Gender,

Religion and
Caste

Chapter 3
Overview
The existence of social diversity does not threaten democracy. Political
expression of social differences is possible and sometimes quite desirable
in a democratic system. In this chapter we apply these ideas to the practice
of democracy in India. We look at three kinds of social differences that
can take the form of social divisions and inequalities. These are social
differences based on gender, religion and caste. In each case we look at
the nature of this division in India and how it gets expressed in politics.
We also ask whether different expressions based on these differences are

Gender, Religion and Caste

healthy or otherwise in a democracy.

2024-25 29
 Gender and politics
Public/private division
Boys and girls are brought up to
believe that the main responsibility
of women is housework and bringing
up children. This is reflected in a
sexual division of labour in most
families: women do all work inside
the home such as cooking, cleaning,
washing clothes, tailoring, looking
after children, etc., and men do all
the work outside the home. It is not
that men cannot do housework; they
simply think that it is for women to
© Zuban

attend to these things. When these

jobs are paid for, men are ready to
A poster from Bengal affirming women’s take up these works. Most tailors or
strength. cooks in hotels are men. Similarly,
Let us begin with gender division. it is not that women do not work
This is a form of hierarchical social outside their home. In villages,
division seen everywhere, but is women fetch water, collect fuel and
Sexual division of labour:
rarely recognised in the study of work in the fields. In urban areas,
A system in which all
politics. The gender division tends poor women work as domestic
work inside the home
is either done by the to be understood as natural and helper in middle class homes, while
women of the family, unchangeable. However, it is not middle class women work in offices.
or organised by them In fact, the majority of women do
based on biology but on social
through the domestic
expectations and stereotypes. some sort of paid work in addition
helpers.
to domestic labour. But their work
is not valued and does not get
recognition.
The result of this division of
labour is that although women
constitute half of the humanity, their
role in public life, especially politics,
D e m o c ra t i c Po l i t i c s

is minimal in most societies. Earlier,

only men were allowed to participate
Why not ? I f in public affairs, vote and contest
Why are we
polit ics is about for public offices. Gradually the
discussing t hings
power, t hen
like household gender issue was raised in politics.
surely m ale
work in t his Women in different parts of the
dom inance in t he
t ext book on world organised and agitated for
household should
Polit ical Science? equal rights. There were agitations
be considered
I s t his polit ics? in different countries for the
polit ical.
extension of voting rights to women.
30 2024-25
These agitations demanded on this question helped to improve
enhancing the political and legal women’s role in public life. We now
status of women and improving their find women working as scientists,
educational and career opportunities. doctors, engineers, lawyers,
More radical women’s movements managers and college and university
aimed at equality in personal and teachers which were earlier not
family life as well. These movements considered suitable for women. In
are called feminist movements. some parts of the world, for example
Political expression of gender in Scandinavian countries, such as
division and political mobilisation Sweden, Norway and Finland, the

Gender, Religion and Caste

Feminist: A
woman or a man
© Zuban

who believes in
equal rights and
Discuss all these perceptions of an ideal woman that prevail in our society. Do you opportunities for
agree with any of these? If not, what is your image of an ideal woman? women and men.
2024-25 31
 participation of women in public life disadvantage, discrimination and
is very high. oppression in various ways:
In our country, women still lag  The literacy rate among women
much behind men despite some is only 54 per cent compared with
improvement since Independence. 76 per cent among men. Similarly, a
Ours is still a male-dominated, smaller proportion of girl students
patriarchal society. Women face go for higher studies. When we

+ A ‘t im e use survey’ was conduct ed in six st at es of our count ry. I t

shows t hat an average wom an works every day for a lit t le over
seven and half hours while an average m an works for six and a
half hours. Yet t he work done by m en is m ore visible because
m ost of t heir work leads t o generat ion of incom e. Wom en also do
a lot of direct incom e generat ing work, but t he bulk of t heir work
is household relat ed. This work rem ains unpaid and invisible.

Daily time use (hours: minutes)

Activities Men Women

Income generating work 6:00 2:40

Household and related work 0:30 5:00

Talking, Gossip 1:25 1:20

No work/ Leisure 3:40 3:50

Sleep, self-care, reading etc. 12:25 11:10

Source: Government of India, Time Use Survey, 1998-99.

