X-L4-Q - Ans (3,5 MK)

L4 - Gender, Religion and Caste (3, 5 Mk Q/Ans)
(Note - Make mind maps before each answer.)
3 Mk
1. How does communalism threaten the Indian democracy?
Mindmap -
Communalism and Politics
a) One religion - one community
b) Different religions - not same social community
c) Dominance of one’s own religion
d) Ugly form - violence and riots
Ans: Communal politics is based on the idea that religion is the principle
basis of social community.
a) The followers of a particular religion must belong to one
community.
b) Any difference which they may have is irrelevant for community life.
It also follows that people from different religions cannot belong to
the same social community.
c) A communal mind leads to the quest for political dominance of one’s
own religious community.
d) Sometimes communalism takes its most ugly form of communal
violence, riots and massacre.
2. What were Gandhiji’s view regarding religion and politics?

Mindmap
Gandhiji’s views - Religion and Politics
a) Religion, politics - inseparable
b) Follow moral values, not specific religion
c) Politics guided by ethics
Ans -
a) Gandhiji used to say that religion can never be separated from
politics.
b) What he meant by religion was not any particular religion like
Hinduism or Islam but moral values that forms the basis of all
religion.
c) He believed that politics must be guided by ethics drawn from
religion.
3. “Caste has still not disappeared from contemporary India”. Justify the
statement with examples.
Mind map -
Caste system still followed
a) Marriage - own caste or tribe
b) Untouchability - still exists
c) Effects - still visible
d) Low caste people - no access to education
e) Caste - linked - economic status
Ans. 1) It is observed that caste system in India is still seen in
contemporary India. Following are some examples -
a) Most people marry within their own caste or tribe.
b) Untouchability has not ended completely despite constitutional
provision.
c) Effects of centuries of advantages and disadvantages continue to be
felt even today.
d) A large mass of low caste people still do not have access to
education.
e) Caste continues to be linked with economic status.
5 Mk
1. Explain the various forms that communalism can take in politics?

Or
What is communalism? Explain its forms in politics.
Ans:
Communalism is a situation in society in which different religious groups
try to establish their superiority over others.
Communalism can take several forms in politics and in everyday beliefs -
1) Formation of parties based on communities, campaigning or asking
votes
2) Communalism in daily beliefs -
a) The most common expression of communalism in daily life
involves religious prejudices, stereotypes of various
communities and beliefs in the superiority in one religion over
the other religion
b) This is so common that we often fail to notice it.
3) Formation of political parties on the basis of communities -
a) All the communities of the world have quest for political
dominance while for minority it can take the form of desire to
form a separate political unit
4) Political mobilization -
a) Political mobilization on communal lines is another frequent
form of communalism. Parties based on a particular
community make use of sacred symbols, religious leader’s
emotional appeals and create fear in order to bring the
followers of one religion together in the political arena.
b) In electoral politics, this often involves a special appeal to the
interest or the emotions of the voters of one religion in
preference to another.
5) Communal riots -
a) Sometimes communalism takes the ugly form of communal
violence, riots and killings.
b) India has suffered some of the worst communal riots at the
time of partition.
c) The post independence period has also seen large scale
communal violence.
2. “Gender division is not based on biology but also on social

expectations and stereotypes.” Support the statement.
Ans:
Gender division is a form of hierarchical social division based on social
expectations and stereotypes.
a) Boys and girls are brought to believe that the main responsibility of
women is house work and bring up children.
b) There is sexual division in most families where men are supposed to
do all outside work and women do the work at home.
c) Majority of women perform some paid work in addition to domestic
labour but are not valued and do not get the recognition.
d) Women constitute half of humanity. Their role in public life
especially in politics is minimal in most societies.
e) In our country, women still lag behind men as it is a patriarchal
society. Women face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in
various ways.
3. What is a secular state? How does the constitution ensure India
remains the same?
Or
Mention the constitutional provisions that make India a secular state.
Ans: a) A state that has no official religion and grants equal status to all
religions is called a secular state. The constitution ensures secularism
through various provisions.
b) There is no official religion of India. Unlike the status of Buddhism in
Sri Lanka, Islam in Pakistan and Christianity in England. Our Constitution
has not given any special status to any religion.
c) Under the rights to freedom of religion, our Constitution provides to all
citizens the freedom to profess, practise and propagate any religion or not
to follow any religion.
d) Our Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion.
e) The Constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion
in order to ensure equality in religious communities.. Eg: - Triple Talaq
law.
4. Analyse the role of caste in Indian Politics.

