Social Science VERY SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

• The 1989 Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was formed in response to the demands made by Dalits and others. The Activities demanded that the Government must take serious steps to protect them against the ill-treatment and humiliation faced by Dalits and tribal groups in their everyday life.
• Rathnam refused to perform a ritual and the powerful castes could not take his refusal. They ordered his community to ostracize him. The hut of Rathnam 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.
• Unlike other people from his caste, Rathnam was educated and hence was aware of his rights. He did not have to worry about finding gainful employment from upper caste people in the village. He took the whole incident as an attack on his dignity. Hence, Rathnam used Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to file a complaint to protest against the domination and violence of the powerful castes in his village.
• Though he was ostracized from his community, the local media supported Rathnam and the ritual was called off.

Two Fundamental Rights in the Constitution that Dalits can draw upon to insist that they be treated with dignity and as equals are:

1. Right to freedom.
2. Right to Equality.

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.

Muslims are 13.4 percent of India’s population and are considered to be a marginalized community in India today because in comparison to other communities they have over the years deprived of the benefits of socio - economic development with regards to literacy and public employment.

The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, was framed in response to demands made by Dalits and others groups.
They wanted the government to stop the ill treatment and humiliation Dalits and tribal groups face everyday.

Two different provisions in the 1989 Act are:

1. To occupy land that was traditionally theirs.
2. No force displacement.

1. Muslims are marginalized community in India because in comparison to other communities, they have over the years been deprived of the benefits of socio-economic development.
2. Like other minorities, Muslim customs and practices are sometimes quite distinct from what is seen as the mainstream. Some not all Muslim may wear a burqa, sport a long beard, wear a fez, and these become ways to identify Muslims. Because of this they tend to be identified differently and some people think they are not like ‘rest of us’. Often this becomes the excuse to treat them unfairly, and discriminate against them.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The term minority is most commonly used to refer to communities that are numerically small in relation to the rest of the population. The Adivasis are also less in number than other communities and are thus referred to as the minorities. Adivasis are 8 percent of the population.

1. Adivasi religions themselves have influenced dominant religions of the empires around them, for example, the Jagannath cult of Orissa and Shakti and Tantric traditions in Bengal and Assam.
2. During the nineteenth century, substantial numbers of Adivasis converted to Christianity, which has emerged as a very important religion in modern Adivasi history.