You can conduct a sim ilar t im e use survey in your own

household. Observe all t he adult m ale and fem ale m em bers of
D e m o c ra t i c Po l i t i c s

your fam ily for one week. Every day not e down t he num ber of
hours each of t hem spends on t he following act ivit ies: incom e
generating activity (working at the office or shop or factory
Patriarchy: Literally, or field, etc.), household related activity (cooking, cleaning,
rule by father, this washing, fetching water, looking after children or elders, etc.),
concept is used to reading and recreat ion, t alking/ gossiping, self- care, t aking rest
refer to a system that or sleeping. I f necessary m ake new categories. Add up the tim e
values men more and taken on each activity for a week and calculate the daily average
gives them power for each activity for each m em ber. Do wom en work m ore in your
over women. fam ily as well?

32 2024-25
 look at school results, girls perform  The Equal Remuneration Act,
Mum m y always
as well as boys, if not better in 1976 provides that equal wages
says t o out siders:
some places. But they drop out should be paid to equal work.
“ I don’t work. I
because parents prefer to spend their However in almost all areas of
am a housewife.”
resources for their boys’ education work, from sports and cinema, to
But I see her
factories and fields, women are paid
rather than spending equally on their working non- st op
less than men, even when both do
sons and daughters. all t he t im e. I f
exactly the same work. what she does is
 No wonder the proportion of
 In many parts of India, parents not work, what
women among the highly paid and prefer to have sons and find ways to else is work?
valued jobs, is still very small. On have the girl child aborted before
an average, an Indian woman works she is born. Such sex-selective
one hour more than an average man abortion led to a decline in child sex
every day. Yet much of her work ratio (number of girl children per
is not paid and therefore, often thousand boys) in the country to
not valued. merely 919. As the map shows, this

Can you identify

your State on this
map? What is the
child sex ratio in
it? How is it
different from
others with a
different colour?

Identify the States

which have child
sex ratio below
900.

Compare this map

with the poster
on the next page.
How do the two of

Gender, Religion and Caste

them tell us about
the same issue?
Source: Census Report of 2011

2024-25 33
 even within their own home from
beating, harassment and other forms
of domestic violence.
Women’s political
representation
All this is well known. Yet issues
related to women’s well being or
otherwise are not given adequate
attention. This has led many
feminists and women’s movements
to the conclusion that unless women
control power, their problems will
not get adequate attention. One way
to ensure this is to have more women
© Oxfam GB

as elected representatives.
In India, the proportion of
women in legislature has been very
ratio has fallen below 850 or even low. For example, the percentage
800 in some States. of elected women members in Lok
There are reports of various Sabha has touched 14.36 per cent of
kinds of harassment, exploitation its total strength for the first time
and violence against women. Urban in 2019. Their share in the state
areas have become particularly assemblies is less than 5 per cent.
unsafe for women. They are not safe In this respect, India is among the

Women in national parliaments in different

regions of the world (in%)

World
45
Average
40 42.3

35
24
30
D e m o c ra t i c Po l i t i c s

25 29.5
26.4
20 23.7

Could you think of some 15 19.8

18.6
reasons why women’s 10 15.6
representation is so 11.8
low in India? Do you 5
think Americas and 0
Nordic Arab Pacific
Europe have achieved countries
Americas Europe Sub-
Saharan Africa
Asia
States
India

a satisfactory level of
women’s representation? Region
Note: Figures are for the per cent of women in the directly elected houses of parliament as on 1 October
2018.
Source: [Link]

