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Gender, Religion and Caste
"Political expression of social differences is possible and sometimes quite desirable in a democratic system. These social differences are based on gender, religion and caste. In each case we look at the nature of this division in India and how it gets expressed in politics."
1.0Introduction
This chapter delves into the intricate dynamics of gender, religion, and caste, shedding light on the power structures and inequalities that often accompany these aspects of social identity. Understanding these forces is crucial for understanding the complications of our society and working towards a more inclusive and equitable future. As we navigate through this chapter, we'll unravel the historical roots and cultural influences that have shaped gender roles, religious practices, and caste hierarchies. By examining how these factors intersect and impact individuals differently, we aim to foster awareness and promote discussions that challenge stereotypes and promote social harmony. Gender and politics
Let us begin with gender division. This is a form of hierarchical social division seen everywhere, but is rarely recognised in the study of politics. The gender division tends to be understood as natural and unchangeable. However, it is not based on biology but on social expectations and stereotypes.
Public/private division
- 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 division of labour in most families: women do all work inside the home such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, tailoring, looking after children, etc., and men do all the work outside the home.
- It is not that men cannot do housework; they simply think that it is for women to attend to these things. When these jobs are paid for, men are ready to take up these works.
- Most tailors or cooks in hotels are men. Similarly, it is not that women do not work outside their home.
- In villages, women fetch water, collect fuel and work in the fields. In urban areas, poor women work as domestic helper in middle class homes, while middle class women work in offices.
- In fact the majority of women do some sort of paid work in addition to domestic labour. But their work is not valued and does not get recognition.
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. Earlier, only men were allowed to participate in public affairs, vote and contest for public offices. Gradually the gender issue was raised in politics.
Feminist movement
Movements which are organised by various women organisations to create equality for women in personal and family life have been termed as Feminist Movement.
- They demanded equal rights for women in all spheres of life.
- There were agitations in different countries for the extension of voting rights to women.
- They demanded enhancing the political and legal status of women.
- They demanded improvement in the educational and career opportunities for the women.
- Political expression of gender division and political mobilisation on this question helped to improve women's role in public life. 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 some parts of the world, for example in Scandinavian countries such as Sweden, Norway and Finland, the participation of women in public life is very high.
PERCEPTIONS OF IDEAL WOMAN
It is not possible to agree with any one perception of women, shown through the figures. In today's times, women are balancing housework, work outside the house and their carriers equally. In my view women should not be tied in the image of an ideal woman. They should have equal rights and opportunities, to be what they want to be and live a life of good health and happiness.
2.0Different aspects of life in which women are discriminated
In our country, women still lag much behind men despite some improvement since Independence. Ours is still a male dominated, Patriarchal society. Women face disadvantage, discrimination and oppression in various ways.
(a) Literacy rate: The literacy rate among women is only 54 percent as compared to 76 percent among men. Similarly, a smaller proportion of girl students go for higher studies because parents prefer to spend their resources for their boys' education than spending equally on their daughters. When we look at school results, girls perform as well as boys, if not better in some places.
(b) Unpaid work: The proportion of women among the highly paid and valued jobs is still very small. Though on an average Indian woman works one hour more than an average man everyday but most of them are not paid equally and, therefore, their work is often not valued. The Equal Remuneration Act 1976, provides that equal wages should be paid for 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.
(c) 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. Such sexselective abortion led to a decline in child sex ratio (number of girl children per thousand boys) in the country to merely 919. As the map shows, this ratio has fallen below 850 or even 800 in some States.
(d) Domestic violence: There are reports of various kinds of harassment, exploitation and violence against women. Urban areas have become particularly unsafe for women. They are not safe even within their own home from beating, harassment and other forms of domestic violence.
(e) Women's political representation
- In India, the proportion of women in legislature has been very low. This has led many feminists and women's movements to the conclusion that unless women control power, their problems will not get adequate attention. One way to ensure this is to have more women as elected representatives.
Women In national parliaments in different regions of the world (in%)
Note: Figures are for the per cent women the directly elected houses of parliament as on 1 October 2018.
- In India, the proportion of women in legislature has been very low. For example, the percentage of elected women members in Lok Sabha has touched 14.36 per cent of its total strength for the first time in 2019. Their share in the state assemblies is less than 5 per cent.
