JAC Class 10 Social Science Important Questions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

JAC Board Class 10th Social Science Important Questions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1.
What did Gandhiji mean when he said that religion and politics can never be separated?
(a) Effect of Hinduism on politics is more
(b) Effect of Islam on politics is more
(c) Need moral values in politics
(d) None of these
Answer:
(c) Need moral values in politics

JAC Class 10 Social Science Important Questions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

Question 2.
In some places in India, by how much the child sex ratio has fallen to as low as?
(a) 927
(b) 840
(c) 820
(d) 800
Answer:
(d) 800

Question 3.
Which of these countries has no official state religion?
(a) Sri Lanka
(b) Pakistan
(c) England
(d) All of these
Answer:
(d) All of these

Question 4.
The percentage of elected women members in the Lok Sabha has never reached what per cent of its total strength?
(a) 25%
(b) 15%
(c) 10%
(d) 5%
Answer:
(c) 10%

Question 5.
Caste system in modern India has undergone with which great changes?
(a) Fundamental
(b) Socio – economic
(c) Cultural
(d) Professional
Answer:
(b) Socio – economic

Question 6.
What is leading to the breakdown of caste hierarchy?
(a) Large – scale urbanisation
(b) Growth of literacy and education
(c) Occupational mobility
(d) All of the above
Answer:
(d) All of the above

JAC Class 10 Social Science Important Questions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

Question 7.
What is the exact ratio of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in 2001?
(a) Scheduled castes constitute 17.8% and scheduled tribes 9.2%.
(b) Scheduled castes constitute 20.4% and scheduled tribes 8.2%.
(c) Scheduled castes constitute 15.6% and scheduled tribes 7.8%.
(d) Scheduled castes constitute 16.2% and scheduled tribes 8.2%.
Answer:
(d) Scheduled castes constitute 16.2% and scheduled tribes 8.2%.

Question 8.
Which of these is true about the most ugly form of communalism?
(a) Communal violence
(b) Riots
(c) Massacre
(d) All the above
Answer:
(d) All the above

Question 9.
What is meant by ‘Communal Politics’?
(a) Participation of different communities in politics
(b) When state power is used to establish domination of one religious group over the rest
(c) Communist type of government
(d) All of the above
Answer:
(b) When state power is used to establish domination of one religious group over the rest

Question 10.
Which of these matters deal with the ‘Family Laws’?
(a) Marriage and divorce
(b) Adoption
(c) Inheritance
(d) All of these
Answer:
(d) All of these

Very Shortanswer Type Questions

Question 1.
What is sexual division of labour?
Answer:
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.

Question 2.
What do you mean by Feminist?
Answer:
A woman or a man who believes in equal rights and opportunities for women and men is called feminist.

Question 3.
Define patriarchy.
Answer:
Patriarchy literally mean rule by father. This concept is used to refer to a system that values men more and gives them power oyer women.

JAC Class 10 Social Science Important Questions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

Question 4.
What are family laws?
Answer:
Those laws that deal with family related matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, etc. In our country, different family laws apply to followers of different religions.

Question 5.
What is urbanisation?
Answer:
Urbanisation is the shift of population from rural areas to urban areas.

Question 6.
What is occupational mobility?
Answer:
Occupational mobility is the shift from one occupation to another, usually when a new generation takes up occupations other than those practised by their ancestors.

Question 7.
What do you mean by caste hierarchy?
Answer:
Caste hierarchy is a ladder like formation in which all the caste groups are placed from the ‘highest’ to the ‘lowest’ castes.

Question 8.
What helped to improve women’s role in public life?
Answer:
Political expression of gender division and political mobilization throughout the world on this question, helped to improve women’s role in public life.

Question 9.
Name few countries where participation of women in public life is very high.
Answer:
In Scandinavian countries such as Sweden, Norway and Finland, the participation of women in public life is very high.

JAC Class 10 Social Science Important Questions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

Question 10.
Why did the makers of our Constitution choose India to be a secular state?
Answer:
Communalism was and continues to be one of the major challenges to democracy in our country. The makers of our Constitution were aware of this. This is why they chose the model of a secular state.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
“Gender division is not based on biology but on social expectations and stereotypes”. Support the statement.
Answer:
Gender division is a form of hierarchical & social division which is found everywhere. It tends to be understood as natural and unchangeable.