34 2024-25
bottom group of nations in the similar reservation of at least one-
world (see the graph below). India third of seats in Lok Sabha and
is behind the averages for several State Assemblies for women. A
developing countries of Africa and bill with this proposal was pending
Latin America. In the government, before the Parliament for many
cabinets are largely all-male even decades. In 2023, Nari shakti Vandan
when a woman becomes the Chief Adhiniyam (Womens’ Reservation
Minister or the Prime Minister. Act, 2023) has been passed which
will give 33 percent reservation of I f cast eism and
One way to solve this problem is
seats for women in Lok Sabha, State com m unalism
to make it legally binding to have a fair
Legislative Assemblies and also Delhi are bad, what
proportion of women in the elected Assembly. m akes fem inism
bodies. This is what the Panchayati a good t hing?
Gender division is an example
Raj has done in India. One-third of Why don’t we
that some form of social division
seats in local government bodies – in oppose all t hose
needs to be expressed in politics. This who divide t he
panchayats and municipalities – are
also shows that disadvantaged groups societ y on any
now reserved for women. Now there
do benefit when social divisions lines – cast e,
are more than 10 lakh elected women
become a political issue. Do you religion or
representatives in rural and urban think that women could have made gender?
local bodies. the gains we noted above if their
Women’s organizations and unequal treatment was not raised in
activists had been demanding a the political domain?

Gender, Religion and Caste

2024-25 35
 Religion, communalism and politics
Let us now turn to a very different and politics. But they do not
kind of social division, the division seem very wrong or dangerous.
based on religious differences. Ideas, ideals and values drawn
This division is not as universal from different religions can and
as gender, but religious diversity perhaps should play a role in
is fairly widespread in the world politics. People should be able
today. Many countries including to express in politics their needs,
India have in their population, interests and demands as a member
followers of different religions. As of a religious community. Those
we noticed in the case of Northern who hold political power should
Ireland, even when most of the sometimes be able to regulate the
people belong to the same religion, practice of religion so as to prevent
there can be serious differences discrimination and oppression.
about the way people practice that These political acts are not wrong
as long as they treat every religion
religion. Unlike gender differences,
equally.
the religious differences are often
expressed in the field of politics. Communalism
Consider the following: The problem begins when religion
 Gandhiji used to say that is seen as the basis of the nation.
religion can never be separated The example of Northern Ireland
from politics. What he meant by in Chapter 3 shows the dangers of
religion was not any particular such an approach to nationalism.
religion like Hinduism or Islam The problem becomes more acute
but moral values that inform all when religion is expressed in
religions. He believed that politics politics in exclusive and partisan
terms, when one religion and
must be guided by ethics drawn
its followers are pitted against
from religion.
another. This happens when beliefs
 Human rights groups in our of one religion are presented as
country have demanded that the superior to those of other religions,
Government should take special when the demands of one religious
steps to prevent communal riots
D e m o c ra t i c Po l i t i c s

group are formed in opposition to

and protect religious minorities. another and when state power is
 Women’s movement has argued used to establish domination of one
that family laws of all religions religious group over the rest. This
I am not
discriminate against women. manner of using religion in politics
religious. So they have demanded that is communal politics.
Why should I government should change these Communal politics is based
bot her about laws to make them more equitable. on the idea that religion is the
com m unalism All these instances involve principal basis of social community.
and secularism ? a relationship between religion Communalism involves thinking
36 2024-25
along the following lines. The that we often fail to notice it, even
I oft en crack
followers of a particular religion when we believe in it.
j okes about
must belong to one community.  A communal mind often leads to a people from one
Their fundamental interests are quest for political dominance of one’s religion. Does
the same. Any difference that they own religious community. For those t hat m ake m e
may have is irrelevant or trivial belonging to majority community, com m unal?
for community life. It also follows this takes the form of majoritarian
that people who follow different dominance. For those belonging
religions cannot belong to the same to the minority community, it can
social community. If the followers take the form of a desire to form a
of different religions have some separate political unit.
commonalities these are superficial  Political mobilisation on
and immaterial, their interests are religious lines is another frequent
bound to be different and involve form of communalism. This involves
a conflict. In its extreme form, the use of sacred symbols, religious
communalism leads to the belief leaders, emotional appeal and plain
that people belonging to different fear in order to bring the followers
religions cannot live as equal citizens of one religion together in the
within one nation. Either, one of political arena. In electoral politics,
them has to dominate the rest or this often involves special appeal to
they have to form different nations. the interests or emotions of voters of
This belief is fundamentally one religion in preference to others.
flawed. People of one religion  Sometimes communalism takes
do not have the same interests its most ugly form of communal
and aspirations in every context. violence, riots and massacre. India
Everyone has several other roles, and Pakistan suffered some of the
positions and identities. There worst communal riots at the time of
are many voices inside every the Partition. The post-Independence
community. All these voices have period has also seen large scale
a right to be heard. Therefore any communal violence.

