NCERT Solutions Class 8, Social Science, Civics, Chapter- 6, Confronting Marginalisation.
1. List two Fundamental Rights in the Constitution that Dalits can draw upon to insist that they be treated with dignity and as equals. Re-read the Fundamental Rights to help you answer this question.
Solution:
Two Fundamental Rights that Dalits can draw upon to insist that they be treated with dignity and as equals are: Right to Equality and the Right to Freedom.
2. Re-read the story on Rathnam as well as the provisions of the 1989 Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Now list one reason why you think he used this law to file a complaint.
Solution:
The 1989 Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was formed in response to the demands made by Dalits and others that the Government take seriously to protect them against the ill-treatment and humiliation faced by Dalits and tribal groups in their everyday life. Rathnam’s hut was burnt and he was forced to leave the village along with his mother and other members of his family as they continued to be ostracized by the powerful castes in the village.
So Rathnam used the above law to file a complaint to protest against the domination and violence of the powerful castes in his village.
3. Why do Adivasi activists, including C.K. Janu, believe that Adivasis can also use this 1989 Act to fight against dispossession? Is there anything specific in the provisions of the Act that allows her to believe this?
Solution:
The Adivasi activists including C.K. Janu believe that Adivasis can also use this 1989 Act to fight against dispossession because this Act guarantees the tribals not to be dispossessed from the land resources forcibly. They pointed specifically that this Act merely confirms what has already been promised to the tribal people in the Constitution - that their land can not be sold to or bought by non-tribal people. In cases where this has happened, the constitution also guarantees that the right of the tribal people to repossess their land.
4. The poems and the song in this Unit allow you to see the range of ways in which individuals and communities express their opinions, their anger and their sorrow. In class, do the following two exercises:
(a) Bring to class a poem that discusses a social issue. Share this with your classmates. Work in small groups with two or more poems to discuss their meaning as well as what the poet is trying to communicate.
Solution:
Poem by Soyrabai: She herself belongs to the Mahar caste. From her esteemed poem, she questions about the idea or the criterion behind being called a pure person.
In this poem she argues that every person takes birth in the same way and is equal. She is unable to understand that what makes one body less or more pure than the other. According to her, pollution is a basic idea of caste that should not be used as the tool for discrimination or for separating or denying access to spaces. According to her, it does not occur through nature of work but through one’s clear ethnicity and beliefs.
(b)Identify a marginalised community in your locality. Write a poem, or song, or draw a poster etc to express your feelings as a member of this community.
Solution:
People who are treated as less important or insignificant and are considered as people of lower status, are the people who are called marginalised. Some sections of the Indian society refers to them as untouchables. There are various reasons why marginalised people are treated the way they are treated. One of the reasons why they are treated this way is because their inputs to the society are treated as insignificant by the people in power.
Caste is the basis on which the Indian constitution recognises socially marginalised communities. In India we can also see marginalisation happening on the basis of sex, disability and caste.
The constitution of India has many provisions which deals with making sure that marginalisation does not happen in the society. One of the provisions is Article 46 in which the economic and educational interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections are promoted.
