CBSE Class 10 Social Science Gender Religion and Caste Important Questions Set C

Assertion and Reasoning Based Questions

Mark the option which is most suitable :
(a) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) If both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) If assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) If both assertion and reason are false.

Question. Assertion : Universal Adult Franchise gives right to vote to everyone.
Reason : Right to vote should be given to people of upper caste and class for taking wise decision.
Answer: (c)

Question. Assertion : Stereotypical gender roles for males and females helps in avoiding conflicts.
Reason : India is a matriarchal society.
Answer: (d)

Question. Assertion : Women face discrimination and disadvantage in India in many ways.
Reason : India is a patriarchal society.
Answer: (a)

Question. Assertion : Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, provides that equal wages should be paid for equal work, irrespective of gender and caste.
Reason : Women are physically weak so, they are righteously paid less than men.
Answer: (c)

Question. Assertion : Communalism is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of social community.
Reason : Caste should be kept away from politics.
Answer: (b)

Question. Assertion : India is a secular state.
Reason : Constitution gives freedom to everyone to profess, practice and propagate any religion without prejudices or any discrimination.
Answer: (a)

Question. Assertion : Sometimes a caste group becomes vote bank for a party.
Reason : Selecting the candidate from same caste helps in ensuring better governance.
Answer: (c)

Question. Assertion : Sex-selective abortion led to decline of sex ratio in India.
Reason : Desire for a male child makes Indian families abort girl.
Answer: (a)

Question. Assertion : Men and women should be given equal rights.
Reason : Men are superior to women physically and emotionally.
Answer: (c)

Question. Assertion : A casteist is a person who thinks that caste is the principal basis of community.
Reason : All castes are equal and man-made.
Answer: (c)

Short Answer Type Questions

Question. ‘‘Caste inequalities are still prevalent in India.’’ Examine the statement.
Answer: Although the constitution has prohibited caste discrimination, it is still practiced in parts of the country. People still marry within the same caste. The decades of advantages and disadvantages are followed even today. People who earlier had access to education have done very well in accessing modern education, but people who did not have access to education or were prohibited, have lagged behind. The economic status still now follows the caste hierarchies—the upper class the best off, the lower caste the worst and the OBCs in between.

Question. “Our society is still a male dominated society.” Explain the statement with the help of examples. OR ‘‘Women still are behind men in India despite some improvement since independence’’ Analyse the statement.
Answer: India is considered to be a patriarchal society because men are in authority over women in all aspects of the society. (i) Political participation of women in India is very less when compared to other countries. Only 10% of the total members in Lok sabha are women. (ii) Women have entered into every field but they are still paid less than their male counter parts. (iii) The literacy rate amongst the women is also low as compared to the men. Literacy rate is only 54% as compared to 76% among the men. Women are made to stay quiet even in cases of rapes, betrayal etc.

Question. Discuss the ideological basic of communalism. Is it flawed ?
Answer: Religious differences are the basis of communalism. It is flawed in many ways as it is the situation where one community promotes its interest at the cost of another. The followers of one religion face discrimination as the State power promotes the interest of one religious group. When religion is used in politics it becomes a major problem for any country, as the people of the country start considering that religion is the basis of the nation and this gives birth to communal politics. In India, many parties are formed along the communal lines.

Question. How are religious differences expressed in politics ?
Answer: Sometimes religion is used in politics in more exclusive and parochial terms as one religion is given preference over other religions. This happens when beliefs of one religion are pitted against another and the demands of one religious group are fulfilled by a state power. This is defined as communal politics.

Question. Write a short note on communal politics.
Answer: When religion is used in politics it becomes a major problem, as the people of the city start considering religion as the basis of the nation and this gives birth to communal politics. In a communal society, one religion is given preference over another. The followers of one religion face discrimination as the state power promotes the interest of one religious group.

Question. Define secularism. Is India a secular state ? Discuss.
Answer: Secularism is the principle of the separation of government institutions and persons mandate to represent the state from religious institutions and religious dignitaries. Yes, India is a secular state because no religion has been given special status and no religion has been declared to be the official religion of India. People are allowed to follow, practice and propagate any religion.

Question. Is caste hierarchy weakening in India ?
Answer: Yes, Caste hierarchy is slowly weakening in India due to improvement in literacy rate and economic development. People are now marrying outside their caste. But it has not completely disappeared from Indian politics and is prevalent in many regions.

Question. Describe the adverse effects of caste in politics in India.
Answer: Parties consider caste as one of the important criteria in choosing candidates for elections. They consider the caste composition of a constituency before declaring their candidate. People vote for their religion and caste in elections and sometimes fail in choosing the right candidate. During the formation of the Government, it is ensured that all religion and castes are duly represented. Political Parties use caste sentiments of people during campaigning.

Question. Differentiate between Communalism and Secularism.
Answer:

Source/Extract Based Questions

Source A – Caste inequalities
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.
Source B – Caste in politics
As in the case of communalism, casteism is rooted in the belief 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.
Source C – Politics in caste
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.

Question. What was the caste system based on ?
Answer: The caste system was based on exclusion of and discrimination against the ‘outcast’ groups.

Question. When governments are formed, how is caste taken care of in politics ?
Answer: When governments are formed, political parties usually take care that representatives of different castes and tribes find a place in it.