  1. In our society from the very childhood, boys and girls are brought up to believe I that the main responsibility of women is housework and bringing up children.
  2. There is a sexual division of labour in most families where women do all work inside the home.
  3. It is not that men cannot do the work, but it is the society which makes them understand that these domestic labour is the sole responsibility of women.
  4. Majority of women do some paid work in addition to domestic labour.
  5. As a result, women’s role in public life, specially in politics is minimal in most societies, women face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in various ways.

Question 2.
What is the official approach of the government of India about the religion?
Answer:

  1. There is no official religion in India.
  2. The constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess practice and propagate any religion or not to follow any.

Question 3.
What does our Constitution do to ensure equality within religious communities?
Answer:

  1. The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion.
  2. It also allows the State to intervene in the matters of religion in order to ensure equality within religious communities. For example, it bans untouchability.

Question 4.
What is Communalism?
Answer:

  1. The term ‘Communalism’ is widely used across South Asia to describe the systematic misuse of religion for political purposes.
  2. It represents the processes of political construction of community identities along religious lines.
  3. Communal politics represents one’s own religious community in an antagonistic relationship with ‘the other religious community.’ Socially engineered prejudice, tension and conflict between religious communities constitute communalism.
  4. Communalism Combat stands for equal respect to all religions and is opposed to the cynical manipulation of faith in the pursuit of power; therefore, we are opposed to both majority and minority communalism.

Question 5.
Name any three steps which have been taken by the government for the protection of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Answer:
Three steps taken by the Government of India for the protection and welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in India are:

  1. Passing of Untouchability Offences Act, 1995.
  2. Reservation of seats in the local bodies (73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts).
  3. Scholarships and book – bank scheme for children belonging to these groups.

Question 6.
Write a brief note on the Hindu caste system.
Answer:

  1. The Hindu caste system reflects Indian occupational and socially defined hierarchies.
  2. Ancient Sanskrit sources divide society into four major categories, priests or Brahmin, warriors or Kshatriya, traders or Vaishya and labourers or Shudra. In addition to these castes we also have the “untouchables.”
  3. The Indian society is divided into thousands of jatis, which are local groups based on occupation.
  4. Despite economic modernisation and laws countering discrimination against the lower end of the caste structure and outlawing “untouchables,” the caste system remains an important source of social identification and a potent factor in the political life of the country.

Question 7.
What are feminist movements?
Answer:
Women in different parts of the world organised and agitated for equal rights. These agitations demanded enhancing the political and legal status of women and improving their educational and career opportunities. These movements are called feminist movements.

JAC Class 10 Social Science Important Questions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

Question 8.
What are the positive aspects of caste system in Indian politics?
Answer:

  1. The caste system 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.
  2. Caste politics has helped people from Dalits and Backward Castes to gain better access to decision making.
  3. Several political and non-political organisations have been demanding and agitating for an end to discrimination against particular castes, for more dignity and more access to land, resources and opportunities.
  4. Caste privilege and solidarity provide a kind of safety net. This will probably change as economic competition intensifies; but caste assertion largely precludes class solidarity.

Question 9.
How are caste and politics interrelated in India?
Answer:
Caste and politics are interrelated in India in the following ways:

  1. 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 get necessary support to win elections.
  2. Political parties and candidates in elections make appeal to caste sentiment to muster support. Some political parties are known to favour some castes and are seen as their representatives.
  3. Universal adult franchise and the principle of one person one vote compelled political leaders to gear up to the task of mobilizing and securing political support.

