Gender,

Religion
&
Caste
 What Disadvantages Do
Women Face?
1) Literacy Rate - 54% for women.76% for men
showing disparity
2) Smaller proportion of girls go for higher
studies
3) Preferential treatment meted out to boy`s
education rather than for girls
4) Proportion of women among highly paid and
valued job is small
5) Equal wages Act provides equal wages but
discrimination continues in sports, cinema,
factories and fields
6) Preference to have sons and abortion of girl
child
7) Sex selective abortions have led to decline in
Solution To This
Problem…
1) To make it legally binding to
have a fair proportion of women
in elected bodies
2) Reservation of 1/3 seats in local
bodies
3) 10 lakh elected representatives
in rural and urban local bodies
4) Demand for 1/3 seats in Lok
Sabha and State Assemblies
 Give A Few Instances That
Involve Relationship
Between Religion & Politics.
1) Gandhiji believed that politics
must be guided by ethics drawn
from religion
2) Human rights groups
demanding the Government to
take special steps to protect
religious minorities
3) Women`s movements want
Government to change family
Communalism
…
• To place ones community above
everything including the nation
When does it begin?
• When religion is seen as the
basis of the nation
When does it become acute?
• When religion is expressed in
politics in exclusive and partisan
terms
• When one religion and its
followers are pitted
Communalism…
What factors promote
communalism?
2)Beliefs of one religion are
presented as superior to those of
other religions.
3)When demands of one religious
group are formed in opposition to
another.
4)When state power is used to
establish domination of one
religious group over the rest.
What is Communal Politics?
• It is based on the idea that
Communalism…
What Do Communalists Think?

3)Followers of one religion must

belong to one community.
4)Their fundamental interests are
same.
5)People who follow different
religions cannot belong to the
same social community.
 Communalism
… forms can Communalism take in
What
Politics?

3)It involves religious prejudices,

stereotypes of religious communities and
belief in the superiority of one`s religion
over other religions.
4)Communal mind leads to a quest for
Political dominance of one’s own religious
communities.
5)If it is a Majority community – Majoritarian
Dominance.
6)If it is a Minority community – It forms a
separate Political Unit.
7)Political mobilisation – using symbols,
religious leader’s emotional appeal and
plain fear in order to bring the followers of
one religion together in political arena.
Secular State…
1) There is no official religion for
India. Constitution does not offer
special status to any religion.
2) Constitution provides to all
freedom to profess, practice and
propagate any religion.
3) Constitution prohibits
discrimination on grounds of
religion.
4) State will intervene in matters of
religion to ensure equality within
religious communities. It bans
Caste & Politics…
• Hereditary occupational division
sanctioned by rituals.
• Members of the same caste
group formed similar occupation,
married within the caste and did
not eat with members from other
caste groups.
 Efforts Taken to Check
Casteism…
1) Political leaders and social reformers
like JOTHIBHA
PHULE,GANDHIJI,AMBEDKAR and EVR
PERIYAR have done a lot to check
casteism.
2) Socio economic changes have brought
in a check.
3) Large scale urbanisation.
4) Literacy and education.
5) Occupational mobility.
6) Weakening of the position of
landlords.
Caste & Politics…
Why is there a disproportionately
large
presence of Upper Caste among
Urban Middle
Class ?
• Groups that did not have access
to education were prohibited
from acquiring it have lagged
behind.
Caste can take various forms
in Politics…
1) During the choice of candidates
before an election , care is taken
that the composition of electorate
and nomination of candidates
from different castes to muster
support to win elections.
2) During formation of Governments,
political parties take care that
representatives of different castes
and tribes find a place in it.
3) To make appeals to caste
sentiment to muster support.
4) Universal adult franchise - one
person one vote.
Elections are all about Caste
& nothing else…
1) No parliamentary constituency has a
clear majority of one single caste.
Every candidate /party must win the
confidence of more than one caste and
community to win elections.
2) No party wins the votes of all voters of
a caste /community.
3) Many political parties may put up
candidates from same caste.
4) Ruling party /sitting MP losing election
could not have happened if all castes
and communities were frozen in
political preferences.
What forms does Caste take
when it is Politicised?

1) Caste group becomes big by

including neighbouring castes.
2) Party enters into a coalition
with other castes.
3) Rise of backward caste and
forward caste group.
Effects of Exclusive Attention
to Caste…
• Is negative.
• Politics based on caste identity
alone is not healthy.
• Diverts attention from poverty
,development and corruption.
• Leads to tension, conflict and
even
violence.