CLASS 10 NOTES

CLASS 10 NOTES

PRASHANT KIRAD

POLITICAL SCIENCE

POLITICAL SCIENCE

Gender, Gender,

Religion and Religion and

Caste Caste

Gender and Politics

Gender, Religion and caste

There is a big problem in our society that we consider gender division as natural and unchangeable.

Sexual division of labour

In our society, women’s work is not valued much.

Gender issues were issues along in the politics, demanding equality in all terms for women.

However, political expression of gender, has helped in the upliftment of women and society. It has improved their participation in all fields of work.

The participation of women is very high in countries like Sweden, Norway, Finland (Scandinovian countries), etc.

Discrimination against Women

Patriachal Society

In our society, women often face disadvantages, oppression and discrimination on the ground of gender.

The major reason for this is old beliefs and ideas against them.

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Literacy rate

The literacy rate is very low among women as compared to men, just

54%.

In villages, the literacy rate is even much low because of high drop out rates.

Jobs

Women’s proportion in high paying jobs is very low.

The women are paid low than men and have high average working hours.

Salary

Equal Remuneration Act was passed in 1976, but still women are paid less than men.

Female Foeticide

In our society, a majority of parents prefer to have son.

This led to a killing of girl before birth, known as female foeticide.

However, in recent female foeticide is illegal.

Women’s political reprsentation

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The proportion of women in the legislature is deficient. It is 12% in Lok Sabha (2014) and 5% in State assemblies. The world's average women representation is around 23.5%.

Legal provisions have been passed to have a fair proportion of women in the legislature.

1/3 of seats are reserved for women in Panchayati Raj in India.

Religion, Communalism and Politics

There may also be differences between various groups of the same religion.

Religious differences are often expressed in politics and our leaders use these differences very well in the politics.

The special steps should be taken to protect the minorites.

Communalism : An ideology stating the division of people on the basis of ethnicity, religion, beliefs, values, etc.

The follower of the same religion have same fundamental interests, while followers of different religions may have fundamental differences, which might lead to tensions.

Various Forms of Communalism in Politics

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Most Common - Superiority of one religion over another.

Political domination through religion - majoritarianism

Use of sacred symbols and emotional appeal by leaders on religious interests.

For ex: communal violence during the independence time and post independence period.

Secular States

A secular state is one which don’t have any official religion. There is no speical status to any religion.

There is freedom to practice and propagate any religion and there is no discrimination on the grounds of religion.

Secularism hold the country together. The foundation of secularism was well laid by the founding fathers of the country.

The State needs to intervene in matters of religious communities.

Caste and Politics

Caste Inequalities

The major reason for the caste inequalities in India is caste system

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To remove discrimination on the basis of caste, many constitutional protection acts were passed.

Various forms of Caste in Politics

Political parties appeal to the caste sentiments to muster support.

Mustering support of a specific caste by giving special attention to the caste composition of that constituency.

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

The political leaders need to give political supports to castes which were treated as inferior and low.

Politics in Caste

Political influence on caste

It is not the politics that gets caste ridden, it is the caste that gets politicized.

Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it neighbouring castes or sub-castes.

There are both positive and negative impacts of caste on politics.

Positive relation between caste and politics

The neglected castes get some political attention, which helps them to uplift in the society.

Example: Now, in our country dalits and other backward communities got access to the decision making.

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Negative relation between caste and politics

It diverts our attention from other important issues such as poverty, unemployment, etc.

It also led to the division among different societies.

Top 7 previous year questions

Describe any five features of the caste system in India.

These are the five features of the caste system in India (i) It was a hierarchical occupational division of the society. (ii) The caste system is both hierarchical and segmented (iii) The most important aspect of the caste system is 'untouchability'. (iv) In the 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. (v) In the caste system, the people belonging to higher castes started treating others as belonging to lower castes and then started the practice of untouchability.

Short questions

1.

"Secularism is not an ideology of some political parties or persons, but it is one of the foundations of our country." Examine the statement.

It is true that secularism is not an ideology of some political parties or persons, but it is one of the foundations of our countury.

This statement can be examined by the following points

2.

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(i) There is no official religion in 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. (ii) The Constitution provides to all individuals and communities the freedom to prefer, practice, and propagate any religion or not to follow any. (iii) The Constitution allows the state to intervene in matters of religion to ensure equality within religious communities. For example, it bans untouchability.

Besides caste, which other factors do matter in electoral politics? Explain.

Besides caste, there are other factors that do matter in electoral politics.

These are (i) The voters have a strong attachment to political parties which is often stronger than their attachment to their caste or community. (ii) People within the same community have different interests depending on their economic status. Rich and poor, men and women from the same caste often vote very differently. (iii) People's assessment of the performance of the government vis-a-vis the performance of the candidate for the development of his constituency are often decisive factors in elections.

3.

How can caste take several forms in politics? Explain with examples.

Caste can take various forms in Indian politics. For example (i) When parties choose candidates in elections, they keep in mind the caste composition of the electorate and nominate candidates from same castes so as to get necessary support to win elections. A candidate from a particular minority community became candidate from the constituency which is mostly inhibited by that particular minority.

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(ii) During the campaigning, political parties and candidates make appeals to people to give their votes on the basis of caste. Some political parties are known to favour some castes and are seen as their representatives. (iii) When governments are formed, political party takes care that representatives of different castes and tribes should get a place in the ministry.

Suggest any two measures to integrate the people belonging to different ethnic group in a society.

The measures to integrate the people belonging to different ethnic group in a society are (i) Everyone, including political leaders, social reformers and general people, should discourage casteism and work for socio-economic and political harmony. (ii) The political and regional political parties based on caste should be removed. (iii) The name and aim of educational institutions referring to castes should be given up.

5.

What is communal politics? Explain the idea behind the communal politics.

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 the communal politics are (i) 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.

Long questions

6.

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(ii) Communal politics follows that people belonging to different religions can not be a part of the same community. Their ideas and demands are bound to be different. (iii) 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. (iv) Communal politics is a belief that a particular community has same voice is fundamentally wrong. People of one religion do not have the same interests and aspiration in every context. All voices inside a community have a right to be heard.

How far is it correct to say that it is not politics that gets caste ridden, but it is the caste that gets politicised? Explain.

It is correct to say that it is not politics that gets caste ridden, but it is the caste that gets politicised.

Caste can take various forms in politics (i) Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it neighbouring castes or sub-castes which were earlier excluded from it. (ii) Various caste groups are required to enter a coalition with other castes or communities and thus enter a dialogue and negotiation. (iii) New kinds of caste groups have come up in the political arena like 'backward' and 'forward' caste groups. (iv) Caste plays different kinds of roles in politics. In some cases, politics gives many disadvantaged communities the opportunity to demand their share of power. (v) Politics has helped people from OBC and Dalit castes to gain better access to decision-making. (vi) But sometimes exclusive attention to caste can produce negative results like tensions, conflicts and violence in our society.

7.

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