CONFRONTING MARGINALISATION
The following notes are for your reference. Write any 6 questions in the notebook.
Fill in the blanks
Answer :
1: Why do you think that Dalit families were afraid of angering the powerful castes?
Ans :
The Dalit families were afraid of angering the powerful castes because :
Many of them worked on the fields of the people who belong to powerful castes as daily-wage
labourers.
They were afraid if dominant castes did not allow them to work in their fields then what would
they (Dalit families) earn.
Dalits also declared that the wrath of the local deity would strike them if they refused to give in.
2: Can you list two different provisions in the 1989 Act?
Answer : Two different provisions in the 1989 Act are as follows :
(1) The Act sets out to punish anyone who wrongfully occupies or cultivates any land owned
by, or allotted to a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe or gets the land allotted
to him transferred.
(2) The Act recognizes that crimes against Dalit and tribal women are of a specific kind. It
penalizes those who assault or use force on any woman belonging to a Scheduled Caste or a
Scheduled Tribe with intent to dishonour her.
3: Why did the Safai Karamchari Andolan file a PIL in 2003? What did they complain about in
their petition?
Answer : In 1993 the government passed the Employment of Manual Scavengers and
Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act. This law prohibits the employment of manual
scavengers as well as the construction of dry latrines.
In 2003 the Safai Karamchari Andolan and 13 other organisations and individuals, including
seven scavengers filed a PIL in the Supreme Court. The petitioners complained that manual
scavenging still existed and was continued in government undertakings like the railways.
4: What did the Supreme Court do on hearing their case in 2005?
Answer : The Supreme Court on hearing their case in 2005 directed every department/ ministry
of the union government and state governments to verify the facts within six months. If manual
scavenging was found to exist then the government department has to actively take up a time-
bound programme for their liberation and rehabilitation.
5: Re-read the story on Rathnam as well as the provisions of the 1989 Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Now list one reason why you think he used
this law to file a complaint.
Answer : The 1989 Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was
formed in response to the demands made by Dalits and others that the Government take
seriously to protect them against the ill-treatment and humiliation faced by Dalits and tribal
groups in their everyday life.
Rathnam’s hut was burnt and he was forced to leave the village along with his mother and other
members of his family as they continued to be ostracized by the powerful castes in the village.
So Rathnam used the above law to file a complaint to protest against the domination and
violence of the powerful castes in his village.
6: Why do Adivasi activists, including C.K. Janu, believe that Adivasis can also use this 1989
Act to fight against dispossession? Is there anything specific in the provisions of the Act that
allows her to believe this?
Answer :
The Adivasi activists including C.K. Janu believe that Adivasis can also use this 1989 Act to
fight against dispossession because this Act guarantees the tribals not to be dispossessed from
the land resources forcibly.
They pointed specifically that this Act merely confirms what has already been promised to the
tribal people in the Constitution that their land cannot be sold to or bought by non-tribal people.
In cases where this has happened, the constitution also guarantees that the right of the tribal
people to repossess their land.
7:State the ideas of C.K Janu, an adivasi activist on violation of constitutional rights by the
government of various Indian states.
Answer: C.K. Janu, an Adivasi activist, has pointed out that one of the violators of
Constitutional rights guaranteed to tribal people are governments in the various states of India –
for it is they who allow non-tribal encroachers in the form of timber merchants, paper mills etc,
to exploit tribal land, and to forcibly evict tribal people from their traditional forests in the
process of declaring forests as reserved or as sanctuaries. She has also noted that in cases where
tribals have already been evicted and cannot go back to their lands, they must be compensated.
8: The right, law or policy related to marginalized groups merely exists on the paper. Do you
agree? Comment
Answer: The existence of a right or a law or even a policy on paper does not mean that it exists
in reality. People have had to constantly work on or make efforts to translate these into
principles that guide the actions of their fellow citizens or even their leaders. The desire for
equality, dignity and respect is not new. It has existed in different forms throughout our history.
Similarly, even in a democratic society, similar processes of struggle, writing, negotiation and
organising need to continue.
9:How does the reservation policy work?
Answer: Governments across India have their own list of Scheduled Castes (or Dalits),
Scheduled Tribes and backward and most backward castes. The central government too has its
list. Students applying to educational institutions and those applying for posts in government are
expected to furnish proof of their caste or tribe status, in the form of caste and tribe certificates.
If a particular Dalit caste or a certain tribe is on the government list, then a candidate from that
caste or tribe can avail of the benefit of reservation.
10: What is Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest
Rights) Act, 2006?
Or
What are the salient features of Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers
(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006?
Answer: The central government passed the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest
Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
This Act is meant to undo the historical injustices meted out to forest dwelling populations in
not recognising their rights to land and resources.
This Act recognises their right to homestead, cultivable and grazing land and to non-timber
forest produce.
The Act also points out that the rights of forest dwellers includes conservation of forests and
bio-diversity.
11: Mention a few crimes listed in Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989?
Answer: The Act distinguishes several levels of crimes.
Firstly, it lists modes of humiliation that are both physically horrific and morally reprehensible
and seeks to punish those who
(i) force a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe to drink or eat any inedible or
obnoxious substance
(ii) forcibly removes clothes from the person of a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled
Tribe or parades him or her naked or with painted face or body or commits any similar act
which is derogatory to human dignity.
(iii)it lists actions that dispossess Dalits and Adivasis of their meagre resources or which force
them into performing slave labour.
Thus, the Act sets out to punish anyone who wrongfully occupies or cultivates any land owned
by, or allotted to, a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe or get the land allotted
to him transferred
At another level, the Act recognizes that crimes against Dalit and tribal women are of a specific
kind and, therefore, seeks to penalise anyone who assaults or uses force on any woman
belonging to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe with intent to dishonour her.
`12:What is manual scavenging? How is it harmful for people who practice it?
Ans. Manual scavenging refers to the practice of removing human and animal waste/excreta
using brooms, tin plates and baskets from dry latrines and carrying it on the head to disposal
grounds some distance away.
Manual scavengers are exposed to subhuman conditions of work and face serious health
hazards. They are constantly exposed to infections that affect their eyes, skin, respiratory and
gastro-intestinal systems.
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