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Marginalisation

Class 8 Civics Chapter 8 Confronting

Marginalisation Extra Questions
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Confronting Marginalisation Class 8 Civics Extra

Questions and Answers

Table of Contents

Short Answer Type Questions

Long Answer Type Questions

 Short Answer Type Questions

1. Which article of Indian constitution abolishes untouchability?

Answer: Article 17 of the Constitution abolishes untouchability.

2. ‘The force is put on Ratham to perform the ritual of washing the feet of the priest and

then bathing in that water’. Which fundamental right is being violated in the case?

Answer: Right to Freedom

3. What is the ‘Reservation Policy’?

Answer: Reservation Policy is the policy which reserve seats in education and government

employment for Dalits and Adivasis.

4. By what names are the manual scavengers known in different parts of our country?

Answer: Manual scavengers are known as Bhangis in Gujarat, Pakhis in Andhra Pradesh and

the Sikkaliars in Tamil Nadu.

5. What is Article 15?

Answer: Article 15 of the Constitution notes that no citizen of India shall be discriminated

against on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

6. What did the marginal groups rely on to protect themselves from continued exploitation

by other groups?

Answer: Marginal groups relied on Constitution to protect themselves from continued

exploitation by other groups.

7. List two different provisions in the 1989 Act.

Answer: Two different provisions in the 1989 Act are:

to occupy land that was traditionally theirs

no force displacement

8. What is Article 17 of Indian constitution?

Answer: Article 17 of the Constitution states that untouchability has been abolished – what

this means is that no one can henceforth prevent Dalits from educating themselves, entering

temples, using public facilities etc.

9. What do you understand by the term ‘Dalit’?

Answer: The term Dalit, which means ‘broken’ is used deliberately and actively by groups to

highlight the centuries of discrimination they have experienced within the caste system.

10. What are the ways in which marginalized communities tried to overcome the

discriminations they faced?

Answer: They have attempted to overcome their situation by adopting a range of strategies in

their long history such as religious solace, armed struggle, self-improvement and education,

economic uplift.

11. How have the marginalised communities drawn on the fundamental rights?

Answer: They have drawn on these rights in two ways: first, by insisting on their Fundamental

Rights, they have forced the government to recognise the injustice done to them. Second,

they have insisted that the government enforce these laws.

12. List two Fundamental Rights in the Constitution that Dalits can draw upon to insist that

they be treated with dignity and as equals.

Answer: Two Fundamental Rights in the Constitution that Dalits can draw upon to insist that

they be treated with dignity and as equals are:

 Right to freedom

Right to Equality

13. What are the efforts made by government to eradicate manual scavenging?

Answer: In 1993, the government passed the Employment of Manual Scavengers and

Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act. This law prohibits the employment of manual

scavengers as well as the construction of dry latrines.

14. Describe the 1989 Act made in context to adivasi demands.

Answer: The 1989 Act confirms what has already been promised to tribal people in the

Constitution – that land belonging to tribal people cannot be sold to or bought by non-tribal

people. In cases where this has happened, the Constitution guarantees the right of tribal

people to re-possess their land.

15. What is manual scavenging? How is it harmful for people who practice it?

Ans. Manual scavenging refers to the practice of removing human and animal waste/excreta

using brooms, tin plates and baskets from dry latrines and carrying it on the head to disposal
grounds some distance away.

Manual scavengers are exposed to subhuman conditions of work and face serious health
hazards. They are constantly exposed to infections that affect their eyes, skin, respiratory and
gastro-intestinal systems.

Long Answer Type Questions

1. Give an argument in favour of the reservation policy.

Answer: The laws which reserve seats in education and government employment for Dalits

and Adivasis are based on an important argument- that in a society like ours, where for

centuries sections of the population have been denied opportunities to learn and to work in

order to develop new skills or vocations, a democratic government needs to step in and
assist these sections.

2. State the ideas of C.K Janu, an adivasi activist on violation of constitutional rights by the

government of various Indian states.

Answer: C.K. Janu, an Adivasi activist, has pointed out that one of the violators of

Constitutional rights guaranteed to tribal people are governments in the various states of

India – for it is they who allow non-tribal encroachers in the form of timber merchants, paper

mills etc, to exploit tribal land, and to forcibly evict tribal people from their traditional forests

in the process of declaring forests as reserved or as sanctuaries. She has also noted that in

cases where tribals have already been evicted and cannot go back to their lands, they must
be compensated.

3. The right, law or policy related to marginalized groups merely exists on the paper. Do you

agree? Comment

Answer: The existence of a right or a law or even a policy on paper does not mean that it

exists in reality. People have had to constantly work on or make efforts to translate these into

principles that guide the actions of their fellow citizens or even their leaders. The desire for

equality, dignity and respect is not new. It has existed in different forms throughout our

history. Similarly, even in a democratic society, similar processes of struggle, writing,

negotiation and organising need to continue.

