CBSE - Gender Religion and Caste

In India, women are discriminated and disadvantaged in the following ways:
→  They are not provided adequate education. Thus, the literacy rate among women is just 54%.
→ Most of the labour done by them is unpaid. Where they are paid for their work, they receive lesser wages than men.
→ Due to the preference for the boy child, female foeticide is practiced in many parts of the country.

Different forms of communal politics:
→ The expression of communal superiority in everyday beliefs
Militant religious groups are a good example of this.
→ The desire to form a majoritarian dominance or a separate state
Separatist leaders and political parties in Jammu and Kashmir and Central India are an example of this.
→ The use of religious symbols and leaders in politics to appeal to the voters
This technique is applied by many politicians to influence voters from the two largest religious communities in the country.
→ In addition to all this, communal politics can take the form of communal violence and riots, like the riots in Gujarat in 2002.

Caste has not disappeared from contemporary India.
→ Even now most people marry within their own caste or tribe.
→ Untouchability has not ended completely despite constitutional prohibition.
→ Effects of centuries of advantages and disadvantages continue to be felt today, e.g., Caste continues to be closely linked to economic status.

Caste alone cannot determine election results in India because:
→ No parliamentary constituency has a clear majority of one single caste.
→ No party wins all the votes of a particular caste.

When it comes to representation of women in legislative bodies, India is among the bottom group of nations in the world. Women's representation has always been less than 10% in Lok Sabha and 5% in the State Assemblies.
On the other hand, the situation is different in the case of local government bodies. As one-third of seats in local government bodies (panchayats and municipalities) is reserved for women, there are more than 10 lakh elected women representatives in rural and urban local bodies.

Two constitutional provisions that make India a secular state are:
→ Freedom to practice, profess and propagate the religion of one’s choice.
→ The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.

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

Answer

(b) Unequal roles assigned by the society to men and women

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

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

Which among the following statements about India's Constitution is wrong? It
(a) prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion
(b) gives official status to one religion
(c) provides to all individuals freedom to profess any religion
(d) ensures equality of citizens within religious communities

Answer

(b) gives official status to one religion

ANS : caste

	List I	List II
1	A person who believes in equal rights and opportunities for women and men	Α. Communalist
2	A person who says that religion is the principal basis of community	Β. 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 beliefs	D. Castiest

answer

Q1. Which one of the following social reformers fought against caste inequalities.
(a) Periyar Ramaswami Naiker (b) Swami Dayanand Saraswati
(c) Raja Ram Mohan Roy (d) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

Q2. Which one of the following was the view of Mahatma Gandhi about religion ?
(a) He was in favour of Hinduism.
(b) He was an ardent supporter of Muslim Religion.
(c) By religion, Gandhi meant for moral values that inform all religions.
(d) He said that India should adopt Christianity.

Q3. Name any two political leaders who fought against caste inequalities.
(a) Dr. Manmohan Singh and Smt. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil.
(b) Mr. Nitesh Kumar and Mr. Narendra Modi.
(c) Dr.S. Radhakrishnan and Shri Morarji Desai
(d) Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar

Q4. What is the average child sex ratio in India ?
(a) 923 (b) 926 (c) 935 (d) 933

Q5. Which one of the following refers to gender division ?
(a) The hierarchical unequal roles assigned to man and woman by the society.
(b) Biological difference between man and woman.
(c) The ratio of male child and female child.
(d) The division between male labourers and female labourers.

Q6. Which one of the following is the basis of communal politics?
(a) People of different religions may have the same interests.
(b) People of different religions have different interests that involve conflicts.
(c) People of different religions live in mutual co-operation.
(d) People who follow different religions belong to the same social community.

Q7. Name any two countries where women’s participation in public life is very high.
(a) Sri Lanka and Nepal (b) Pakistan and Bhutan
(c) Sweden and Finland (d) South Africa and Maldives

Q8. What is the literacy rate among women and men respectively in India?
(a) 54% and 76% (b) 46% and 51% 
(c) 76% and 85% (d) 37% and 54%

Q9. Which one of the following is a form of communalism?
(a) Communal Unity and integrity. (b) Communal fraternity.
(c) Communal violence, riots and massacre. (d) Communal harmony.

Q10. Which one of the following refers to a feminist?
(a) The female labourers
(b) The employer who employs female workers
(c) A woman who does not believe in equal rights for women.
(d) A woman or a man who believes in equal rights and opportunities for woman and man

Answer Key of MCQ :
 (1) a (2) c (3) d (4) d (5) a
 (6) b (7) c (8) a (9) c (10) d 

(1)Indian society is basically a patriarchal society where boys are given preference over the girls.
(2)The parents do not expense equally for both boys and girls. Boys are given more attention.
(3)It is a prevailing stereotype for women that even after getting well education, they have to do household jobs.

A nation or state which keeps itself equidistant from different religious issues, and does not give protection
to a particular religion.
(1) India is a country of diverse religions. It was the religions on the basis of which India was divided.
Unlike Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Christianity in England.
(2) The constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess practice and propagate any religion.

America, Martin Luther King.
The purpose of this movement was to give end to the racial discrimination being practiced against the Afro-Americans.

Gender division simply refers to the division of work between the men and the women. Some work especially the households such as cooking, washing, cleaning, etc. are exclusively meant for the women while the man have some other defined areas of work.
(1) The gender division between the men and women does not mean that men cannot do household works. They simply think that it is for women to attend the household works.
(2) The gender division also doesn’t mean that women do not work outside their home.

(1) A communal thought always tends to establish political dominance offer particular religious community.
 (2) The country weakens when political parties are formed and political activities are conducted on the communal lines.
 (3) One of the most ugly face of communalism emerges out in the form of riots, violence and homicides. 

(1) Sexual division of Labour.
(2) Illiteracy
(3) Lack of Representation in politics.
(4) Discrimination in Job.

(1) Positive Impacts
(i) Caste Politics relationship has helped people from Dalits and OBCs to gain better access to decision making.
(ii) Now people are making voice for the end of discrimination against particular castes for more dignity and more access to land, other resources and opportunities.
(2) Negative Impacts
(i) It can divert attention from other pressing issues like poverty, development and corruption.
Sometimes a few underprivileged castes get more benefit while other underprivileged classes remain deprived.
(ii) Sometimes it also disrupts social harmony.

The feminist movement refers to the agitation demanding enhancing the political and legal status of movement.
(1) The gender issues or equality of men and women, as a result of feminist movement was raised in politics.
(2) The political expressions and political mobilization helped improve women’s role in public life.
(3) As a result of the expression of gender division in politics many legislations were passed by which women were empowered in the social, economic and political feels.

(1) The people from the backward classes have been given reservation in the government jobs as per the their proportion in the population.
(2) To give them fair representation in the Vidhan Sabha and the Lok Sabha.
(3) To help them move forward in the field of higher education. The seats have been reserved for them.
(4) The constitution also prohibits any type of caste discrimination.

(1) Women have less than 10% representation in the Indian legislature. In the State legislature their representation is even less than 5%.
(2) The provision of equal wages for women without any discrimination has been made under the Equal Wages Act.
(3) There is a tendency of female infanticide in many parts of the country. Domestic violence against women, their exploitation etc. always have been the part of daily news. In this regards, the government has brought Domestic Violence Act  which proves and effective steps.