examples to justify the statement.
Ans. Positive Impact of Casteism
(i) With the economic development, large scale urbanisation growth of literacy and education,
occupational mobility and the weakening of the position of landlords in the village, the old
notions of caste hierarchy are breaking down.

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 (ii) The constitution has prohibited any caste based discrimination and laid the foundation of
policies to reverse the injustices of the caste system.
Negative impacts of Casteism
(i) When parties choose candidates in election, they keep in mind the caste imposition of the
electorate and nominate candidates from different castes so as to get necessary support to
win elections.
(ii) Political parties and candidates in elections make appeal to caste sentiments to muster
support.
Q. 4. Write few measures to combat communalism in India.
Ans. Measures to Combat Communalism in India
Communalism can be combated through the following methods:
(i) Law should ban parties using religion in politics.
(ii) Socio-economic backwardness of the country should be removed so that people are not used
as vote banks.
(iii) Political parties should rise above narrow gains and stop fanning communal passions.
(iv) Educational institutions should inculcate secular values among students.
(v) The Election Commission should prepare a code of conduct for parties so that religion is not
used in politics.
(vi) Mass media, TV, radio, NGOs and people themselves should launch an enlightenment
movement so that public opinion is created against communal riots.
Q. 5. How is gender division understood in Indian society? How does political mobilisation of
women on this question help to improve women’s role in public life?
Ans. (i) Boys and Girls are brought to believe that the main responsibility of women is household
work and bringing up children.
(ii) Women do all work inside the house such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, tailoring,
looking after the children, etc. and men do all the work outside the house. It is not that men
cannot do such work they simply think that it is for women, to attend to.
(iii) Political mobilisation has helped to improve women’s role in public life.
(a) Now women are scientists, space astronauts, doctors, engineers, lawyer and college and
university teachers which were earlier not considered suitable for them.
(b) Despite certain improvement, Indian Society remains a male dominated and patriarchal
society. Women still face torture, discrimination in various ways.
(iv) In urban areas, poor women work as domestic helps in middle-class homes while middle-
class women work in ofces.
(v) In fact, the majority of women do some sort of paid work in addition to domestic labour. But
their work is not valued and does not get recognition.
Q. 6. How does caste get politicised?
Ans. l Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it the neighbouring castes or
subcastes, which were earlier excluded from it.
l Various caste groups are required to enter into a coalition with other castes or communities
and thus enter into a dialogue and negotiations.
l New kinds of caste groups have come up in the political arena like ‘backward’ and ‘forward’
caste groups.
These castes play different kinds of roles in politics. As in the case of religion, politics based
on caste identity alone is not very healthy in a democracy.

353 Political Science:

Democratic Politics–II
 SELF-ASSESSMENT

Very Short Answer Questions [1 mark]

1. What do you mean by ‘Feminist’?

2. What is meant by ‘sex ratio’?
3. How many seats are reserved for women in the local bodies in India?
4. Who said that religion can never be separated from politics?
5. Which act provides that equal wages should be paid for equal work to both men and women?

Short Answer Questions [3 marks]

1. Suggest any two measures to integrate the people belonging to different ethnic group in a society.
2. What do you understand by casteism?
3. Describe any ve features of the caste system in India.
4. Beside caste, which other factors do matter in electoral politics? Explain.

Long Answer Questions [5 marks]

1. What is communalism? How is communalism a hindrance in the functioning of our democracy?

Explain.
2. “In a democracy, political expression of social division is very normal and can be healthy”. Justify
this statement with suitable arguments.
3. What is meant by caste hierarchy? Explain the role of caste in Indian politics.
4. Discuss the reasons for the decline in the caste system.
5. It is inevitable to ignore the relationship between politics and religion. In what way does this
relationship impact modern day politics? Explain.
zzz

Xam idea
Social Science–X
354