Unit Four: © Ncert Not To Be Republished
Unit Four: © Ncert Not To Be Republished
Unit Four: © Ncert Not To Be Republished
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Teacher’s Note
The Marginalisation
Equality is a value and right that we have tried to understand in the Social and Political Life
series. Over the three years, we have deepened our conceptual understanding of equality. We
have distinguished the idea of formal equality from that of substantive equality and the need to
move towards establishing the latter. Kanta’s story, in the Class VII book, is an example of this.
We have also established that to understand equality it is important to delve into how inequality
is experienced and manifested. We have, thus, examined the connections between discrimination
and inequality through the childhood experiences of Dr Ambedkar and Omprakash Valmiki in
Class VI and VII books. The impact of inequality on access to resources was looked at in the
context of women’s access to education. Rashsundari Devi and Rokeya Begum’s writings point
to women’s struggles to overcome this denial. We have often pointed to the Fundamental Rights
enshrined in our Constitution to highlight why equality and the idea of dignity that it contains
is crucial to the functioning of democracy in India.
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This unit looks more closely at the ways in which inequality affects different groups and
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communities by introducing the concept of marginalisation or exclusion from the mainstream.
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The Unit focuses on three groups, namely the Adivasis, the Muslims and the Dalits. These three
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groups have been chosen because the causes that contribute to each group’s marginalisation
are different and they sometimes experience marginalisation in different ways. In teaching this
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unit, the aim should be to help students identify the factors that contribute to marginalisation
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as well as be able to recognise and empathise with the marginalised. You could help children
identify the marginalised communities in your region. In Chapter 7, we look at the experiences
of Adivasi and Muslim communities. Chapter 8 discusses ways in which the government as well
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as these communities themselves have tried to address marginalisation through various struggles.
The government does this through its law-making function and through different policies and
schemes that specifically target these communities as beneficiaries.
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We have used a variety of pedagogic tools in this unit – data, poems, a storyboard and a case-
study. Use the storyboard to discuss processes of marginalisation experienced by the Adivasis.
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The case study on Dalits should lead to a discussion on the importance of the SC/ST Act as well
as the ways in which this law reflects the Constitution’s commitment to Fundamental Rights. To
understand the situation of the Muslim community, we have used data from different sources,
which can be analysed in the class. Songs and poems have been used in this unit to break down
the boundaries created between social science and language textbooks and to establish that, in
the everyday lives of communities, this separation does not exist. Moreover, struggles for justice
have produced memorable poetry and songs that often do not find a place in textbooks.
This chapter does contain several issues that may lead to contentious discussions within the
classroom space. Children are aware of such issues and we have to find a mature way of discussing
these. You play a crucial role in facilitating these discussions in order to ensure that no child or
group of children feel discriminated against, ridiculed or left out from these discussions.
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Understanding
Chapter 7 Marginalisation
To be marginalised is to be forced to occupy the sides or fringes and thus not be at the
centre of things. This is something that some of you have probably experienced in the
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classroom or playground. If you are not like most people in your class, that is, if your
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taste in music or films is different, if your accent marks you out from others, if you are
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less chatty than others in your class, if you don’t play the same sport that many of
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your classmates like, if you dress differently, the chances are that you will not be
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considered to be ‘in’ by your peers. So, often, you end up feeling that you are ‘not with
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it’ – as if what you say, feel and think and how you act are not quite right or acceptable
to others.
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group from the majority community. They may also feel marginalised because they are
poor, considered to be of ‘low’ social status and viewed as being less human than
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others. Sometimes, marginalised groups are viewed with hostility and fear. This sense
of difference and exclusion leads to communities not having access to resources and
opportunities and in their inability to assert their rights. They experience a sense of
disadvantage and powerlessness vis-a-vis more powerful and dominant sections of
society who own land, are wealthy, better educated and politically powerful. Thus,
marginalisation is seldom experienced in one sphere. Economic, social, cultural and
political factors work together to make certain groups in society feel marginalised.
In this chapter, you will read about two communities that are considered to be socially
marginalised in India today.
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Adivasis and Marginalisation The lives of adivasis are
An Adivasi Family in Delhi Soma and Helen are very rich; most people
watching the Republic Day parade on TV with their don’t know that.
Yes, don’t they know
grandfather. anything else about us!
Oh see!
Oh, An adivasi
see! The float!
Nagaland
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the land and the forests around us. We in
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turn respected the land, the forest, the river.
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Then they beat and threatened us till Oh, Dadu! And our land what…
eventually everyone was forced to sell and For our 30 acres we got a little
abandon the land of their forefathers. They money from one contractor. I
had the support of the authorities. Our never saw most of my friends
whole way of living vanished overnight. again.
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studies and other children speak some English You can still tell them
made fun of us. We spoke I wish I could have
now. about our village. It has
Santhali at home, and did not shown my friends our
a lot to teach them…
know Hindi. village before it was
destroyed.
