Structure of Indian Society

STRUCTURE OF INDIAN SOCIETY
A Textbook for Class XII

(Semester III)
Author Amit Kumar Sharma Editor Swapan Kumar Bhattacharyya
First Edition February 2003 Phalgun
ISBN 81-7450-183-5
1924
Reprinted February 2003 Magha 1926 PD 75T SPA

National Council of Educational Research and Training, 2003
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The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been preparing and publishing school textbooks and other educational material for children and teachers. These publications are regularly revised on the basis of feedback from students, teachers, parents, and teacher educators. Research done by the NCERT also forms the basis for updating and revision. This book is based on the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2000 and the syllabi prepared in accordance with it. The Executive Committee of the NCERT, in its meeting held on 19 July 2004, discussed all aspects related to the quality of textbooks and decided that the textbooks of all subjects should undergo a quick review. In pursuance of this decision, the NCERT constituted 23 Quick Review Committees to examine all the textbooks. These committees identified various errors of conceptual, factual and linguistic nature. The review process also took note of the evaluation of textbooks undertaken earlier. The exercise has now been completed and the errors identified have been corrected. We hope that this revised edition will serve as an effective medium of teaching and learning. We look forward to your suggestions to enable us to further improve the quality of this book.
New Delhi January 2005
SECRETARY National Council of Educational Research and Training
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
Part IV A (Article 51 A)
Fundamental Duties
Fundamental Duties It shall be the duty of every citizen of India (a) to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem; (b) to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom; (c) to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India; (d) to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so; (e) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women; (f) to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture; (g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures; (h) to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform; (i) to safeguard public property and to abjure violence; (j) to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement; (k) who is a parent or guardian, to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years.
CONTENTS
PUBLISHERS NOTE 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Unity in Diversity Social Demography Rural-Urban Divides and Linkages Caste, Class and Tribe in India Marriage, Family and Kinship in India Religion in India Education in India Culture in India Politics in India iii 1 13 24 35 46 70 86 96 107 119 134
10. Deprived Groups 11. Approaches to the Study of Indian Society
CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
Part III (Articles 12 35)
(Subject to certain conditions, some exceptions and reasonable restrictions) guarantees these
Fundamental Rights
Right to Equality before law and equal protection of laws; irrespective of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth; of opportunity in public employment; by abolition of untouchability and titles. Right to Freedom of expression, assembly, association, movement, residence and profession; of certain protections in respect of conviction for offences; of protection of life and personal liberty; of free and compulsory education for children between the age of six and fourteen years; of protection against arrest and detention in certain cases. Right against Exploitation for prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour; for prohibition of employment of children in hazardous jobs. Right to Freedom of Religion freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion; freedom to manage religious affairs; freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion; freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in educational institutions wholly maintained by the State. Cultural and Educational Rights for protection of interests of minorities to conserve their language, script and culture; for minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. Right to Constitutional Remedies by issuance of directions or orders or writs by the Supreme Court and High Courts for enforcement of these Fundamental Rights.
CHAPTER 1
Unity in Diversity
Introduction One feature that is most often noticed about India is its unity in diversity. This overworked clich has become a part of Indias self-identity. India is a country of subcontinental proportions. From north to south, east to west, people from diverse backgrounds have mixed and cultures have intermingled over centuries. Nevertheless, there has been an underlying continuity in identity. There are very few countries which have such an enormous cultural diversity that India has to offer. Beneath the bewildering diversity of religion, language and customs of this vast country, the underlying unity is remarkable. The idea of unity is traced back by scholars to ancient times. The underlying cultural unity was strengthened further with the administrative unity brought about during the British rule and with the construction of India as a modern independent nation after the independence. The enduring nature of Indian unity has always been fascinating. Indian unity is the product of certain historical factors that are present in various fields of Indian social life. It appears as if the inhabitants from the Himalayas in the north to Kanyakumari in the south, and Kutchh in the west to Arunachal in the east are woven together into a beautiful tapestry. In the process of its evolution, Indian society has acquired a culture characterised by stable patterns of pluralism. However, the acceptance of cultural pluralism does not detract us from the idea of promoting economic, political and social integration. European Sociology conceptualises unity in a society in terms of linguistic nationality or in terms of political sovereignty. Thus, the primary basis of unity belongs to a nation. According to many Indian sociologists, however, unity in India and the whole of South Asia, in fact, has been civilisational, going back to ancient times and continuing to the present day. Thus, at the civilisational level there is unity in South Asia, but this South Asian civilisation is divided today into many nations like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. In terms of social institutions like the family, caste and lifestyles
