Democracy and Diversity: NCERT Solution

Read the following passage from a famous speech by Martin Luther King Jr. in
1963. Which social division is he talking about? What are his aspirations and
anxieties? Do you see a relationship between this speech and the incident in
Mexico Olympics mentioned in this chapter?
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they
will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.
Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ringwhen
we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city,
we will be able to speed up that day when all of Gods childrenblack men and
white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholicswill be able to join hands
and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God
Almighty, we are free at last! I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up
and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident:
that all men are created equal.
Anwer: Martin Luther King Jr is talking about social division based on skin colour.
His anxieties are about peoples prejudices against the blacks. He aspires for a
society in which no discrimination takes place on the basis of social division. The
incident at Mexico Olympics was also an attempt to raise the voice against
apartheid.

Answer the following questions:

Discuss three factors that determine the outcomes of politics of social divisions.
Answer: Political manifestation of social diversity depends on three factors, which
are as follows:
How people perceive their identities. If people see their identity in singular or
exclusive term, it becomes difficult to accommodate social diversity.
How political leaders raise the demands of any community.
How the government reacts to the demands of a community. If the government
accommodates the demand of a particular community in a justified way, it does
wonders for the politics.
When does a social difference become a social division?
Answer: When social difference leads to exclusionist approach among people. It

leads to social division. In case of India, the upper caste people had historically
controlled almost all the resources and had tried to exclude the dalits and lower
caste people from enjoying the benefits of economic development. This led to social
division in the country.
How do social divisions affect politics? Give two examples.
Answer: Politics of a country cannot remain untouched by social divisions. Political
parties will always try to represent some social community and would continue to
raise their voices. This results in emergence of a leader or a political group which
represents a particular social group. For example; the emergence of BSP (Bahujan
Samaj Party) happened because its founders took up the cause of the dalits.
______________ social differences create possibilities of deep social divisions and
tensions. ______________ social differences do not usually lead to conflicts.
Answer: Exclusionist, Inclusive

In dealing with social divisions which one of the following statements is NOT correct
about democracy?
Due to political competition in a democracy, social divisions get reflected in politics.
In a democracy it is possible for communities to voice their grievances in a peaceful
manner.
Democracy is the best way to accommodate social diversity.
Democracy always leads to disintegration of society on the basis of social divisions.
Answer: (d) Democracy always leads to disintegration of society on the basis of
social divisions.
Consider the following three statements.
Social divisions take place when social differences overlap.
It is possible that a person can have multiple identities.
Social divisions exist in only big countries like India.
Which of the statements is/are correct?
a. A, B and C
b. A and B
c. B and C

d. Only C
Answer: (b) A and B
Arrange the following statements in a logical sequence and select the right answers
by using the code given below.
A. But all political expression of social divisions need not be always dangerous.
B. Social divisions of one kind or the other exist in most countries.
C. Parties try to win political support by appealing to social divisions.
D. Some social differences may result in social divisions.
D, B, C, A
D, B, A, C
D, A, C, B
A, B, C, D
Answer: (a) D, B, C, A
Among the following, which country suffered disintegration due to political fights on
the basis of religious and ethnic identities?
a. Belgium
b. India
c. Yugoslavia
d. Netherlands
Answer: (c) Yugoslavia

Gender Religion and Caste

NextChapterList
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 domestic helpers.
Feminist Movements: Various movements which are aimed at ensuring equal
rights for women are called feminist movement.
Political expression of gender question helped a lot to improve womens role in
public life. Although the Indian society is still a patriarchal society, yet women are
now working in many fields.

Women face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in various ways:

a. The literacy rate among women is only 54 per cent compared with 76 per cent
among men.
b. The percentage of women in highly paid jobs is still very small. At many
workplaces, women are paid less than men for the same job. An Indian woman
usually works more hour than an average man on a daily basis.
c. Many Indian parents prefer to have a male child. A girl child is killed before her
birth in many cases. This has led to an eschewed sex ratio in India.
d. There are many reports of harassment against women; both on the domestic
front and outside the home.
Womens political representation:

The political representation of women had been very poor in the Indian
legislatures. Even in the cabinet, the number of women ministers is very low.
One-third of seats in local government bodies have been reserved for women
candidates. This has helped in increasing womens representation in panchayats
and municipalities.
A bill for providing one-third reservation in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies
has been pending in the Parliament for more than a decade. Political parties are
yet to arrive at consensus on this issue.

Women in national parliaments in diffrent

regions of the world

Religion & Politics:

Religion also plays an important role in politics. In some countries, politicians

promote the cause of the majority religious group at the cost of the minorities. This
produces a dangerous trend of majority tyranny.
Communalism: When one religion is pitted against another; by the political class,
this is called communalism or communal politics.
Communalism can take various forms in politics:

a. Many people think of their religion as superior to all other religions. Such people
often try to dominate the people from other communities. This can result in people
from the minority community to form a separate political unit.
b. Sometimes, sacred symbols, religious leaders, emotional appeal, etc. are used to
instill a sense of fear among people of a particular community. This is done with an
attempt to polarize people on communal lines.
c. Communalism can also take the ugly form of communal violence, riots and
massacre.

Percentage of Different Religions in Indian

Population (REF: census India)
Secular state
a. The Constitution of India declares that India is a secular state. Unlike some of
the neighbouring countries, there is no official religion for the Indian state.
b. The constitution gives the people the freedom to practice a religion of their
choice. The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
c. The Indian constitution, however, allows the state to intervene in the matters of
religion whenever there is a need to ensure equality within religious
communities.