4. 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?

Answer: The 1989 Act is important as Adivasi activists refer to it to defend their right to

occupy land that was traditionally theirs. This Act merely confirms what has already been
promised to tribal people in the Constitution – that land belonging to tribal people cannot be

sold to or bought by non-tribal people. In cases where this has happened, the Constitution

guarantees the right of tribal people to re-possess their land.

5. How does the reservation policy work?

Answer: Governments across India have their own list of Scheduled Castes (or Dalits),

Scheduled Tribes and backward and most backward castes. The central government too has

its list. Students applying to educational institutions and those applying for posts in

government are expected to furnish proof of their caste or tribe status, in the form of caste

and tribe certificates. If a particular Dalit caste or a certain tribe is on the government list,
then a candidate from that caste or tribe can avail of the benefit of reservation.

6. What is Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest

Rights) Act, 2006?

Or
What are the salient features of Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers

(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006?

Answer: The central government passed the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest

Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

This Act is meant to undo the historical injustices meted out to forest dwelling populations

in not recognising their rights to land and resources.

This Act recognises their right to homestead, cultivable and grazing land and to non-timber

forest produce.

The Act also points out that the rights of forest dwellers includes conservation of forests

and bio-diversity.

7. Why did the Safai Karamchari Andolan file a PIL in 2003? What did they complain about in

their petition? What did the Supreme Court do on hearing their case in 2005?

Answer: In 2003, the Safai Karamchari Andolan and 13 other organisations and individuals,

including seven scavengers, filed a PIL in the Supreme Court. The petitioners complained that

manual scavenging still existed and it continued in government undertakings like the

railways. The petitioners sought enforcement of their Fundamental Rights.

The court observed that the number of manual scavengers in India had increased since the

1993 law. It directed every department/ministry of the union government and state

governments to verify the facts within six months. If manual scavenging was found to exist,
then the government department has to actively take up a time-bound programme for their

liberation and rehabilitation.

8. How did Dalits assert themselves?

Answer: Dalits asserted themselves in the following ways:

During 1970s and 1980s, in parts of southern India, a number of assertive Dalit groups

came into being and asserted their rights – they refused to perform their so-called caste
 duties and insisted on being treated equally.

Dalit groups demanded new laws that would list the various sorts of violence against

dalits and prescribe stringent punishment for those who indulge in them.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Adivasi people successfully organised themselves and

demanded equal rights and for their land and resources to be returned to them.

9. 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.

Answer: This Act was framed in 1989 in response to demands made by Dalits and others that

the government must take seriously the ill treatment and humiliation Dalits and tribal groups

face in an everyday sense.

Rathnam refused to perform the ritual. Rathnam’s refusal angered both the powerful castes in

the village and some families from his own community. The powerful castes decided to teach

Rathnam a lesson. His community was ordered to ostracise him and his family, and everyone

was told that no one should speak or do any work for them or with them. One night some

men entered their part of the village and set his hut on fire. Rathnam, then went to file a case
in the local police station under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention

of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

10. Define the following terms with reference to the Confronting Marginalization: Assertive,

Confront, Dispossessed, Ostracise, Policy

Answer: Assertive: An assertive person or group is one that can express themselves and their

views strongly.

Confront: To come face to face or to challenge someone or something. In the context of this

chapter, this refers to groups challenging their marginalisation.

Dispossessed: To possess is to own something and to be dispossessed is to have to give up

ownership or to give up authority.

Ostracise: This means to exclude or banish an individual or a group. In the context of this
chapter, it refers to a social boycott of an individual and his family.

Policy: A stated course of action that provides direction for the future, sets goals to be
achieved or lays out principles or guidelines to be followed and acted upon. In this chapter,

we have referred to government policies. But other institutions like schools, companies, etc.

also have policies.

11. Mention a few crimes listed in Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989?

Answer: The Act distinguishes several levels of crimes.

Firstly, it lists modes of humiliation that are both physically horrific and morally

reprehensible and seeks to punish those who (i) force a member of a Scheduled Caste or a

Scheduled Tribe to drink or eat any inedible or obnoxious substance (ii) forcibly removes

clothes from the person of a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe or

parades him or her naked or with painted face or body or commits any similar act which is
derogatory to human dignity.

Secondly, it lists actions that dispossess Dalits and Adivasis of their meagre resources or

which force them into performing slave labour. Thus, the Act sets out to punish anyone
 who wrongfully occupies or cultivates any land owned by, or allotted to, a member of a

Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe or get the land allotted to him transferred

At another level, the Act recognizes that crimes against Dalit and tribal women are of a
specific kind and, therefore, seeks to penalise anyone who assaults or uses force on any

woman belonging to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe with intent to dishonour her.

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