there is a fundamental unity in the different societies and nations of South Asia. An important source of unity in traditional India was rooted in the processes of cultural communication and interaction. Sociologists have identified the role of traders, storytellers, crafts-people and artists, for example potters, musicians, dancers in traditional India, in building common cultural traditions. The institutions of pilgrimage, fairs and festivals provide yet another link for cultural unity. In addition to these agencies, the social structure and economy forged linkages of reciprocity and interaction between regions, groups and cultural traditions. Accommodation without assimilation has been the characteristic of Indian civilisation. Accommodation is a social process by which different elements of a society are integrated without losing their separate identity. Assimilation on the other hand is a type of integration where the earlier identity of the elements is dissolved. In Indian history and culture, additions of new components have not meant the discarding of old ones. The accommodation of diversity has been the underlying ideology and numerous social and cultural factors have contributed to the enduring nature of Indian unity. Order and stability was maintained not primarily by the state but through social, cultural, moral and technological values and institutions of Indian civilisation. Indian civilisation gave enough freedom for the practice of any way of life although different
customary ways were ranked in a hierarchy. This created inequality and integration as well . THE FACTORS OF UNITY IN DIVERSITY We can discuss the following five factors of unity in diversity of India: 1. Geographical and Demographic Factors The first striking feature about India is its diversity because of Indias geographical environment and numerous population. It is difficult to imagine the vast territory that stretches from north to south and east to west as one continuous territory. It is nearly fourteen times as large as Great Britain and over ten times the size of the entire British Isles. The temperature varies from extreme heat to extreme cold. The temperate, the tropical and the polar climates are found in India. In terms of physical features of the population, there is a diversity in appearance, skin colour, eye colour, height and figure. However, geography seems to have played an important role in engendering Indian unity and the sense of Indianness. Shut off from the rest of Asia by the inaccessible barriers of the mighty Himalayas and with the seas and the ocean on all other sides, India is clearly marked out to be a geographical entity. Not only are her territories thus sharply demarcated from the rest of the world, but nature has generously placed within her
UNITY IN DIVERSITY
boundaries all resources that human beings need for developing a rich and creative life. Thus, Indian geography has facilitated unity and continuity of her history as a country. Attempts either to divide the country or to expand it beyond its natural frontiers have mostly failed. The vastness of the land influenced the mind of Indians in two ways. The great variety in landscape, climate and conditions of life prepared in the mind a readiness to accept differences. Besides, the vast spaces offered room for slow infiltration by newcomers and allowed each locality unhampered scope of development along its own lines. The geographical unity of the country has had its effects on the economic life of the people. The size of the country and quality of the land permitted gradual increase in population and expansion of cultivation. The fact that India has continually developed and maintained an agricultural economy for almost four or five thousand years explains in part the depth and tenacity of her culture and traditions. The primacy of agricultural economy led to the development of common characteristics and a common outlook. The geographical unity of India is easily missed in her vastness and variety. A permanent and characteristically Indian expression of unity is found in the network of shrines and sacred places spread throughout the country. The visit to holy places as an imperative religious duty has made travelling a habit for Indians. Similarly,
the multitude of monuments associated with different religious communities which have adorned the land influence the geographical consciousness of a large number of people. 2. Religious Factors India is a multi-religious country. There are seven major religious groups in India according to 1991 census. The Hindus constitute the majority of Indian population, about 82 per cent. The Muslims constitute the second largest religious group (about 12.12 per cent). The Christians (about 2.34 per cent), the Sikhs (about 1.94 per cent), the Buddhists (about 0.76 per cent), the Jains (about 0.40 per cent) and others the Jews, the Zoroastrians or Parsis and the Animists (about 0.44 per cent) may not be numerically big, but their contribution to India is as significant as the other bigger groups. Religion is both a factor of unity and diversity in Indian society. All religious groups are differentiated internally. Caste or caste like status groups are found in Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism. Within a homogeneous society, religion plays a highly integrative role but by the same token in a multi-religious society religion can become an issue of contention and lead to conflicts. Traditionally, different religious groups have lived in India in more or less peaceful coexistence. In recent years, however, harmony between religious groups, which in India we refer to as communal harmony, has been under strain. There are two major aspects to any religion, the spiritual and the temporal.
