Gender,Religion And Caste - Class 10 Political Science - Extra Questions

Social divisions based on _________ are peculiar to India.

Social divisions based on caste are peculiar to India.


How is the caste of a person determined in India?

Caste is determined by birth- a child is "born into" the caste of his parents. Caste is never a matter of choice. One can never change one's caste, leave it, or choose not to join it, although there are instances where a paerson maybe expelled from their caste.


State how caste inequalities are still continuing in India.

Caste has not disappeared from contemporary India.

  •  Even now most people marry within their own caste or tribe.
  •  Untouchability has not ended completely despite constitutional prohibition.
  •  Effects of centuries of advantages and disadvantages continue to be felt today, e.g., Caste continues to be closely linked to economic status.


State different forms of communal politics with one example each.

Different forms of communal politics:

  •  The expression of communal superiority in everyday beliefs Militant religious groups are a good example of this.
  • The desire to form a majoritarian dominance or a separate state Separatist leaders and political parties in Jammu and Kashmir and Central India are an example of this.
  • The use of religious symbols and leaders in politics to appeal to the voters This technique is applied by many politicians to influence voters from the two largest religious communities in the country.
  •  In addition to all this, communal politics can take the form of communal violence and riots, like the riots in Gujarat in 2002.


State two reasons to say that caste alone cannot determine election results in India.

Caste alone cannot determine election results in India because:

  • No parliamentary constituency has a clear majority of one single caste.
  • No party wins all the votes of a particular caste.


What is the status of women's representation in India's legislative bodies?

When it comes to representation of women in legislative bodies, India is among the bottom group of nations in the world. Women's representation has always been less than 15% in Lok Sabha.
On the other hand, the situation is different in the case of local government bodies. As one-third of seats in local government bodies (panchayats and municipalities) is reserved for women, there are more than 10 lakh elected women representatives in rural and urban local bodies.



Mention any two constitutional provisions that make India a secular state.

Two constitutional provisions that make India a secular state are:

  •  Freedom to practice, profess and propagate the religion of one’s choice.
  •  The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.


Which great leader did Tarabai Shinde's family follow?

Tarabai Shinde came from a family residing at Buldhana in Vidarbha. Her family belonged to the Satya Shodhak ideology and was a follower of Mahatma Phule.


Highlight the impact of communalism in democratic politics.

Communalism is affecting the Indian politics in the following ways:

  • Organisation of Political parties on Communal Basis:In India, many political parties have been organized on communal basis. The Muslim League, the Hindu Maha Sabha, the DMK, the Akali Dal are organised on religious basis. Political leaders also encourage communalism to get votes at the time of elections.
  • Selection of Candidates for Elections: Political parties, while selecting candidates for the election, give great importance to communalism. A candidate belonging to the majority community in that constituency is given ticket of the party.
  • Voting on Communal Basis: Voters generally vote on communal lines. Besides, communal riots often break out in many parts of the country. After getting elected, the representatives try to safeguard the interests of their community and ignore national interests. These conditions hinder the progress of democracy in the country.


Communalism is harmful to nation's progress. How?

Communalism is harmful to a nation due to the following consequences:
(i) It splits the society on the basis of religion.
(ii) It creates threat in the society.
(iii) It affects national integrity.
(iv) It leads to social unrest.
(v) It ruins life and property.


Define simple division of labour.

  • When the production is split up into different parts and many workers come together to complete the work, but the contribution of each worker cannot be known, it is called the simple division of labour.
  • Not much skill is required. Example is carpenter



Name two persons who undertook efforts to abolish the caste system in India.

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Raja Ram Mohan Roy undertook the efforts to abolish the caste system in India.


Mention two different kinds of inequalities that exist in our country. Give examples.

Two different kinds of inequalities that exist I our country are - inequalities based on the caste system and that based on the religion.
Omprakash Valmiki was treated extremely unequally because he was a dalit. In school, his headmaster made him sweep the school and the playground. The Ansaris were treated unequally on the basis differences of religion. They were looking to rent an apartment in the city. They were about to take an apartment at the first sight. But the moment the land lady knew their names she declined to rent the house.


Why was Samir Do tense?

Samir Do was tense because riots had broken out in Meerut, where his family lived.


"Caste inequalities are still prevalent in India." Examine the statement. 

Caste inequalities have not completely disappeared from India. Even today, most people marry within their own caste or tribe. Despite constitutional prohibition, Untouchability has not ended completely. Education is not easily available to the so called 'low castes'. Economic status is closely linked to the caste system. In modern India, like in pre-independent India, the poor are mostly the 'low castes' while the rich are the 'high castes', thereby showing that caste inequalities are still continuing in India. 