Ans: It is believed that caste is the soul basis of social community.
According to this, people belonging to the same caste belong to the same
social community.
Caste can take various forms in politics -
a) When parties choose their candidate, they keep in mind the caste
composition of the electorate and nominate candidates from
different castes so as to gather necessary support to win the
elections.
b) Parties make appeal to caste sentiments to gather support or favour
some caste.
c) Universal adult franchise and the principle of “One person, one
vote” urging leaders to gear up to the task of mobilizing and
securing support. It brought new consciousness among people
about caste that was treated as inferior or low.
d) No parliamentary constituency has a majority, hence they need to
win the confidence of more than one community.
e) No party wins votes of all voters of a particular caste. When people
say “Vote caste is a vote bank”, it usually means a large proportion of
voters from that particular caste.
f) Many parties can put up candidates from the same caste. Some
voters have more than one candidate while many voters have no
candidate from their caste.
g) The ruling party MP or MLA frequently lose elections. This could not
have happened if all communities freeze their political preferences.
5. Discuss sexual division of labour. State whether it is right or wrong.

Ans:
a) Sexual division is a system in which all work inside the home is
either done by women of the family or organised by them through
domestic helpers and men do all the work outside the home.
b) This division tends to be understood as natural and unchangeable
based on social expectations and stereotypes.
c) Boys and girls are brought up to believe that the main responsibility
of women is housework and bringing up children.
d) Women do all the work inside the house while men are involved in
the work outside.
e) Women’s role in public life is minimal in most societies.
f) This sexual division is not right. Although women have equal
humanity, they face disadvantages, discrimination and oppression.
Hence it is wrong.
g) Both men and women should equally participate in domestic work.
Family is a social unit in which everyone needs to contribute and
cooperate.
6. What are feminist movements? What were their major demands?

Ans:
● A woman or man who believes in equal rights and opportunities for
both men and women is called a feminist.
● Most radical women’s movements aimed at equality in personal and
family life as well. These movements are called feminist movements.
● Women in different parts of the world organized and agitated for
equal rights.
● There were agitations in different countries for the extension of
voting rights for women.
● These agitations demanded enhancing the political and legal status
of women and improving their educational and career
opportunities.
7. Explain different aspects of life in which women are discriminated

against or disadvantaged in India.
Ans: Women in India are discriminated in various ways: -
1) Sex ratio - In many parts of India, parents prefer to have sons and
find ways to have the girl child aborted before she is born. This had
led to a decline in the child sex ratio in the country.
2) Domestic violence / Exploitation - There are reports of various
kinds of harassment, exploitation and violence against women. Both
urban and rural areas have biome unsafe for women.
3) Unpaid work - The proportion of women among the highly paid and
valued jobs is still very small.
4) Literacy rate - The literacy rate among women is only 65.46% as
compared with 82.14% among men. Similarly, a few number of girl
students go for higher studies.
5) Less payment - Equal Remuneration Act provides that equal wages
should be paid for equal work. However, in spite of this act, women
are paid less than men even when both do exactly the same work.

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L4 - Gender, Religion and Caste (3, 5 Mk Q/Ans)

(Note - Make mind maps before each answer.)

1. How does communalism threaten the Indian democracy?

2. What were Gandhiji’s view regarding religion and politics?

1. Explain the various forms that communalism can take in politics?

2. “Gender division is not based on biology but also on social

4. Analyse the role of caste in Indian Politics.

5. Discuss sexual division of labour. State whether it is right or wrong.

6. What are feminist movements? What were their major demands?

7. Explain different aspects of life in which women are discriminated

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