Gender, Religion and Caste

attempt to bring all followers of one
Secular state
religion together in context other
Communalism was and continues
than religion is bound to suppress
to be one of the major challenges
many voices within that community.
to democracy in our country. The
Communalism can take various Family laws: Those
makers of our Constitution were
forms in politics: laws that deal with
aware of this challenge. That is why,
family related matters
 The most common expression they chose the model of a secular such as marriage,
of communalism is in everyday state. This choice was reflected in divorce, adoption,
beliefs. These routinely involve several constitutional provisions that inheritance, etc.
religious prejudices, stereotypes of we studied last year: In our country,
religious communities and belief in  There is no official religion for different family laws
the superiority of one’s religion over the Indian state. Unlike the status of apply to followers of
other religions. This is so common Buddhism in Sri Lanka, that of Islam different religions.

2024-25 37
 in Pakistan and that of Christianity in Caste inequalities
England, our Constitution does not Unlike gender and religion, caste
give a special status to any religion. division is special to India. All societies
 The Constitution provides to have some kind of social inequality
all individuals and communities and some form of division of labour.
freedom to profess, practice and In most societies, occupations are
propagate any religion, or not to passed on from one generation to
follow any. another. Caste system is an extreme
 The Constitution prohibits form of this. What makes it different
discrimination on grounds of from other societies is that in this
religion. system, hereditary occupational
division was sanctioned by rituals.
 At the same time, the Constitution
Members of the same caste group
allows the state to intervene in
were supposed to form a social
the matters of religion in order to community that practiced the same
ensure equality within religious or similar occupation, married
communities. For example, it bans within the caste group and did
untouchability. not eat with members from other
Understood in this sense, caste groups.
secularism is not just an ideology of Caste system was based on
some parties or persons. This idea exclusion of and discrimination
constitutes one of the foundations against the ‘outcaste’ groups. They
of our country. Communalism were subjected to the inhuman
should not be seen as a threat to practice of untouchability about
some people in India. It threatens which you have studied in Class
the very idea of India. That is why IX. That is why political leaders
communalism needs to be combated. and social reformers like Jotiba
A secular Constitution like ours Phule, Gandhiji, B.R. Ambedkar
is necessary but not sufficient to and Periyar Ramaswami Naicker
combat communalism. Communal advocated and worked to establish
prejudices and propaganda need to a society in which caste inequalities
be countered in everyday life and are absent.
religion- based mobilisation needs to Partly due to their efforts and
be countered in the arena of politics. partly due to other socio-economic
D e m o c ra t i c Po l i t i c s