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You just read about how Dadu was forced to leave his village Explain at least three different
in Odisha. Dadu’s story is similar to the lives of millions of reasons why groups may be
marginalised.
Adivasis in India. You will read more about the
marginalisation of this community in this chapter. Why was Dadu forced to leave
his village in Odisha?
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among others. Adivasis are not a homogeneous You may have heard the term
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population: there are over 500 different Adivasi groups in
pu T Scheduled Tribes. Scheduled
India. Adivasis are particularly numerous in states like Tribes is the term used for
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Adivasis used by the Indian
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Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat,
government in various official
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Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and in documents. There is an official
the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
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often very little hierarchy among them. This makes them Tribes.
radically different from communities organised around
principles of jati-varna (caste) or those that were ruled by kings.
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for example, the Jagannath cult of Odisha and Shakti and
Tantric traditions in Bengal and Assam. During the nineteenth
century, substantial numbers of Adivasis converted to
Christianity, which has emerged as a very important religion in
modern Adivasi history.
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their traditional costumes are often the only
In India, we usually ‘showcase’ Adivasi communities in
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ways in which Adivasi communities are
represented. This then leads us to think of them particular ways. Thus, during school functions or other
as being ‘exotic’ and ‘backward’.
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official events or in books and movies, Adivasis are
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invariably portrayed in very stereotypical ways – in
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colourful costumes, headgear and through their dancing.
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air and water. Forests covered the major part of our country What metals are important in
till the nineteenth century and the Adivasis had a deep present-day India? Why?
knowledge of, access to, as well as control over most of these Where do they come from? Are
there Adivasi populations
vast tracts at least till the middle of the nineteenth century.
there?
This meant that they were not ruled by large states and
empires. Instead, often empires heavily depended on List five products that you use
Adivasis for the crucial access to forest resources. at home that come from the
forest.
This is radically contrary to our image of Adivasis today as By whom were the following
somewhat marginal and powerless communities. In the pre- demands being made on forest
colonial world, they were traditionally ranged hunter- land?
gatherers and nomads and lived by shifting agriculture and ·houses
timber for construction of
also cultivating in one place. Although these remain, for and railways
the past 200 years Adivasis have been increasingly forced – · forest land for mining
through economic changes, forest policies and political
·non-tribal
forest land for agriculture by
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force applied by the State and private industry – to migrate people
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to lives as workers in plantations, at construction sites, in
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industries and as domestic workers. For the first time in
·wildlife
reserved by government as
parks
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history, they do not control or have much direct access to
In what ways would this affect
the forest territories.
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tribal people?
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This is a photo of Niyamgiri Hill located in
Kalahandi district of Odisha. This area is
inhabited by Dongarria Konds, an Adivasi
community. Niyamgiri is the sacred mountain of
this community. A major aluminium company is
planning to set up a mine and a refinery here
which will displace this Adivasi community.
They have strongly resisted this proposed
development and have been joined by
environmentalists as well. A case against the
company is also pending in the Supreme Court.
Forest lands have been cleared for timber and to get land for
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agriculture and industry. Adivasis have also lived in areas that
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are rich in minerals and other natural resources. These are taken
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over for mining and other large industrial projects. Powerful
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forces have often colluded to take over tribal land. Much of
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the time, the land is taken away forcefully and procedures are
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in a cycle of poverty and deprivation. 45 per cent of tribal In your opinion, why is it
groups in rural areas and 35 per cent in urban areas live below important that Adivasis should
have a say in how their forests
the poverty line. This leads to deprivation in other areas. Many
and forest lands are used?
tribal children are malnourished. Literacy rates among tribals
are also very low.
When Adivasis are displaced from their lands, they lose
much more than a source of income. They lose their
traditions and customs – a way of living and being. “They
took our farming land. They left some houses. They took
the cremation ground, temple, well and pond. How will
we survive?” says Gobindha Maran, who was displaced due
to a refinery project in Odisha.
As you have read, there exists an interconnectedness
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between the economic and social dimensions of tribal life.
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Destruction in one sphere naturally impacts the other. Often
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this process of dispossession and displacement can be
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painful and violent. bl
Minorities and Marginalisation
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Why do we need safeguards for feel insecure about their lives, assets and well-being. This
minorities? sense of insecurity may get accentuated if the relations
between the minority and majority communities are
fraught. The Constitution provides these safeguards because
it is committed to protecting India’s cultural diversity and
promoting equality as well as justice. As you have already
read in Chapter 5, the judiciary plays a crucial role in
upholding the law and enforcing Fundamental Rights.
Every citizen of India can approach the courts if they believe
that their Fundamental Rights have been violated. Now
let us understand marginalisation in the context of the
Muslim community.