Question 10.
Give three reasons why caste hierarchy is breaking down in India.
Answer:
Three reasons of caste hierarchy breaking in India are as follows:

  1. With economic development, large – scale urbanization, growth of literacy and education, occupational mobility and the weakening of the position of landlords in the villages, the old notions of caste hierarchy are breaking down.
  2. Now, most of the times, in urban areas it does not matter much who is walking along next to us on a street or eating at the next table in a restaurant.
  3. The Constitution of India prohibited any caste – based discrimination and laid the foundations of policies to reverse the injustices of the caste system.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
How women face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in various ways?
Answer:
Women face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in the following ways:
(i) The literacy rate among women is only 54 per cent compared with 76 per cent among men. Similarly, a smaller proportion of girl students goes for higher studies. When we look at school results, girls perform as well as boys, if not better in some places. But they drop out because parents prefer to spend their resources for their sons’ education rather than spending equally for their daughters.

(ii) No wonder the proportion of women among the highly paid and valued jobs is still very small. On an average an Indian woman works one hour more than an average man every day. Yet much of her work is not paid and therefore often not valued.

(iii) The Equal Wages Act provides that equal wages should be paid to equal work. However in almost all areas of work, from sports and cinema, to factories and fields, women are paid less than men, even when both do exactly the same work.

(iv) In many parts of India, parents prefer to have sons and find ways to have the girl child aborted before she is bom. Such sex – selective abortion has led to a decline in child sex ratio (number of girl children per thousand boys) in the country to merely 927.

JAC Class 10 Social Science Important Questions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

Question 2.
Unlike gender differences, the religious differences are often expressed in the field of politics. Explain some instances involve a relationship between religion and politics.
Answer:
Some instances which involve a relation ship between religion and politics are as follows:

  1. Gandhiji used to say that religion can never be separated from politics. What he meant by religion was not any particular religion like Hinduism or Islam but moral values that inform all religions. He believed that politics must be guided by ethics drawn from religion.
  2. Human rights groups in our country have argued that most of the victims of communal riots in our country are people from religious minorities. They have demanded that the government take special steps to protect religious minorities.
  3. Women’s movement has argued that FAMILY LAWS of all religions discriminate against women. So they have demanded that government should change these laws to make them more equitable.

Question 3.
How does communalism threaten the Indian Democracy? Explain.
Answer:
The above statement can be explained in the following ways:

  1. Communalism involves religious prejudices, stereotypes of religious community and belief in the superiority of one’s religion over other religions.
  2. A communal mind often leads to a quest for political dominance of one’s own religious unity.
  3. Political mobilization on religious lines is another frequent form of communalism. In electoral politics, this often involves special appeal to the interests or emotions of voters of one religion in preference to others.
  4. Sometimes communalism in India takes its most ugly form of communal violence, riots and massacre.
  5. Communal prejudices and propaganda need to be countered in everyday life and religion based mobilization needs to be countered in the arena of politics.

Question 4.
”The focus on caste in politics can sometimes give an impression that elections are all about caste and nothing else. That is far from true.” Explain the statement.
Answer:
The explanation of the above statement is as follows:
1. No parliamentary constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste. So, every candidate and party needs to win the confidence of more than one caste and community to win elections.

2. No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community. When people say that a caste is a ‘vote bank’ of one party, it usually means
that a large proportion of the voters from that caste vote for that party.

3. Many political parties may put up candidates from the same caste (if that caste is believed to dominate the electorate in a particular constituency). Some voters have more than one candidate from their caste while many voters have no candidate from their caste.

4. The ruling party and the sitting MP or MLA frequently lose elections in our country. That could not have happened if all castes and communities were frozen in their political preferences. While caste matters in electoral politics, so do many other factors:

  • The voters have strong attachment to political parties which is often stronger than their attachment to their caste or community.
  • People within the same caste or community have different interests depending on their economic condition.
  • Rich and poor or men and women from the same caste often vote very differently.
  • People assessment of the performance of the government and the popularity rating of the leaders matter and are often decisive in elections.

Question 5.
Politics must be guided by ethics. Explain the statement with incorporating three values.
Answer:
Politics must be guided by ethics for which following values should be incorporated in our political system:
(i) Equality:
The basis of democracy is equality. All are equal before the law. Every citizen will be provided with the equality of status and opportunity. The traditional social inequalities should come to an end.

(ii) Fraternity:
Our politics must be accommodated by the value of fraternity. All the’Citizens of India have been assured about the dignity of individual and the unity and integrity of the nation. All of us should behave like the members of the family. No one should be treated as inferior.