changes, castes and caste system

in modern India have undergone
Caste and politics great changes. With economic
We have seen two instances of the development, large scale
expression of social divisions in the urbanisation, growth of literacy and
arena of politics, one largely positive education, occupational mobility
and the other largely negative. Let us and the weakening of the position
turn to our final case, that of caste of landlords in the villages, the old
and politics, that has both positive notions of caste hierarchy are
and the negative aspects. breaking down. Now, most of the
38 2024-25
Social and Religious Diversit y of I ndia
The Census of I ndia records t he religion of each and every I ndian aft er every t en years.
The person who fills the Census form visits every household and records the religion of
each m em ber of t hat household exact ly t he way each person describes it . I f som eone
says she has ‘no religion’ or t hat he is an ‘at heist ’, t his is exact ly how it is recorded.
Thus we have reliable information on the proportion of different religious communities
in t he count ry and how it has changed over t he years. The pie chart below present s
t he populat ion proport ion of six m aj or religious com m unit ies in t he count ry. Since
I ndependence, t he t ot al populat ion of each com m unit y has increased subst ant ially but
t heir proport ion in t he count ry’s populat ion has not changed m uch. I n percent age t erm s,
t he populat ion of t he Hindus, Jains and Christ ians has declined m arginally since 1961.
The proport ion of Muslim , Sikh and Buddhist populat ion has increased slight ly. There is
a com m on but m ist aken im pression t hat t he proport ion of t he Muslim s in t he count ry’s
populat ion is going t o overt ake ot her religious com m unit ies. Expert est im at es done for
the Prime Minister’s High Level Committee (popularly known as Sachar Committee)
show t hat t he proport ion of t he Muslim s is expect ed t o go up a lit t le, by about 3 t o 4
per cent , in t he next 50 years. I t proves t hat in overall t erm s, t he populat ion balance
of different religious communities is not likely to change in a big way.
The sam e is t rue of t he m aj or cast e groups. The Census of I ndia count s t wo social
groups: t he Scheduled Cast es and t he Scheduled Tribes. Bot h t hese broad groups
include hundreds of castes or tribes whose names are listed in an official Schedule.
Hence the prefix ‘Scheduled’ in their name. The Scheduled Castes, commonly known
as Dalit s, include t hose t hat were previously regarded as ‘out cast e’ in t he Hindu social
order and were subj ect ed t o exclusion and unt ouchabilit y. The Scheduled Tribes, oft en
referred t o as Adivasis, include t hose com m unit ies t hat led a secluded life usually in hills
and forest s and did not int eract m uch wit h t he rest of societ y. I n 2011, t he Scheduled
Cast es were 16.6 per cent and t he
Scheduled Tribes were 8.6 per cent Population of different religious
of t he count ry’s populat ion. communities in India, 2011

Gender, Religion and Caste

The Census does not yet count t he
Ot her Backward Classes, t he group Hindu
we discussed in Class I X. Hence t here 79.8
ar e som e d if f er en ces ab ou t t h eir
proport ion in t he count ry’s populat ion. In % Muslim
Th e N a t i o n a l Sa m p l e Su r v e y o f 14.2
2004–05 est im at es t heir populat ion
t o be around 41 per cent . Thus t he
SC, ST and t he OBC t oget her account Others 2%
for about t wo- t hirds of t he count ry’s Others include Buddhist 0.7% Jain 0.4% Christian 2.3
populat ion and about t hree- fourt hs of Other Religions and Persuasions 0.7%
Sikh 1.7
Religion not stated 0.2%
t he Hindu populat ion.
Source: Census of India, 2011

2024-25 39
 naturally lagged behind. That is why
I don’t care what Now you don’t like
m y cast e is. Why
there is a disproportionately large
it ! Didn’t you t ell
are we discussing presence of ‘upper caste’ among
m e t hat wherever
all t his in t he t here is dom inat ion,
the urban middle classes in our
t ext book? Are we we should discuss it country. Caste continues to be
not prom ot ing in Polit ical Science? closely linked to economic status.
cast eism by Will cast e disappear (See Plus Box on Page 41.)
t alking about if we keep m um
cast e?
Caste in politics
about it ?
As in the case of communalism,
casteism is rooted in the belief
that caste is the sole basis of social
community. According to this way
of thinking, people belonging to
the same caste belong to a natural
social community and have the
same interests which they do not
times, in urban areas it does not share with anyone from another
matter much who is walking along caste. As we saw in the case of
next to us on a street or eating at communalism, such a belief is not
the next table in a restaurant. The borne out by our experience. Caste
Constitution of India prohibited any is one aspect of our experience but it
caste-based discrimination and laid is not the only relevant or the most
the foundations of policies to reverse important aspect.
the injustices of the caste system. If
Caste can take various forms
a person who lived a century ago
in politics:
were to return to India, she would
be greatly surprised at the change  When parties choose candidates
Urbanisation: Shift that has come about in the country. in elections, they keep in mind the
of population from caste composition of the electorate
rural areas to urban Yet caste has not disappeared
and nominate candidates from
areas. from contemporary India. Some
different castes so as to muster
Occupational of the older aspects of caste have
necessary support to win elections.
mobility: Shift from persisted. Even now most people
When governments are formed,
one occupation to marry within their own caste or
political parties usually take care that
another, usually tribe. Untouchability has not ended
when a new representatives of different castes and
D e m o c ra t i c Po l i t i c s

completely, despite constitutional

generation takes up tribes find a place in it.
prohibition. Effects of centuries
occupations other of advantages and disadvantages  Political parties and candidates
than those practiced in elections make appeals to caste
continue to be felt today. The caste
by their ancestors. sentiment to muster support. Some
groups that had access to education
Caste hierarchy: A political parties are known to favour
ladder-like formation under the old system have done very
well in acquiring modern education some castes and are seen as their
in which all the caste
as well. Those groups that did not representatives.
groups are placed
from the ‘highest’ to have access to education or were  Universal adult franchise and
the ‘lowest’ castes. prohibited from acquiring it have the principle of one-person-one-vote