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According to 2011 census, Muslims are 14.2 per cent of India’s
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population and are considered to be a marginalised community
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in India today because in comparison to other communities,
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they have over the years been deprived of the benefits of socio-
economic development. The data in the three tables below,
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derived from different sources, indicate the situation of the
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Source: India Human Development Report 2011: Towards Social Inclusion, Oxford University Press for Institute of Applied
Manpower Research, Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi, p. 346, 389, 392.
Which of these communities have the most and the least access to basic amenities?
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II. Literacy Rate by Religion, 2011 (percentages)
Which of these communities have the highest and the lowest literacy rate?
Population IAS IPS IFS Central Public State PSU Banks & RBI
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Sector Unit (PSU)
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13.5 3 4
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1.8 3.3 10.8 2.2
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Source: Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India, Prime Minister’s High Level
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Recognising that Muslims in India were lagging behind in Read the data related to
terms of various development indicators, the government schooling provided by the
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economic and educational indicators the situation of the is much higher than that of
Muslim community is comparable to that of other any other socio-religious
marginalised communities like Scheduled Castes and community (page 58).
Scheduled Tribes. For example, according to the Report Do you think special measures
the average years of schooling for Muslim children between are required to address this
the ages of 7-16 is much lower than that of other socio- situation?
religious communities (page 56).
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not all – Muslims may wear a burqa, sport a long beard,
wear a fez, and these become ways to identify all Muslims.
Because of this, they tend to be identified differently and
some people think they are not like the ‘rest of us’. Often
this becomes an excuse to treat them unfairly, and
discriminate against them. Do you remember reading in
your Class VII book about how the Ansaris were finding
it difficult to rent a house? This social marginalisation of
Muslim women are an important part of
the women’s movement in India. Muslims in some instances has led to them migrating from
places where they have lived, often leading to the
ghettoisation of the community. Sometimes, this prejudice
leads to hatred and violence.
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I live in a Muslim-dominated area. Some days back during Ramzan there was
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some disturbance that started taking a communal outlook. My brother and I had
gone for an Iftar party in the neighbourhood and were dressed in traditional
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clothes, that is sherwani and salwar kameez respectively. On returning home, my
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brother and I were asked to change our clothes to jeans and T-shirt.
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Now when everything is fine I wonder what was the reason that we were asked
to change our clothes and why I didn’t find it odd. Were our clothes giving away
our identity and is that identity linked to all kinds of fears and discrimination?
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Ainee A. Farooqi
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The above essay has been In the above section of this chapter, we saw how in the case
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written by a child around your of the Muslim community there is a link between economic
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Conclusion
In this chapter, we have tried to understand what it means to be
a marginalised community. We have tried to look at this through
the experiences of different marginalised communities. There
are different reasons for each of these communities being
marginalised. Each experiences marginalisation in different ways.
We have also seen that marginalisation is linked to experiencing
disadvantage, prejudice and powerlessness. In India there are
several more marginalised communities, like Dalits, of whom
The Sachar Committee Report also
you will read more in the next chapter. Marginalisation results debunked other prevalent myths about
in having a low social status and not having equal access to Muslims. It is commonly believed that the
Muslims prefer to send their children to
education and other resources. Madarsas. The figures show that only
4 per cent of Muslim children are in
Yet, the lives of marginalised people can and do change. Thus, Madarsas, where as 66 per cent attend
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government schools and 30 per cent
no one is marginalised all the time in exactly the same way. If
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private schools. (page 75)
we go back to the two examples of marginalisation we have
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discussed, we will see that each of these groups has a long history
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of struggle and resistance. Marginalised communities want to
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maintain their cultural distinctiveness while having access to
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Exercises
1. Write in your own words two or more sentences of what you understand by the word
‘marginalisation’.
3. Write one reason why you think the Constitution’s safeguards to protect minority communities
are very important?
4. Re-read the section on Minorities and Marginalisation. What do you understand by the term
minority?
5. You are participating in a debate where you have to provide reasons to support the following
statement: ‘Muslims are a marginalised community’. Using the data provided in this chapter, list
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two reasons that you would give.
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6. Imagine that you are watching the Republic Day parade on TV with a friend and she remarks,
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“Look at these tribals. They look so exotic. And they seem to be dancing all the time”. List three
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things that you would tell her about the lives of Adivasis in India.
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7. In the storyboard you read about how Helen hopes to make a movie on the Adivasi story. Can
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8. Would you agree with the statement that economic marginalisation and social marginalisation are
interlinked? Why?
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GLOSSARY
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Mainstream: Literally this refers to the main current of a river or stream. In this chapter it
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is used to refer to a cultural context in which the customs and practices that are followed
are those of the dominant community. In connection with this, mainstream is also used to
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refer to those people or communities that are considered to be at the centre of a society,
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i.e. often the powerful or dominant group.
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Displaced: In the context of this chapter this refers to people who are forced or compelled
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to move from their homes for big development projects including dams, mining etc.
Militarised: An area where the presence of the armed forces is considerable.
Malnourished: A person who does not get adequate nutrition or food.
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