(iii) Justice:
Every citizen should have social, political and economic justice. Citizens cannot be discriminated on the grounds of caste, religion and gender. The government should work for the reduction of social inequalities and welfare of all.

Activity Based Questions

Population of different religious groups in India, 2011
JAC Class 10 Social Science Important Questions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste 7
Question 1.
Picture Interpretation Study the pie chart carefully and answer the following questions:
(a) Which religious groups are minority communities in India?
(b) What is the percentage of Jains in India’s total population?
(c) What is the percentage of Christians in India’s total population?
Answer:
(a) Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, etc., are the minority communities of India.
(b) The percentage of Jains in India’s total population is 0.4%.
(c) The percentage of Christians in India’s total population is 2.3%.

JAC Class 10 Social Science Important Questions

JAC Class 10 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

JAC Board Class 10th Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

JAC Class 10th Civics Gender Religion and Caste InText Questions and Answers

Page 41

Question 1.
Discuss all these perceptions of an ideal woman that prevail in our society. Do you agree with any of these? If not what is your image of an ideal woman?
JAC Class 10 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste 1
Answer:
It is good to see that women are showing their talent in every walk of life. It is not right to be agreed with any one perception of women, shown through the figures, along. In my view, an ideal woman is that who has the quality of managing both house work and work outside the house. Of course this needs an equal cooperation of man.
JAC Class 10 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste 2

Question 2.
Can you identify your district on this map? What is the child sex ratio in it? How is it different from others with a different colour?
Answer:
Do it yourself.
Hint: First, locate your State and then identify your district. For finding child sex ratio, take the help of legends shown on the map.

JAC Class 10 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

Question 3.
Identify the States where most districts have child sex ratio below 850.
Answer:
Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana are the states where most districts have child sex ratio below 850.

Question 4.
Compare this map with the poster on the next page. How do the two of them tell us about the same issue?
JAC Class 10 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste 3
Answer:
Both map and poster are concerned about the decreasing trend of child sex ratio.

Page 44

Question 5.
Could you think of some reasons why women’s representation is so low in India? Do you think America and Europe have achieved a satisfactory level of women’s representation?
Answer:
(i) The women’s literacy rate is very low and if some are educated, they are not politically motivated. They and their male family members think that politics is not the profession of women. Political parties are also not giving tickets to women candidates to fight election in proportion to their population.

(ii) No, neither America nor Europe has achieved a satisfactory level of women’s representation. In America there are only 20.2 per cent and in Europe only 19.6 per cent women in the national Parliament. These percentages are not proportional to their population in the respective countries.

Page 45

Question 6.
If casteism and communalism are bad, what makes feminism a good thing? Why don’t we oppose all those who divide the society on any lines caste, religion or gender?
Answer:
(i) Feminism believes in equal rights and opportunities for men and women. It is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing and defending equal political, economic and social rights for women. A feminist advocates or supports the rights and equality of women. Enhanced women power can make our society more strong.

(ii) Thus feminism can not be regarded as a bad thing. But casteism and communalism usually divide the society and enhance inequality. These two are major challenges to our democracy. Our  onstitution makers were aware of these challenges.

(iii) That is why they chose the model of a secular State. Also the Constitution of India prohibited any caste – based discrimination and laid the foundations of policies to reverse the injustices due to casteism. So we must oppose casteism and communalism but not feminism.

JAC Class 10 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

Question 7.
This cartoon offers an understanding of why the Women’s Reservation Bill has not been passed in the Parliament. Do you agree with this reading.
JAC Class 10 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste 4
Answer:
Yes, the cartoon reflects that our legislature is man – dominated. Every gate to the parliament is well narrated by men who do not wish women to enter the course. But they pretend to show that very soon they are going to pass a bill regarding women’s reservation in the house.

Page 46

Question 8.
I am not religious. Why should I bother about communalism and secularism?
Answer:
(i) If I am not religious, it means I don’t believe in god, i.e., there are no deities.

(ii) Communalism is a social phenomenon which is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of social community. It believes that people who follow different religions can not belong to the same social community. Sometimes it takes most ugly form of communal violence, riots and massacre. So communalism needs to be combated.

