Gender, Religion & Caste

Democratic Politics (Skill Sheet)
Topic: 4. Gender, Religion and Caste SST/10/T2

Grade: X - _________ Name: ________________________________________________ Roll No: _______
Q1. Mention the different aspects of life in which women are discriminated against or 5
disadvantaged in India?
Ans. In our country, women still lag behind men despite some improvement since
independence. It is because Indian society is male dominated patriarchal society. It
values men over women and gives them more power and women face discrimination
and exploitation in many ways.
i. Education: The literacy rate of women still is lower than men. Only 54% of women are
literate against 76% literate men. This is because a boy's education is still preferred
over sending a girl child to school. The money that can be invested for the education of
a daughter is rather saved for her dowry and marriage.
ii. Proportion of women in paid jobs: Women still have a small share in highly paid jobs.
Even though on an average an Indian woman works one hour more than the man her
work is not given importance. In almost all areas of work women are paid less than men
even when both are doing exactly the same amount of work with the same quality.
iii. Preference for male child: In India, parents prefer sons over daughters and find ways
of aborting girl child. Reservation has led to decline in child sex ratio in the country.
Indian parents think of a girl child as a burden.
iv. Crime against women: There are various instances of crime against women. Women
are exploited and harassed at the workplace and at home too. There are cases of
domestic violence against women which make her unsafe even within her family.
Q2. Explain the role of caste in Indian politics. 5

Ans. Caste plays a very important role in Indian politics.
i. Political parties choose candidates in elections, they keep in mind caste composition of
electorate and nominated candidates from different castes so as to muster essential
support to win elections
ii. Political parties and candidates in elections make appeal to the sentiments of electorate
in order to muster up support.
iii. When governments are formed, political parties usually take care that representatives
of different castes and tribes find a place in it.
iv. Universal adult franchise and principle of one person one vote compelled political
leaders to gear up the taste of mobilizing and securing political support.
v. This also brought about new consciousness among the people of caste that were treated
as inferior and low.
Q3. How can you say that gender division is not based on biology but on social expectations 5
and stereotypes?
Ans. It is true that gender division is not based on biology but on social expectations and
stereotypes. Boys and girls are brought up to believe that the main responsibility of
women is household work and bringing up children.
i. Women do all work inside the home such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, etc. and
men do all the work outside the home like earning money.
ii. It is not that men cannot do household work. They simply think that it is for women to
attend to these things.
iii. When these jobs are paid for, men are ready to take up these tasks. Eg. Tailors or cooks
at hotels are men.
iv. Similarly, women can also work outside. In villages, they fetch water, collect fuel and
work in the fields.
v. In urban areas, poor women work as domestic helpers in middle class homes, while
middle class women work in offices.
vi. In fact, the majority of women do some sort of paid work in addition to domestic labour.
Their work is not valued and does not get recognition.
Q4. What are the ideas that involve communalism? Explain. 5

Ans. Communalism is a situation when a particular community tries to promote its own
interest at the cost of other communities.
i. It is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of social community.
ii. It believes 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.
iii. 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 superficial and immaterial. Their interests are bound to be different and involve
conflict.
iv. 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.
Homework Questions (Write the answers in the notebook)
1. What is the status of women’s representation in India’s legislative bodies? (3)
2. “Caste system in modern India has undergone great changes.” Explain. (3)
3. Mention the constitutional provisions that make India a secular state. (3)
Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow.
From a religious point of view, Indian culture is pluralistic. Here, we have the adherents of all the great
systems of religion. Hindus are the majority of the population and all areas of the country are populated by
them. The largest religious group consists of Muslims. But at times, the adjustment between the Hindus and
Muslims was a disaster, resulting in violent communal disturbances. Millions of people were left homeless
during community protests during the time of independence and millions of others perished. Communalism
was in charge of splitting India and Pakistan. The partition was expected to solve the riddle, but it was
unsuccessful. The living pattern between Hindus and Muslims still needs to be established. Communalism is
blind allegiance to one’s own religious community in our culture. It is defined as a tool for or against
mobilising people by appealing for communal services. Communalism is related to dogmatism and religious
fundamentalism.
Shashank Malviya @ Know your rights SEP 14, 2021, Times Of India
1. Define ‘communalism.’ (1)
2. How are people mobilised in the name of religion? (1)
3. Mention any two constitutional provisions that prohibit communalism. (2)
THE END

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Democratic Politics (Skill Sheet)

Topic: 4. Gender, Religion and Caste SST/10/T2

Q2. Explain the role of caste in Indian politics. 5

Q4. What are the ideas that involve communalism? Explain. 5

Homework Questions (Write the answers in the notebook)

1. What is the status of women’s representation in India’s legislative bodies? (3)

1. Define ‘communalism.’ (1)

2. How are people mobilised in the name of religion? (1)

3. Mention any two constitutional provisions that prohibit communalism. (2)

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