Caste and politics

Social division on the lines of caste is unique to India. The caste system of the
present has evolved from the varna system which was based on occupations and
on the principle that an occupation passed from one generation to another.
Members of a particular caste usually have a sense of belonging to their own
community. Some castes are accorded a higher status compared to many other
castes.

Current Status of Caste Related Prejudice:

Due to various socio-economic changes, social division on the basis of caste

has been blurring in recent times. Economic development, large scale
urbanization, literacy, occupational mobility and weakening of the position of
landlords in villages have helped in blurring the caste-based divisions.

Caste is still an important parameter when it comes to finalizing marriages. But

in most of the other spheres of life, caste effect is apparently waning in India.

People from the upper caste had traditionally better access to the education
and hence they have done well in economic development. People from the
oppressed castes are still lagging behind in socio-economic development.

Caste in Politics
a. Most of the political parties keep the caste calculation in mind while fielding a
candidate from a particular constituency.
b. Each caste group is trying to get a bigger pie of the political power by asserting
its identity in various ways.
c. Since there are so many castes, hence various caste groups have also evolved
their own coalition to get leverage in political bargaining.
d. The caste groups can be broadly divided into backward and forward.
e. Exclusive attention to caste can produce negative results. Caste divisions often
lead to social conflict and even violence.
Caste inequality today
a. Economic inequalities exist on the basis of caste. The upper caste people are
usually well off, the backward classes come in between and the dalits and
adivasis are at the bottom.
b. The percentage of people below poverty line is much higher among the lowest
castes.
Percentage of Population Living Below Poverty Line
Caste

Rural

Urban

Scheduled tribes

45.8%

35.6%

Shceduled castes

35.9%

38.3%

Other backward castes

27%

29.3%

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%

4.9%

Other upper castes

16%

2.7%

All

27%

23.4%

REF: NSSO 55th round 1999 - 2000

Answer the following questions:

Mention different aspects of life in which women are discriminated or disadvantaged
in India.
Answer: Some of the examples of discrimination against women are as follows:
The literacy rate among women is only 54 per cent compared with 76 per cent
among men.
The percentage of women in highly paid jobs is still very small. At many workplaces,
women are paid less than men for the same job. An Indian woman usually works
more hour than an average man on a daily basis.
Many Indian parents prefer to have a male child. A girl child is killed before her birth
in many cases. This has led to an eschewed sex ratio in India.
There are many reports of harassment against women; both on the domestic front
and outside the home.
State different forms of communal politics with one example each.
Answer: Many people think of their religion as superior to all other religions. Such
people often try to dominate the people from other communities. This can result in
people from the minority community to form a separate political unit. In countries;
like Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan; a particular religion is the official religion and this
practice is propagating majority tyranny.
Sometimes, sacred symbols, religious leaders, emotional appeal, etc. are used to
instill a sense of fear among people of a particular community. This is done with an

attempt to polarize people on communal lines. Many news articles appear related to
fanning communal tension from time to time.
State how caste inequalities are still continuing in India.
Answer: Economic inequalities exist on the basis of caste. The upper caste people
are usually well off, the backward classes come in between and the dalits and
adivasis are at the bottom. The percentage of people below poverty line is much
higher among the lowest castes.
State two reasons to say that caste alone cannot determine election results in India.
Answer: If a particular constituency has a particular caste in significant number,
then most of the political parties try to field their candidate from that caste. Votes
from that caste then get divided along different political affiliations. There are many
instances when a sitting legislator loses election in spite of the caste equation in
favour of him. Most of the political parties focus on a combination of many castes
rather than on a single caste; in order to strike a winning arithmetic. These things
suggest that caste alone cannot determine election results in India.
What is the status of womens representation in Indias legislative bodies?
Answer: Womens reservation is very poor in Parliament and state legislatures.
Number of women legislatures is not more than 10%. However, the number of
women representatives in local governing bodies has increased because of 33%
reservation. At present, there are about 10 lakh women in local bodies.

Mention any two constitutional provisions that make India a secular state.
Answer: The Constitution of India declares that India is a secular state. Unlike some
of the neighbouring countries, there is no official religion for the Indian state.
The constitution gives the people the freedom to practice a religion of their choice.
The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
When we speak of gender divisions, we usually refer to:
Biological difference between men and women
Unequal roles assigned by the society to men and wome
Unequal child sex ratio
Absence of voting rights for women in democracies
Answer: (b) Unequal roles assigned by the society to men and women
In India seats are reserved for women in

Lok Sabha
State legislative assemblies
Cabinets
Panchayati Raj bodies
Answer: (d) Panchayati Raj bodies
Consider the following statements on the meaning of communal politics. Communal
politics is based on the belief that:
One religion is superior to that of others.
People belonging to different religions can live together happily as equal citizens.
Followers of a particular religion constitute one community.
State power cannot be used to establish the domination of one religious group over
others.
Which of the statements is/are correct?
A, B, C, and D
A, B, and D
A and C
B and D
Answer: (c) A and C
Which among the following statements about Indias Constitution is wrong? It
Prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
Gives official status to one religion.
Provides to all individuals freedom to profess any religion.
Ensures equality of citizens within religious communities.
Answer: (b) Gives official status to one religion
Social divisions based on _________ are peculiar to India.
Answer: Caste