I C S Coaching Centre,

State Bank Wali Gali, Railway Road, Sonepat Ph. No.9812009696

Gender, Religion and Caste
FACTS THAT MATTER
Gender and Politics
• Gender division is a form of hierarchical social division but rarely recognised in politics
study.
• In our societies, sexual division of labour is widespread. Boys and girls are brought up to
believe that the main responsibility of women is housework and bringing up children. On
the other hand, men are expected to do all the work outside home.
• Women in different parts of the world organised and agitated for equal rights and voting
rights for women. They also demanded enhancement in the political and legal status of
women and improvement in their educational and career opportunities.
• Feminist movements aimed at equality in personal and family life as well. These
movements improved women's role and status in public life. In countries like Sweden,
Norway and Finland, the participation of women in public life is very high.
• In our country, women still lag much 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 oppression in many ways.
• The literacy rate among women is still lower than men. Women still have a small share
in the highly paid jobs. They are exported and harassed at the workplace as well as at
home.
Women's Political Representation
• In India, women's participation in the political area is very low. The women strength in
the Lok Sabha is not even 10%. Their share in state assemblies is less than 5%.
• In the panchayats and municipalities it is legally binding to fill one-third of the seats by
women candidates. This has resulted in 10 lakh elected women representatives in the
local government bodies.
Religion, Communalism and Politics
• Religious differences may not be as universal as gender division but fairly widespread in
the world. In India people follow different religions. Religious differences are often
expressed in politics.
• Gandhiji believed that religion can never be separated from politics. He was of the
opinion that politics must be guided by ethics drawn from all religions.

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 I C S Coaching Centre,
State Bank Wali Gali, Railway Road, Sonepat Ph. No.9812009696
• Human rights groups have demanded that the government take special steps to protect
religious minorities as they are mostly victims of communal riots in our country.
• Women's movement has argued that family laws of all religions discriminate against
women. These instances show deep rooted relationships between religions and politics.
Communalism
• Communal politics is very dangerous. It is based on the idea that religion is the principal
basis of social community. Communalism is based on ideology that the followers of a
particular religion must belong to one community. It is believed that people who follow
different religions cannot belong to same social community.
• In its extreme form communalism leads to the belief that the people belonging to
different religions cannot live as equal citizens in one nation. The superior religious
group is expected to rule the nation or it ends in disintegration of the nation.
• Communalism can take various forms in politics. Stereo types of religious communities
and belief in the superiority of one's religion over other religions, the desire to form a
majoritarian dominance or a separate state, and lastly, the use of religious symbols and
leaders in politics to appeal to the voters, and communal violence, riots and massacre.
Secular state
• The Constitution chose the model of a secular state. There is no official religion for the
Indian state. The Constitution provide freedom to profess, practice and propage any
religion. It prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion. It bans untouchability.
Caste and Politics
• Caste and politics have both positive and negative aspects.
Caste Inequalities
• All societies have some kind of social inequality and some form of division of labour.
Caste system was based on exclusion of and discrimination against the 'outcaste' groups.
They were subjected to inhuman practice of untouchability. But in modern India, caste
system has undergone great changes. The old notions of caste hierarchy are breaking
down.
• Despite constitutional prohibition, untouchability has not ended completely. Education
is not easily available to the so called 'low castes'. Caste continues to be closely linked to
economic status.
Caste in Politics

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 I C S Coaching Centre,
State Bank Wali Gali, Railway Road, Sonepat Ph. No.9812009696
• Casteism is rooted in the belief that caste is the sole basis of social community. Caste is
one aspect of our experience but it is not the only relevant or the most important
aspect.
• Caste can take various forms in politics. 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. Political parties
and candidates in elections make appeals to caste sentiment to muster up support.
• Universal adult franchise and the principal of one-person-one-vote compelled political
leaders to gear up to the task of mobilising and securing political support.
• No parliamentary constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste. No
party can win the votes of all the voters of a caste or community.
• Many political parties may put up candidates from the same caste. The ruling party and
the sitting MP or MLA frequently lose elections in our country.
• Politics in caste
• Politics influences caste system and caste identities by bringing them into the political
arena.There are several forms by which caste gets politicised.
• Each caste group tries to maximise its size by incorporating neighbouring castes and sub-
castes to show their might and strength. Different caste groups are required to enter
into coalition with other castes or communities and thus enter into a dialogue and
negotiations. New kinds of caste groups have come up in political arena, like backward
and forward caste groups.
• It gives disadvantaged communities like Dalits and OBCs the space to demand their
share of power.
• It is experienced that politics based on caste identity alone is not healthy in a
democracy. It can lead to a situation of social conflict, tension, violence or even civil war
in the country.
Social and Religious Diversity of India
• The Schedule Castes (Dalits) were previously regarded as 'outcaste' in the Hindu social
order and were subjected to exclusion and untouchability. The Schedule Tribes
(Adivasis) led a secluded life usually in hills and forests.
• The SCs, STs and the OBCs together account for about two-thirds of the country's
population and about three-fourths of the Hindu population.

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 I C S Coaching Centre,
State Bank Wali Gali, Railway Road, Sonepat Ph. No.9812009696
Caste inequality today
• Caste is an important source of economic inequality because it regulates access to
resource of various kinds. It continues to be very strongly linked to economic status in
many ways.
FLOW-LEARNING

WORDS THAT MATTER

• Sex ratio: Number of females per 1000 males in a country in a given period of time. •
• Sexual division of labour: A system in which all work inside the home is either done
by the women of the family or organised by them through the labour of domestic
workers.
• Secular state: State that provides equal status to all religions.
• Communal politics: The use of religion for political purpose where one religion is shown
as superior to the other religions.
• Communalism: To promote religious ideas between groups of people which can lead to
extreme behaviour or violence towards others.
• Feminism: Concerned with the empowerment of women and giving women equal status
in the society as men.
• Urbanisation: Shift of population from rural areas to urban areas.
• Feminist: A person who believes in equal rights and opportunities for all human beings.
• Patriarchy: Literally, rule by father, a system that values men more and gives them
power over women.

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 I C S Coaching Centre,
State Bank Wali Gali, Railway Road, Sonepat Ph. No.9812009696
• Occupational mobility: Shift from one occupation to another, usually when a new
generation takes up occupations other than those practiced by ancestors.
• Family laws: Those laws that deal with family related matters such as marriage, divorce,
adoption, inheritance, etc.

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