(iii) Secularism means there is no State religion. State should respect all religions. India does not have an official State religion. So whether I am religious or not, I must be secular and should not favour or discriminate against any religion. This attitude only can maintain a healthy atmosphere in our country.

Page 47

Question 9.
I often crack jokes about people from one religion. Does that make me communal?
Answer:

  1. Cracking joke is not a bad thing. It decreases our mental stress. But if we often crack jokes about people from one particular religion it becomes a serious matter.
  2. Religion means a belief or the worship of god or the supernatural. The faith is very much based on personal and community grounds.
  3. We should not make jokes about people of any religion. Religion is a very sensitive issue. Ridiculing one’s religion may result in communal tension in the society and we will be responsible for it.

Page 51

Question 10.
I don’t care what my caste is. Why are we discussing all this in the textbook? Are we not promoting casteism by talking about caste?
Answer:
India is a multilingual, multireligious and caste based country. There are people of different castes living together in Indian society. So reality cannot be hidden. This is the reason why there is a discussion on caste in this textbook. We cannot promote casteism only by talking about castes.

Question 11.
Now you don’t like it! Didn’t you tell me that wherever there is domination, we should discuss it in Political Science? Will caste disappear if we keep mum about it?
Answer:

  1. Caste has become a very strong phenomenon in Indian politics. That is why whenever and wherever there is the domination of one caste over others, we discuss it in political science.
  2. Caste will not disappear from the Indian politics and from the society merely by keeping mum about it. Because it has become a part and parcel of our political and social system.

Page 53

Question 12.
Do you think that political leaders are right to treat people belonging to a caste as ‘vote banks’?
Answer:
I think that political leaders are not right in treating people belonging to a caste as vote banks. The reason is that making a vote bank based on caste will divide the velocity into different groups by dirty game of politicians and political parties during elections to win the election. It can create tension among different castes, as a result there may be blood sheds on the occasion of polling.

JAC Class 10th Civics Gender Religion and Caste Textbook Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Mention different aspects of life in which women are discriminated or disadvantaged in India.
Answer:
(i) Literacy Rate:
The literacy rate among women is only 54% as compared with 76% among men. A smaller proportion of girl students go for higher studies because parents prefer to spend their resources on their sons’ education than spending equally on their daughters.

(ii) Unpaid Work:
The proportion of women among the highly paid and valued jobs is still very small. Though on an average, Indian women works one hour more than men eveiy day, most of them are not paid equally and their work is often not valued.

(iii) The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 – Provides that equal wages should be paid to equal work in almost all areas of work. Women are paid less than men, even when both do exactly the same work.

(iv) 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 (the number of girl children per thousand boys) in the country to merely 919.

(v) Domestic Violence:
There are reports of various kinds of harassment, exploitation and violence against women. Both urban and rural areas have become unsafe for women. They are not safe even within their own homes from beating and other forms of domestic violence.

JAC Class 10 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

Question 2.
State different forms of communal politics with one example each.
Answer:
Communalism can take various forms in politics
(i) 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. This is so common that we often fail to notice it, even when we believe in it.

(ii) 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.

(iii) 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. In electoral politics this often involves special appeal to the interests or emotions of voters of one religion in preference to others.

(iv) Sometimes communalism takes its most ugly form of communal violence, riots and massacre. India and Pakistan suffered some of the worst communal riots at the time of partition. The post – Independence period has also seen large scale communal violence.

Question 3.
State how caste inequalities are still continuing in India.
Answer:

  1. Still people prefer to establish marriage relationships in their own caste or .community.
  2. People tend to cast vote in favour of candidates belonging to their community.
  3. Despite constitutional provisions, untouchability has not ended completely.
  4. Some of the older aspects of caste have persisted even today. Effects of centuries of advantages and disadvantages continue to be felt.
  5. Caste continues to be closely linked to economic status.
  6. It has been politicized now. So, it can be said that caste inequalities are still continuing in India.

