Democracy and Diversity
NCERT Chapter Solutions for CBSE Class 10 Political Science
Q1: Some Dalit groups decided to participate in the UN Conference against racism in Durban in 2001, demanding the inclusion of caste in the agenda of this conference. Here are three reactions to this move:
Amandeep Kaur (a government official): Our Constitution declares caste discrimination to be illegal. If some caste discrimination continues, it is an internal matter. I am opposed to this being raised in an international forum.
Oinam (a sociologist) : I am opposed to this because caste and race are not similar divisions. Caste is social division, while race is a biological one. Raising caste in this conference on racism would mean equating the two.
Ashok (a Dalit activist) : The argument about internal matter is a way of preventing open discussion of oppression and discrimination. Race is not purely biological. It is as much a legal and sociological category as caste. Caste discrimination must be raised in this conference.
Which of the three opinions do you agree with most and why?
Answer: I agree with Ashok's views. We should not prevent people from an open discussion of oppression and discrimination just for the sake of internal state matter. We can't discriminate people and divide them based on intellectual grounds. We can't be a democratic nation and a free society, if there is oppression and discrimination in our society. Open debates is one of the indicator of a democratic society which values equality.
Q2: I met this group of girls from Pakistan and felt that I had more in common with them than many girls from other parts of my own country. Is this anti-national to feel so?
Answer: No. It is not anti-national to feel so. It is quite common that people belong to different regions or nations can have common liking and interests. For example, the girls from Pakistan may like Hollywood movies, south Indian food and Thai food like any other girl from India.
Q3: A Cartoon like this can be read by different people to mean different things. What does this cartoon mean to you? How do other students in your class read this?
Answer: The giant in the cartoon is going to cut his black colour hand which is different from his other white hand. His small head reflects that he fails to realize that this stupid act would cripple him for life. It definitely reflects how a narrow minded society can harm itself by keeping a biased discrimination among its own people.
Other students in my class may have different opinions or perspectives.
Q3: Read these three poems by Dalit writers. Why do you think the poster is titled ‘Hidden Apartheid’?
Answer: These poems reflect that atrocities on Dalits and discrimination based on caste still exist in one way or other despite having laws to check such exploits.
Q4: Imrana is a student of class X, section B. She and all her classmates are planning to help students of class XI in giving a farewell party to the students of class XII. Last month she played for section team in a game of kho-kho against the team of class X, section A. She goes back home in a bus and joins all the students from various classes all of who come from trns- Yamuna area in Delhi. Back home, she often joins her elder sister, naima, in complaining against her brother who does no work at home, while the sisters are asked to help their mother. Her father is looking for a good match for her elder sister, from a Muslim family with a similar economic status, from their own ‘biradari’.
Can you list the various kinds of identities that Imrana has?
At home She is a girl
In terms of religion She is __________
In the school She is __________
_____________ She is __________
_____________ She is __________
Answer: Imrana has different identities in different contexts:
At home She is a girl
In terms of religion She is Muslim
In the school She is a class X student
In class X She is from section B
In the game She is a member of kho-kho team
In the family She is Naima’s younger sister.