40 2024-25
Cast e inequalit y t oday
Cast e is an im port ant source of econom ic inequalit y because it regulat es
access t o resources of various kinds. For exam ple, in t he past , t he so- called
‘unt ouchable’ cast es were denied t he right t o own land, while only t he so- called
‘t wice born’ cast es had t he right t o educat ion. Alt hough t his kind of explicit and
formalised inequality based on caste is now outlawed, the effects of centuries of
accum ulat ed advant ages and disadvant ages cont inue t o be felt . Moreover, new
kinds of inequalit ies have also developed.
The relat ionship bet ween cast e and econom ic st at us has cert ainly changed a
lot. Today, it is possible to find very rich and very poor people in every caste,
whet her ‘low’ or ‘high’. This was not t rue even t went y or t hirt y years ago – it
was very rare indeed to find rich people among the ‘lowest’ castes. However,
as t his evidence from t he Nat ional Sam ple Survey shows, cast e cont inues t o be
very st rongly linked t o econom ic st at us in m any im port ant ways:
 The average econom ic st at us ( m easured by crit eria like m ont hly
consumption expenditure) of caste groups still follows the old hierarchy –
the ‘upper’ castes are best off, the Dalit s and Adivasis are worst off, and the
backward classes are in bet ween.
 Alt hough every cast e has som e poor m em bers, t he proport ion living in
extreme poverty (below the official ‘poverty line’) is much higher for the lowest
cast es and m uch lower for t he upper cast es, wit h t he backward classes once
again in bet ween.
 Alt hough every cast e has som e m em bers who are rich, t he upper cast es are
heavily over- represent ed am ong t he rich while t he lower cast es are severely
under- represent ed.
Percentage of population living below the poverty line, 1999–—
—– 2000
Caste and Community groups Rural Urban
Scheduled Tribes 45.8 35.6

Gender, Religion and Caste

Scheduled Castes 35.9 38.3
Other Backward Classes 27.0 29.5
Muslim Upper Castes 26.8 34.2
Hindu Upper Castes 11.7 9.9
Christian Upper Castes 9.6 5.4
Sikh Upper Castes 0.0 4.9
Other Upper Castes 16.0 2.7
All Groups 27.0 23.4
Note: ‘Upper Caste’ here means those who are not from SC, ST, or OBC. Below the poverty line
means those who spent `327 or less per person per month in rural and `454 or less per person per
month in urban areas.
Source: National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), Government of India, 55th Round, 1999–2000

2024-25 41
 compelled political leaders to gear up the voters from that caste vote for
to the task of mobilising and securing that party.
political support. It also brought new  Many political parties may put
consciousness among the people of up candidates from the same caste
castes that were hitherto treated as (if that caste is believed to dominate
inferior and low. the electorate in a particular
The focus on caste in politics constituency). Some voters have
can sometimes give an impression more than one candidate from their
that elections are all about caste and caste while many voters have no
nothing else. That is far from true. candidate from their caste.
Just consider these:  The ruling party and the sitting
 No parliamentary constituency MP or MLA frequently lose elections
in the country has a clear majority in our country. That could not
of one single caste. So, every have happened if all castes and
candidate and party needs to win the communities were frozen in their
confidence of more than one caste political preferences.
and community to win elections. Clearly, while caste matters in
 No party wins the votes of all electoral politics, so do many other
the voters of a caste or community. factors. The voters have strong
When people say that a caste is a attachment to political parties which
‘vote bank’ of one party, it usually is often stronger than their attachment
means that a large proportion of to their caste or community. People
within the same caste or community
have different interests depending
on their economic condition. Rich
and poor or men and women from
the same caste often vote very
differently. People’s assessment of
the performance of the government
and the popularity rating of the
© Ajith Ninan - India Today Book of Cartoons