Question. Politics in caste takes several forms. Explain one form.
Answer: Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it neighbouring castes or sub-castes which were earlier excluded from it.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question. Describe any five features of secularism in India.
Answer: (i) India has no official religion of its own unlike Pakistan (Islam), Britain (Christianity), Srilanka (Buddhism). (ii) Every individual is free to practise, profess and propagate any religion of their choice. (iii) The government provides equal opportunities to all irrespective of religion. (iv) No body or individual can be discriminated on the basis of religion. The Constitution prohibits such discrimination. (v) The government can interfere in the matters of religion and its practices to make it more equitable.

Question. Discuss the sexual division of labour.
Answer: The sexual division of labour (SDL) is the delegation of different tasks between males and females. Among human foragers, males and females target different types of foods and share them with each other for a mutual or familial benefit. In humans, boys and girls are brought up to believe that the main responsibility of women is household work and bringing up children. This is reflected in sexual division of labour.

Question. What are feminist movements ? What were their major demands ?
Answer: The protest and agitations aimed at enhancing legal and polities status of women and to provide women with better work opportunities constitutes feminist movement. This involves Radicals women’s movement to improve the condition of women in personal and also family life. Political mobilisation has helped in improving the condition of women.

Question. How do women in India still face discrimination and oppression in various ways ? Explain with four examples. OR Write a note on the status of women in India.
Answer: (i) Literacy rate : According to 2011 Census, Women literacy rate is only 65.46 when compared to that of men which is 82.14. (ii) Unpaid work : It is noted that women are paid less when compared to men, even if the women work extra hours a day. (iii) Sex ration : In many part of India abortion of girl child takes place leading to a decline in the child sex ratio. (iv) Domestic violence : Both urban and rural areas come across women being harassed and exploited. They are not safe in their own house because of domestic violence.

Question. What have been the consequences of the political expression of gender division in free India ? What is the status of women’s representation in India’s legislative bodies ?
Answer: India has a patriarchal society and women face discrimination, oppression in various ways. In India, 74 percent of men are literate, whereas only 56 percent of women are literate. Women are paid less than men for equal work. We have Equal Wages Act in India. In the Lok Sabha, representation has never touched even 10 percent of its total strength and in State assemblies it is less than 5 percent. Most of the Cabinet Ministers and Chief Ministers are male. To empower women, one-third of the total seats are now reserved for women in all rural and urban local bodies.

Question. State different forms of communal politics with one example each.
Answer: When religion is used in politics it becomes a major problem. In India, many parties are formed along communal lines. Like Muslim League during freedom struggle, Akali Dal in Punjab, DMK in Tamil Nadu etc. Parties consider religion as one of the important criteria in choosing candidates for elections. People vote for their religion in elections. Sometimes, this becomes a problematic thing and leads to agitation among people.

Question. Discuss how caste affect the political parties.
Answer: Parties consider caste as one of the important criteria while choosing candidates for elections. They refer to the caste composition of a constituency before declaring their candidate. People vote for their religion and caste in elections and sometimes fail in choosing the right candidate. During the formation of the government, it is mentioned that all religions and castes should be represented. Political parties use communal issues during campaigning.

Read the extract and answer the questions that follows :
The problem begins when religion is seen as the basis of the nation. 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. Communal politics is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of social community. Communalism involves thinking along the following lines. The followers of a particular religion must belong to one community. 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.

Question. When does the problem of religion in a society become more acute ?
Answer: 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’s power is used to establish domination of one religious group over the rest.

Question. Explain any two lines along which communalism involves thinking.
Answer: (i) It follows that people who follow different religions cannot belong to the same social community. (ii) If the followers of different religion have some commonalities, these are superficial and immaterial.

Question. ‘Communalism can take various forms in politics.’ Explain.
Answer: (i) When religious beliefs of a person involve prejudices and stereotypes, claiming one religion’s ideas to be superior to another. (ii) When a majority community tries to establish its domination over the other communities with the help of the state. (iii) Communal violence is the worst form of communalism. (iv) Political mobilisation on religious lines involves the use of sacred symbols and religious leaders to bring the followers of one religion together. (v) In a democracy, communalism may take the form when the majoritarian community starts believing in the superiority of their religion and ignores the wishes of the minorities.

Source/Extract Based Questions
Partly due to their efforts and partly due to other socio-economic changes, castes and caste system in modern India have undergone great changes. With economic development, large scale URBANISATION, 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. 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.

Question. Who among the following is not a prominent name to bring caste reform in India?
(a) Jyotiba Phule
(b) B. R. Ambedkar
(c) Mahatma Gandhi
(d) Jawaharlal Nehru
Answer: (d)

Question. The main reason for caste system removal in urban India is:
(a) People do not have any faith in caste system
(b) People’s primary concern is the economic progress
(c) In urban colonies it is difficult to identify someone by his caste
(d) Local authority discourage the caste system
Answer: (b)

Question. The sentence ‘castes and caste system have undergone great changes’ signifies:
(a) Now castes and caste system have taken new forms
(b) The caste boundations are breaking down rapidly
(c) In ancient society caste system did not had any importance
(d) Caste system is in India because of globalization and colonization
Answer: (b)

Question. Find out the incorrect statement about the caste system:
(a) Economic development, urbanization played important role to remove caste system
(b) Removal of zamidari system helped to remove caste system in urban area
(c) Caste based discrimination is a punishable offence in India
(d) The structure of social hierarchy is changing now
Answer: (b)