- In this respect, India is among the bottom group of nations in the world. India is behind the averages for several developing countries of Africa and Latin America. 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.
- One-third of seats in local government bodies - in panchayats and municipalities - are now reserved for women. Now there are more than 10 lakh elected women representatives in rural and urban local bodies.
- Women's organisations 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 this proposal has been pending before the Parliament for more than a decade. But there is no consensus over this among all the political parties. The bill has not been passed. (Kindly note the bill of women reservation is passed in 2023 which will be implemented from the next election)
- Expression of gender division shows that disadvantaged groups do benefit when social divisions become a political issue. This also shows that disadvantaged groups do benefit when social divisions become a political issue.
3.0Religion, communalism and politics
This division is not as universal as gender, but religious diversity is fairly widespread in the world today. Many countries including India have in their population, followers of different religions. As we noticed in the case of Northern Ireland, even when most of the people belong to the same religion, there can be serious differences about the way people practice that religion. Unlike gender differences, the religious differences are often expressed in the field of politics.
The population of northern Ireland is divided into two major sects of Christianity. While of them are Protestants, of them are Roman Catholics. Historically, the two sects are diametrically opposed to each other in terms of religious preferences and practices. The Catholics were represented by the Nationalist parties who wanted northern Ireland to become a part of the predominantly Catholic Republic of Ireland. The Protestants were, on the other hand, represented by the Unionists who wanted to remain with UK. This led to a bitter conflict between the two sides. It was only in 1998 that UK government and Nationalists signed a peace treaty and the violence ceased.
(a) Different considerations about religion and politics
- Gandhiji's view regarding religion and politics: 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.
- Humans, rights and politics: 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.
- Women, Religion and Politics: 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.
(b) Conclusion
- All these instances involve a relationship between religion and politics. But they do not seem very wrong or dangerous. Ideas, ideals and values drawn from different religions can and perhaps should play a role in politics. People should be able to express in politics their needs, interests and demands as a member of a religious community.
- Those who hold political power should sometimes be able to regulate the practice of religion so as to prevent discrimination and oppression. These political acts are not wrong as long as they treat every religion equally.
(c) Communalism Communalism is a situation when a particular community tries to promote its own interest at the cost of other communities.
- The problem begins when religion is seen as the basis of the nation. The example of Northern Ireland shows the dangers of such an approach to nationalism.
- The problem becomes more acute when religion is expressed in politics in exclusive and partisan terms, when one religion and its followers are pitted against another.
- This happens when beliefs of one religion are presented as superior to those of other religions, when the demands of one religious group are formed in opposition to another and when state power is used to establish domination of one religious group over the rest.
- This manner of using religion in politics is communal politics.
(d) Communalism and communal politics Communal politics is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of social community. Communalism involves thinking along the following lines. (i) The followers of a particular religion must belong to one community. (ii) Their fundamental interests are the same. (iii) Any difference that they may have is irrelevant or trivial for community life. It also follows that people who follow different religions cannot belong to the same social community. (iv) If the followers of different religions have some commonalities these are superficial and immaterial. Their interests are bound to be different and involve a conflict. In the extreme form 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. This belief is fundamentally flawed. People of one religion do not have the same interests and aspirations in every context. Everyone has several other roles, positions and identities. There are many voices inside every community. All these voices have a right to be heard. Therefore any attempt to bring all followers of one religion together in context other than religion is bound to suppress many voices within that community.
(e) 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 the Partition. The post-Independence period has also seen large scale communal violence.
(f) Secular state 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 challenge. That is why, they chose the model of a secular state. This choice was reflected in several constitutional provisions that we studied last year:
4.0Caste and politics
(a) Caste system
- Unlike gender and religion, caste division is special to India. All societies have some kind of social inequality and some form of division of labour. In most societies, occupations are passed on from one generation to another.
- Caste system is an extreme form of this. What makes it different from other societies is that in this system, hereditary occupational division was sanctioned by rituals.
(b) Features of caste system prevailing in India/Caste inequalities
- Members of same caste form a social community.
- They have same occupation.
- Marriages take place within the same caste.
- Members of one caste group earlier could not be the member of other caste groups.