leaders matter and are often decisive

in elections.
Politics in caste
We have so far looked at what caste
D e m o c ra t i c Po l i t i c s

does to politics. But it does not mean

that there is only a one-way relation
between caste and politics. Politics
too influences the caste system and
caste identities by bringing them
into the political arena. Thus, it is
Do you think that political leaders are right to treat people belonging to a
not politics that gets caste-ridden, it
caste as ‘vote banks’?

42 2024-25
is the caste that gets politicised. This power. In this sense, caste politics
takes several forms: has helped people from Dalits and
 Each caste group tries to become OBC castes to gain better access to
bigger by incorporating within it decision making. Several political
neighbouring castes or sub-castes and non-political organisations have
which were earlier excluded from it. been demanding and agitating for
an end to discrimination against
 Various caste groups are required
particular castes, for more dignity
to enter into a coalition with other
and more access to land, resources
castes or communities and thus enter
and opportunities.
into a dialogue and negotiation.
At the same time, exclusive
 New kinds of caste groups
attention to caste can produce
have come up in the political arena negative results as well. As in the
like ‘backward’ and ‘forward’ case of religion, politics based on
caste groups. caste identity alone is not very
Thus, caste plays different healthy in a democracy. It can
kinds of roles in politics. In some divert attention from other pressing
situations, expression of caste issues like poverty, development
differences in politics gives many and corruption. In some cases, caste
disadvantaged communities the division leads to tensions, conflict
space to demand their share of and even violence.

Gender, Religion and Caste

2024-25 43
 1. Mention different aspects of life in which women are discriminated or
disadvant aged in I ndia.
2. State different forms of communal politics with one example each.
3. St at e how cast e inequalit ies are st ill cont inuing in I ndia.
4. St at e t wo reasons t o say t hat cast e alone cannot det erm ine elect ion
result s in I ndia.
5. What is t he st at us of wom en’s represent at ion in I ndia’s legislat ive
bodies?
6. Ment ion any t wo const it ut ional provisions t hat m ake I ndia a secular
st at e.
Exercises
7. When we speak of gender divisions, we usually refer t o:
(a) Biological difference between men and women
(b) Unequal roles assigned by the society to men and women
(c) Unequal child sex ratio
(d) Absence of voting rights for women in democracies
8. I n I ndia seat s are reserved for wom en in
(a) Lok Sabha
(b) State legislative assemblies
(c) Cabinets
(d) Panchayati Raj bodies
9. Consider t he following st at em ent s on t he m eaning of com m unal
polit ics. Com m unal polit ics is based on t he belief t hat :
A. One religion is superior t o t hat of ot hers.
B. People belonging to different religions can live together happily as
equal cit izens.
C. Followers of a part icular religion const it ut e one com m unit y.
D. St at e power cannot be used t o est ablish t he dom inat ion of one
religious group over ot hers.
Which of t he st at em ent s are correct ?
(a) A, B, C, and D (b) A, B, and D (c) A and C (d) B and D
10. Which am ong t he following st at em ent s about I ndia’s Const it ut ion is
wrong? I t
D e m o c ra t i c Po l i t i c s

(a) prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.

(b) gives official status to one religion.
(c) provides to all individuals freedom to profess any religion.
(d) ensures equality of citizens within religious communities.
11. Social divisions based on _________ are peculiar t o I ndia.

44 2024-25
12. Mat ch List I wit h List I I and select t he correct answer using t he
codes given below t he List s:
List I List I I
1. A person who believes in equal right s and
opport unit ies for wom en and m en A. Com m unalist
2. A person who says t hat religion is t he
principal basis of com m unit y B. Fem inist
3. A person who t hinks t hat cast e is t he
principal basis of com m unit y C. Secularist
4. A person who does not discrim inat e ot hers
on t he basis of religious beliefs D. Cast iest

Exercises
1 2 3 4
(a) B C A D
(b) B A D C
(c) D C A B
(d) C A B D

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