The spiritual aspect of religion is quite similar in all religions. In every religion an emphasis is placed on the moral conduct and transcendence of the selfish ego. While this aspect of religion is a matter of personal devotion, the temporal aspect of religion is always related with the group identity and solidarity is maintained by religious rituals and communitys beliefs. At the temporal level, different religious groups differ from each other. In India, there has not been only a great degree of religious tolerance among the different religious communities, but some religious places have acquired a character and popularity that goes beyond a single religious community. Similarly, some religious festivals are celebrated, at least in a limited way, by many religious communities. Places like Varanasi, Ujjain, Amritsar, Mathura, Bodhgaya, Vaishno Devi, Tirupati and Ajmer Sharif are some such religious centres. For instance, a large number of Hindus also visit Ajmer Sharif, a Muslim pilgrimage place. Also, the economy of these religious centres often involves shopkeepers and service providers from other religions. In the field of bhakti and devotion the Hindu Saints and Muslim Sufis had many similarities and commonalities. Some religious festivals like Diwali, Dushehera and Holi have two aspects, ritualistic and cultural. The ritualistic aspect is restricted to Hindus but the cultural aspect is more or less celebrated by all the communities. In the same way, Christmas and Id-ul-fitr
are also celebrated at many places by different religious communities. Kabir, Akbar, Dara Shikoh and Mahatma Gandhi have been instrumental in developing common ethos among the different religious communities in India. Persian Sufism took a new shade of colour in India. Poets and religious teachers Ramanand and Kabir tried to combine the best and condemn the worst in Hinduism and Islam alike. At the courts of Oudh and Hyderabad there grew aesthetic standards in painting, in poetry, in love and in food, which drew on the courtly traditions of Rajasthan and Persia. Muslims borrowed caste from Hindus, Hindus took purdah from Muslims. Religion, however, is also a factor of diversity and animosity. The country was partitioned into India and Pakistan, primarily on religious and communal lines. Even after partition the communal problem raised its head from time to time. Communalism, which breeds hatred and violence against other religions, is the result of fundamentalism. Fundamentalism is an attitude of some religious people who emphasise the letter of religious dogmas over the underlying spirit. It is a product of ignorance as well as deliberate mischief by vested interests to gain political power and economic benefits by exploiting religious sentiments of the faithful people and dividing them along communal lines. 3. Cultural Factors The story of Indian culture is one of continuity, synthesis and enrichment.
UNITY IN DIVERSITY
Culture is also a source of unity as well as diversity like religion. Powerful kingdoms and empires such as the Mauryas and the Guptas did not aggressively intervene in social and cultural matters; leaving much diversity intact. Although Islam was the politically dominant religion in large parts of the country for several centuries it did not absorb Hinduism, or disturb the Hindu social structure. Nor did Hinduism, which was demographically and otherwise dominant seek to eliminate the beliefs and practices, characteristic of other religions. Various beliefs and practices are pursued and maintained by Hindus, Muslims and Christians alike. Over the time Indian society has come to be divided into innumerable tribes, castes, sub-castes, clans, sects and communities each of which seek to maintain their own style of life and code of conduct. Many sociologists have recorded in detail the immense variety in the habits, practices and customs of the people in different geographical regions. The distribution of material traits such as dress, habitation, arts and crafts, endless variety of food and their preparation, makes India a living example of regional diversity. The role played by Indian religion, philosophy, art and literature in bringing about unity is conspicuous. Social institutions like the caste system and the joint family, which are found throughout the length and breadth of the country, are typically Indian. The celebration of festivals is observed all
over India in much the same manner. Likewise, similarities in art and culture engraved on the temple and palace walls all over India have generated the feeling of oneness. Inspite of their distinctiveness the coexistence of cultures is celebrated. 4. Political Factors It is generally believed that Indias continuity as a civilisation was social and cultural rather than political. Order and stability were maintained not by means of the state but through culture and society. The vastness of the countrys extreme diversity of physical features, endless variety of races, castes, creeds and languages and dialects have made it difficult to establish an allIndian empire. This also accounts for the fact that political unity is not the normal characteristic of ancient and medieval Indian history. However, the idea of bringing the whole country under one central authority has always been on the minds of great kings and statesmen of India. It was with this purpose that the kings of ancient India proclaimed the idea of Chakravarti. Kings like Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka, Samudragupta and Harshvardhana had put this idea into practice. The socio-political contributions of some Muslim rulers such as Akbar and Jehangir were also highly commendable. Akbars Din-e-elahi and Jehangirs emphasis on justice deserve special mention in this regard. In a sense, India has never been a well-organised political unit under the government of a single state. Even
British India was a part of India and did not comprehend the whole of it, which was split up into about 600 states, large and small but separate and independent as autonomous entities. The British tried to establish political unification under a paramount power with regard to the defence, external relations, foreign policy and certain economic matters within the whole of India. Such attempts, however, were not uncommon in earlier periods. After the independence India was united politically and administratively but it was already divided between India and Pakistan. After the independence the unity of India is expressed in the institution of the nation. It is the product of the freedom movement as well as the constitutional legacy of the British rule. There is political and administrative unity today but there are different political parties and diverse political ideologies. Therefore, politics is both a factor of unity and diversity. 5. Linguistic Factors India is a multilingual country. Language is another source of cultural diversity as well as unity. It contributes to collective identities and even to conflicts. Eighteen languages are recognised by Indian Constitution. All major languages have regional and dialectical variations, for example, Hindi has Awadhi, Brij, Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Bundeli, Pahari, Malwi and several other dialects. The situation is further complicated since 179 languages and 544 dialects are recognised in India. These languages and dialects are
divided into three linguistic families Indo-Aryan, Dravidian and Mundari. Indo-Aryan family of languages includes Sanskrit and other North Indian languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Urdu, etc. and their dialects. The Dravidian family of languages includes Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malaylam. The Mundari group of languages and dialects are found among the tribal communities of India. During the medieval period Persian, Arabic and Urdu became popular languages. Urdu developed in India with Hindi around the same period as Hindustani language. They have different script but many similarities. Arabic and Persian played the role of official and court languages replacing Sanskrit and Pali. In the post independence period, English replaced Urdu as the official and court language. After independence, Hindi was made the national language but English remained the language of the central government and of the courts. English has also remained the language of higher education and research in India after 1835. The importance given to English in Independent India has also had an impact on Indian languages and literature, as well as on social structure and divisions in Indian society. The social and economic distinction between an English speaking, prosperous elite and the masses who speak the Indian vernacular languages or dialects is quite pronounced.