Question 4.
State two reasons to say that caste alone cannot determine election results in India.
Answer:
Caste alone cannot determine election results in India because:

(i) No Parliamentary constituency has a clear majority of one single caste.
(ii) No party wins all the votes of a particular caste. A caste is a ‘vote bank’ of one party.

Question 5.
What is the status of women’s representation in India’s legislative bodies?
Answer:

  1. In India, the proportion of women in legislature has been very low.
  2. For example, the percentage of elected women members in Lok Sabha has never reached even 10 per cent of its total strength.
  3. Their share in the State Assemblies is less than 5 per cent.
  4. India is among the developing nations of Latin America and Africa.
  5. Reservation of one – third seats for women in Panchayati Raj and municipalities.
  6. If a women becomes a Prime Minister, most of its ministers are men.
  7. The women Reservation Bill has been pending in parliament due to lack of consensus among political parties.

Question 6.
Mention any two constitutional provisions that make India a secular state.
Answer:
The two constitutional provisions that make India a secular State are:
(i) There is no official religion for the Indian State. Unlike the status of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, that of Islam in Pakistan and that of Christianity in England, our Constitution does not give a special status to any religion.

(ii) The Constitution provides to all individuals and communities freedom to profess, practise and propagate any religion, or not to follow any.

Question 7.
When we speak of gender divisions, we usually refer to:
(a) Biological difference between men and women
(b) Unequal roles assigned by the society to men and women
(c) Unequal child sex ratio
(d) Absence of voting rights for women in democracies
Answer:
(b) Unequal roles assigned by the society to men and women

JAC Class 10 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

Question 8.
In India seats are reserved for women in
(a) Lok Sabha
(b) State Legislative assemblies
(c) Cabinets
(d) Panchayati Raj bodies
Answer:
(d) Panchayati Raj bodies

Question 9.
Consider the following statements on the meaning of communal politics. Communal politics is based on the belief that:
(i) One religion is superior to that of others.
(ii) People belonging to different religions can live together happily as equal citizens.
(iii) Followers of a particular religion constitute one community.
(iv) State power cannot be used to establish the domination of one religious group over others.
Which of the statements is/are correct?
(a) (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv)
(b) (i), (ii) and (iv)
(c) (i) and (iii) only
(d) (ii) and (iv) only.
Answer:
(c) (i) and (iii) only

Question 10.
Which among the following statements about India’s Constitution is wrong?
(a) prohibits discrimination on ground of religion.
(b) gives official status to one religion.
(c) provides to all individuals freedom to profess any religion.
(d) ensures equality of citizens within religious communities.
Answer:
(c) provides to all individuals freedom to profess any religion.

Question 11.
Social divisions based on……………. are peculiar to India.
Answer:
Caste

Question 12.
Match List I with List II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the Lists:

List – I List – II
(i) A person who believes in equal rights and opportunities for women and men A. Communalist
(ii) A person who says that religion is the principal basis of community B. Feminist
(iii) A person who thinks that caste is the principal basis of community C. Secularist
(iv) A person who does not discriminate others on the basis of religious beliefs D. Castiest
(a) (i) – B (ii) – C (iii) – A (iv) – D
(b) (i) – B (ii) – A (iii) – D (iv) – C
(c) (i) – D (ii) – C (iii) – A (iv) – B
(d) (i) – C (ii) – A (iii) – B (iv) – D

Answer:
(b) (i) – B (ii) – A (iii) – D (iv) – C

JAC Class 10 Social Science Solutions

JAC Class 10 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

JAC Board Class 10 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

→ Gender and Politics Public/private divisions

  • Boys and girls are brought up to believe that the main responsibility of women is housework and bringing up children.
  • This is reflected in a SEXUAL DIVISIONS OF LABOUR in most families: women do all work inside the home.
  • When jobs are paid for, men are ready to take up works live. Most tailors or cooks in hotels are men.
  • In urban areas, poor women work as a domestic helper in middle-class homes, while middle-class women work in offices.
  • The result of this division of labour is that although women constitute half of the humanity, their role in public life, especially politics, is minimal in most societies.
  • Women in different parts of the world organised and agitated for equal rights.
  • More radical women’s movements aimed at equality in personal and family life as well. These movements are called FEMINIST movements.
  • We now find women working as scientists, doctors,-.engineers, lawyers, managers and college and university teachers which were earlier not considered suitable for women.
  • In Scandinavian countries such as 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.
    Ours is still a male-dominated, PATRIARCHAL society.