- Caste system was based on exclusion and discrimination against the 'out caste group'.
- Many castes were subjected to untouchability.
- Political leaders and social reformers like Jyotiba Phule, Gandhiji, B.R. Ambedkar and Periyar Ramaswami Naicker advocated and worked to establish a society in which caste inequalities are absent.
Jyotiba PhuleB.R. AmbedkarGandhijiPeriyar Ramaswami Naicker
- Partly due to their efforts and partly due to other socio-economic changes, castes and caste system in modern India have undergone great changes.
Social and Religious Diversity of India
The Census of India records the religion of each and every Indian after every ten years. The person who fills the Census form visits every household and records the religion of each member of that household exactly the way each person describes it. If someone says she has 'no religion' or that he is an 'atheist', this is exactly how it is recorded. Thus we have reliable information on the proportion of different religious communities in the country and how it has changed over the years. The pie chart below presents the population proportion of six major religious communities in the country. Since Independence, the total population of each community has increased substantially but their proportion in the country's population has not changed much. In percentage terms, the population of the Hindus, Jains and Christians has declined marginally since 1961. The proportion of Muslim, Sikh and Buddhist population has increased slightly. There is a common but mistaken impression that the proportion of the Muslims in the country's population is going to overtake other religious communities. Expert estimates done for the Prime Minister's High Level Committee (popularly known as Sachar Committee) show that the proportion of the Muslims is expected to go up a little, by about 3 to 4 per cent, in the next 50 years. It proves that in overall terms, the population balance of different religious communities is not likely to change in a big way. The same is true of the major caste groups. The Census of India counts two social groups: the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Both these broad groups include hundreds of castes or tribes whose names are listed in an official Schedule. Hence the prefix 'Scheduled' in their name. The Scheduled Castes, commonly known as Dalits, include those that were previously regarded as 'outcaste' in the Hindu social order and were subjected to exclusion and untouchability. The Scheduled Tribes, often referred to as Adivasis, include those communities that led a secluded life usually in hills and forests and did not interact much with the rest of society. In 2011, the Scheduled Castes were 16.6 per cent and the Scheduled Tribes were 8.6 per cent of the country's population.
Population of different religious communities in India, 2011
(c) Reasons for the changes in caste system in modern India
- Economic development.
- Large scale urbanisation.
- Growth of literacy.
- Occupational mobility.
- Weakening of the position of landowners in the villages.
- Breakdown of caste hierarchy.
- Ban on untouchability. 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. The Constitution of India prohibited any caste-based discrimination and laid the foundations of policies to reverse the injustices of the caste system. If a person who lived a century ago were to return to India, she would be greatly surprised at the change that has come about in the country. Yet caste has not disappeared from contemporary India. Some of the older aspects of caste have persisted.
- Even now most people marry within their own caste or tribe.
- Untouchability has not ended completely, despite constitutional prohibition.
- Effects of centuries of advantages and disadvantages continue to be felt today. The caste groups that had access to education under the old system have done very well in acquiring modern education as well.
- Those groups that did not have access to education or were prohibited from acquiring it have naturally lagged behind.
- That is why there is a disproportionately large presence of 'upper caste' among the urban middle classes in our country. Caste continues to be closely linked to economic status.
(d) Caste in politics
Casteism is rooted in the beliefs that caste is the sole basis of social community. According to this way of thinking, people belonging to the same caste belong to a natural social community and have the same interests which they do not share with anyone from another caste.As we saw in the case of communalism, such a belief is not borne out by our experience. 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. When governments are formed, political parties usually take care that representatives of different castes and tribes find a place in it.
- Political parties and candidates in elections make appeals to caste sentiment to muster support. Some political parties are known to favour some castes and are seen as their representatives.
- Universal adult franchise and the principle of one-person-one-vote compelled political leaders to gear up to the task of mobilising and securing political support. It also brought new consciousness among the people of castes that were hitherto treated as inferior and low.
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. Just consider these:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Clearly, 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's assessment of the performance of the government and the popularity rating of the leaders matter and are often decisive in elections.
