Chapter:3 Gender,Religion and Caste

Grade:X

1. Who said, "Religion can never be separated from politics"?

Ans. Gandhiji

2. How is politics mobilised on religious lines?

Ans. Sacred religious symbols, leaders, emotional appeal, plain fear etc are used to mobilise
politics on religious lines.

3. What is a secular state?

Ans. A secular state does not promote any religion and provides the right to its citizens to
practice and preach any religion of their choice.

4.Suggest any one way to create communal harmony among various communities of India.
[CBSE 2020]

Ans. By respecting others faith, religion.

5. State any four provisions of the Indian Constitution which makes it a secular state.
Or

"Secularism is not an ideology of some political parties or persons, but it is one of the
foundations of our country." Examine the statement.

Ans. (a) India has no official religion. Unlike the status of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Islam in
Pakistan and Hinduism in Nepal, our Constitution does not give a special status to any religion.

(b) Under the Right to Freedom of Religion, our Constitution provides freedom to all the citizens
to profess, practice and propagate any religion, or not to follow any. Cultural and Educational
Right prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.

(c) The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.

(d) The Constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion in order to ensure
equality within religious communities. Untouchability has also been banned.

6. Discuss different considerations about religion and politics.

Or
Examine the relationship between religion and politics.
Ans. The relationship between religion and politics is very much guided by religious differences
in the country. Moreover, we have different consideration about religion and politics.

(a) Gandhiji's view regarding Religion and Politics: Gandhiji was of the view that religion cannot
be separated from politics. According to him, politics must be guided by values drawn from
every religion. Here, Gandhiji didn't mean by religion as any other religion like Islam or
Christianity, but ethical values that are inherent in every religion.

(b) Humanist on Religion and Politics: Humanist of the Human Rights group believed that
politics of political power must be used to protect religious minorities because in our country the
victims of communal riots are from various minority groups.

(c) Women's movement on religion and politics: Women's movements have argued that it is the
family law of every religion which discriminates against women. So government should modify
these laws in a more equitable manner.

(d) All these instances involve a relationship between religion and politics, Sometimes those
who hold political power should be able to regulate the practice of religion so as to prevent
discrimination and oppression.

(e) But these political acts are not wrong as long as they treat every religion equally.

7. Define communalism as ideology.Explain the forms of communalism in politics.

OR
How does communalism take various forms in politics? Explain any five. [CBSE 2016]

Ans. Communal politics is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of social
community. It can take various forms in politics:

(a) Communalism in every day beliefs: The most common expression of communalism is in
everyday beliefs, These routinely involve religious prejudices, stereotypes of religious
communities and belief in the superiority of one's religion over other religions.

(b) Communalism as Majoritarian Dominance and Political Dominance: A communal mind often
leads to a quest for political dominance of one's own religious community. For those belonging
to majority community, this takes the form of majoritarian dominance. For those belonging to the
minority community, it can take the form of a desire to form a separate political unit.

(c) Communalism as Political Mobilisation: Political mobilisation on religious lines is another

frequent form of communalism. This involves the use of sacred symbols, religious leaders,
emotional appeal and plain fear in order to bring the followers of one religion together in the
political arena.
(d) Communalism in the Form of Communal Violence: Sometimes communalism takes its most
ugly form of commual violence, riots, and massacre. For instance, India and Pakistan suffered
some of the worst communal riots at the time of Partition in 1947.

(e) To sum up, 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.