Religious processions and celebrations can sometimes lead to ______.

conflicts


What percentage of reservation is given to women in local administration in India ?

33% reservation is provided to women in local administration in India. 


How does politics affect caste system? Give its positive and negative effects.

Politics influences the caste system and caste identities by bringing them into the political arena. Thus, it is not politics that gets caste-ridden, it is the caste that gets politicized. This takes several forms: 
i) Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it neighbouring castes or sub-castes which were earlier excluded from it. 
ii) Various caste groups are required to enter into a coalition with other castes or communities and thus enter into a dialogue and negotiation. 
iii) New kinds of caste groups have come up in the political arena like ‘backward’ and ‘forward’ caste groups. 

Thus, caste plays different kinds of roles in politics. In some situations, expression of caste differences in politics gives many disadvantaged communities the space to demand their share of power. In this sense-caste politics has helped people from Dalits and OBC castes to gain better access to decision-making. 

At the same time, exclusive attention to caste can produce negative results as well. As in the case of religion, politics based on caste identity alone is not very healthy in a democracy. It can divert attention from other pressing issues like poverty, development, and corruption. In some cases, caste division leads to tensions, conflict and even violence.



Caste has still not disappeared from contemporary India. Explain.

Caste has not disappeared from contemporary India.
i) Even now most people marry within their own caste or tribe.
ii) Untouchability has not ended completely despite constitutional prohibition.
iii) Effects of centuries of advantages and disadvantages continue to be felt today, e.g., Caste continues to be closely linked to economic status.



What is communal politics? 
OR
When does the communal problem become acute?

Religion is used in politics in exclusive and partisan terms. This manner of using religion in politics is communal politics.
The communal problem becomes acute when:
i) Religion is seen as the basis of a nation.
ii) When one religion and its followers are discriminated against another.
iii) When people start believing that beliefs of one religion are superior to those of other religions.
iv) When demands of one religious group are formed in opposition to another.
v) When the state power is used to establish the domination of one religious group over the rest.


Describe the various methods to check the spread of communalism in India.

India is a secular nation as its preamble declares and the Constitution provides provisions for secularism. Being a diverse nation India harbours many cultures, castes, religions and since Independence, it has witnessed several communal incidents in form of clashes, conflicts and riots. The major factor that promotes communalism is the political association of religions, extremism etc.  Following methods should be adopted to check the spread of communalism
1) Political Parties that are based on religion should be banned.
2) Communal organizations must be shut down
3) Religious Places must be overlooked to prevent them from spreading hatred and communalism
4) Interreligious marriages must be encouraged.
5) People should be taught to respect one another's religion and faith by means of mass media, press, and social media.
6) Individual efforts at ground level are required to promote peace and harmony.


Explain the various forms of caste in politics.

 Caste can take the following forms in politics.
(i) When parties choose candidates in elections, they keep in mind the caste composition of the electorate and nominate candidates from different castes, so as to muster necessary support to win elections.
(ii) When government are formed, political parties usually take care that representatives of different castes and tribes find a place in it.
(iii) Political parties and candidates make appeals to caste sentiment to muster support. Some political parties are known to favour some castes and are seen as their representatives.
(iv) Universal adult franchise and the principle of one person one vote compelled political leaders to gear up to the task of mobilising and securing political support of different sections of society.


Explain the main features of communalism.

In communalism the problem begins when religion is seen as the basis of the nation. 
Communal politics is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of social community. Communalism involves thinking along the following lines. 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. It also follows that people who follow different religions cannot belong to the same social community. 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. 


Mention different aspects of life in which women are discriminated or disadvantaged in India. 

(i) Literacy rate : The literacy rate among the women is only 54 per cent as compared to 76 per cent among men. Similarly, a smaller proportion of girl student go for higher studies because parents prefer to spend their resources for their sons education than spending equally on their daughters. 
(ii) Under paid work : The proportion of women among the highly paid and valued jobs is still very small. Though on an average, the Indian woman works one hour more than an average man everyday. but most of them are not paid equally and therefore. their work is often not valued. 
(iii) 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 has led to a decline in the child sex ratio. According to the census 2011. the number of girls per thousand boys in the country is merely 927. 
(iv) Domestic violence : There are reports of various kinds of harassment. exploitation and violence against women. Both urban as well as rural areas have become unsafe for women. 


Class 10 Political Science Extra Questions