Caste inequality today
Caste is an important source of economic inequality because it regulates accessto resources of various kinds. For example, in the past, the so-called 'untouchable' castes were denied the right to own land, while only the so-called'twice born' castes had the right to education. Although this kind of explicit and formalised inequality based on caste is now outlawed, the effects of centuries ofaccumulated advantages and disadvantages continue to be felt. Moreover, new kinds of inequalities have also developed.
The relationship between caste and economic status has certainly changed a lot. Today, it is possible to find very rich and very poor people in every caste, whether 'low' or 'high'. This was not true even twenty or thirty years ago - it was very rare indeed to find rich people among the 'lowest' castes. However, as this evidence from the National Sample Survey shows, caste continues to be verystrongly linked to economic status in many important ways:
- The average economic status (measured by criteria like monthly consumptionexpenditure) of caste groups still follows the old hierarchy - the 'upper' castes are best off, the Dalits and Adivasis are worst off, and the backward classes arein between.
- Although every caste has some poor members, the proportion living in extreme poverty (below the official 'poverty line') is much higher for the lowest castes and much lower for the upper castes, with the backward classes once again in between.
- Although every caste has some members who are rich, the upper castes areheavily overrepresented among the rich while the lower castes are severely under-represented.
Percentage of population living below the poverty line, 1999-2000
Note: 'Upper Caste' here means those who are not from SC, ST, or OBC. Below the poverty line means those who spent or less per person per month in rural and or less per person per month in urban areas.
Source: National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), Government of India, 55th Round, 1999-2000
(e) Politics in caste
We have so far looked at what caste does to politics. But it does not mean that there is only a one-way relation between caste and politics. Politics too influences the caste system and caste identities by bringing them into the political arena. Thus, it is not politics that gets caste-ridden, it is the caste that gets politicised. This takes several forms:
- Each caste 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 coalition with other castes or communities and thus enter into a dialogue and negotiation.
- New kinds of caste groups have come up in the political arena like 'backward' and 'forward' caste groups. Thus, caste 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. In this sense, caste politics has helped people from Dalits and OBC castes to gain better access to decision making. 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.
At the same time, exclusive attention to caste can produce negative results as well. As in the case of religion, politics based on caste identity alone is not very healthy in a democracy. It can divert attention from other pressing issues like poverty, development and corruption. In some cases, caste division leads to tensions, conflict and even violence.
5.0Glossary
- Gender Division - It is a form of hicrarchical social division based on biology, social expectations and stereotypes.
- Sexual Division of Labour - A system in which all work inside the home is either done by women of the family, or organised by them through the domestic helpers.
- Feminist - A woman or a man who believes in equal rights and opportunities for men & women.
- Patriarchy - It is a concept which is used to refer to a system that values men more and gives them power over women. The society based on this ideology is known as the patriarchal society.
- Child Sex Ratio - It is referred to as the number of girl children per thousand boys in a given period.
- Family Laws - Those laws that deal with family related matters such as marriages, divorce, adoption, inheritance, etc. In our country every community has its own family law.
- Urbanisation - The process of shifting of population from rural areas to urban areas for better facility and job opportunities.
- Majoritarian Dominance - The community belonging to a majority category takes the status of majoritarian dominance.
- Occupational Mobility - Process of shift from one occupation to another. Usually when a new generation takes up occupations other than those practised by their ancestors.
- Caste Hierarchy - It is a ladder like formation in which all the caste groups are placed from the highest to the lowest castes.
- Secular state - A state which has no official religion of its own is known as the secular state. It provides religious equality and equal status to all religions.
- Secularism - It is an ideology which deals with the equal status to all religions and prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion. It implies religious freedom, people enjoy the right to preach, practise or profess a religion of their choice.
- Untouchability - A state of affairs in which some backward and lower caste people are treated as outcaste people, treated as untouchables and are not allowed to mingle with so called upper caste.
- Universal adult Franchise - It refers to in which Right to vote is given to every adult citizen of the country. It is one of the political rights of the people. In this -
- Universal - signifies - to all
- Adult - signifies - above 18 yrs and
- Franchise - signifies - right to vote
- Minorities - The word signifies those groups of people or communities who are lesser in number in a given area.
- Communal Representation - A system of separate electorate for the adequate representation of the people belonging to different communities.
- Social change - It signifies the modification which takes place in the life style of people, i.e., mode of living, the social status and cultural changes.