JAC Class 10 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

→ Women face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in various ways

  • The literacy rate among women is only 54% compared with 76% of men.
  • On an average an Indian woman works one hour more than an average man every day. Yet much of her work is not paid and therefore often not valued.
  • In almost all areas of work, from sports and cinema to factories and fields, women are paid less than men, even when both do exactly the same work.
  • In many parts of India, parents prefer to have sons and find ways to have the girl child aborted before she is bom.
  • Urban areas have become unsafe for women.
  • They are not safe even within their own home from beating, harassment and other forms of domestic-violence.

→ Women’s political representation

  • Yet issues related to women’s well-being or otherwise are not given adequate attention.
  • One way to ensure this is to have more women as elected representatives.
  • In India, the proportion of women in the legislature has been very low.
  • The percentage of elected women members in Lok Sabha has never reached even 10% of its total strength.
  • In the government, cabinets are largely all male even when a woman becomes the Chief Minister or the Prime Minister.
  • One way to solve this problem is to make it legally binding to have a fair proportion of women in the elected bodies. This is what the Panchayati Raj has done in India.
  • There is more than 10 lakh elected women representatives in rural and urban local bodies.
  • Women’s organizations and activists have been demanding a similar reservation of at least one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for women.
  • A bill with proposal has been pending before the Parliament for more than a decade.
  • Gender division is an example of some form of social division needs to be expressed in politics. ,

→ Religion, communalism and politics

  • The division based on religious differences:
  • Many countries including India have in their population, followers of different religions. Consider the following:
    • Gandhiji used to say that religion can never be separated from politics. He meant politics must be guided by ethics drawn from religion.
    • Human rights groups in our country have argued that most of the victims of communal riots in our country are people from religious minorities.
    • Women’s movement has argued that FAMILY LAWS of all religions discriminate against women.

→ Communalism

  • The problem begins when religion is seen as the basis of the nation.
  • Communal politics is based on the ideas that religion is the principal basis of a social community.

→ Communalism can take various forms in politics

  • The most common expression of communalism is in everyday beliefs.
  • A communal mind often leads to a quest for political dominance of one’s own religious community.
  • Political mobilization on religious lines is another frequent form of communalism.
  • Sometimes communalism takes its most ugly form of communal violence, riots and massacre.
  • Communalism was and continues to be one of the major challenges to democracy in our country.
  • There is no official religion for the Indian state. The constitution provide freedom to profess any religion and prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion.

JAC Class 10 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Gender Religion and Caste

→ Caste and politics
We have seen two instances of the expression of social divisions in the arena of politics, one largely positive and the other largely negative.

→ Caste inequalities

  • Unlike gender and religion, caste division is special to India.
  • In most societies, occupations are passed on from one generation to another.
  • Caste system was based on the exclusion and discrimination against the ‘outcaste’ groups.
  • Partly due to efforts of social reformers and partly due to other socio-economic changes, castes and the caste system in modem India have undergone great changes.
  • Large scale URBANISATION, the growth of literacy and education, OCCUPATIONAL MOBILITY and old notions of CASTE HIERARCHY are breaking down.
  • Now, in urban areas it does not matter much who is walking along the next to us on a street or eating at the next table in a restaurant.
  • Yet caste has not disappeared from contemporary India. Some of the older aspects of caste have persisted.
  • Effects of centuries of advantages and disadvantages continue to be felt today.

→ Caste in politics

  • As in the case of communalism, 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 governments are formed, political parties usually take care that representatives of different castes and tribes find a place in it.
  • Thus, it is not politics that gets caste-ridden; it is the caste that gets politicized.

→ This takes several forms

  • Each group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it neighbouring castes or sub-castes which were earlier excluded from it.
  • Various caste groups are required to enter into a dialogue and negotiation.
  • New kinds of caste groups have come up in the political arena like ‘backward’ and ‘forward’ caste group.

JAC Class 10 Social Science Notes