UNITY IN DIVERSITY
Linguistic diversity has posed administrative and political problems. But language too has an underlying role in the unity in diversity of Indian culture. Although there is bewildering diversity in the languages and dialects of India, fundamental unity is found in the ideas and themes expressed in these languages. There is unity also at the level of grammatical structures. Sanskrit has deeply influenced most languages of India with its vocabulary. Dravidian languages also have a number of Sanskrit words today. Persian, Arabic and English words too have become part of the Indian languages and dialects today. The spirit of accommodation, which united different ethnic groups into one social system, also expresses itself in the literatures of India. Language is also a factor of diversity and separatism. Linguistic separatism has a strong emotional appeal. Political mobilisations and conflicts have arisen between different linguistic groups. However, it is important to note that neither political mobilisation, nor linguistic antagonism flows naturally out of linguistic diversities. These political mobilisations and antagonisms are the product of modern historical circumstances. After independence linguistic problems of India were centred around three issues: 1. The official languages issue, 2. The demands for the linguistic reorganisation of the provinces of India whose boundaries during the British rule did not conform to
linguistic division; and 3. The status of minority languages within reorganised states. After much deliberations, Hindi was made the official language of India but English was retained at least for a transition period. Earlier, this transition period was supposed to last for fifteen years. In 1965, English was given the status of an associate additional official language of the union and of inter -provincial communication. The major regional languages are used in their own provinces and recognised as other national languages through their incorporation into the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Hindi is the official language of the country but the associate additional official language English has retained its power, status and glamour as well. Elements of Unity in Traditional India Due to cultural and economic interaction and geographical mobility there has emerged an all-India style, a series of inter -linkages and much commonality between different regions of India. The elements of all-India structure include the following: (1) India is characterised by numerous local level traditions or folk traditions as well as what could be deemed as the greater classical tradition. The latter would be more widely spread over the country but also confined to certain dominant sections of society.
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
The Sanskrit Brahmi at one end and Persian script at another for Indian and other subcontinental languages and literature. Common to each linguistic region are specific agriculture castes which form the core of rural communities, along with their complementary artisan and service castes. These were involved in a jajman service provider relation-ship. In the urban areas there were predominantly, castes of banias ( traders ), crafts persons and castes such as brahmans and kayasthas . In the institutions of administration and defence both social and spatial mobility existed. Cosmopolitan recruitment also took place due to traditional cultural institutions such as gharanas of music and dancing. There were also schools of medicine, shastric schools of learning, peethas, and akharas of devotional sects. Pilgrimage centres have also led to a type of unity at the all India level. Barriers of caste, class and other social taboos were almost absent at pilgrimage centres during several cultural occasions. People from different regions were able to interact at the pilgrim centres with each other leading to the establishment of cultural bonds. Trans-sectarian pilgrim sites include Kashi, Haridwar, Rameshwaram, Dwarka, Badrinath, Gaya, similarly Amritsar and Ajmer Sharif also become pilgrimage
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
centre during medieval period. Cultural identity is maintained by a common metaphysical base, such as the idea of ethical compensation (Karmphal) and the idea of transcendence. Variants of all India epics and mythology, which emphasise certain values and goals, are found in all regions. Examples are purusharth (achievement ideals), rinas (obligations), dana (sharing), Samskara (sacraments) at birth, death and marriage, vrata (the ritual to earn merit) and prayaschita (penance or expiation). Traditional personal laws and social customs of the Hindus were applicable in different regions. The dayabhaga system of inheritance was popular in Bengal whereas the mitakshara prevailed over the rest of the country, except in Kerala and Bengal. Most Indians believe in the ideas of heaven and hell and cherish the idea of moksha , salvation or nirvana liberation from the cycle of life and death. This concept of moksha or nirvana is linked with the perception of the one ultimate Brahma. Elements of Unity during the Medieval India
In the middle ages when the world witnessed the most intensely fought religious wars in Europe and the Middle East, India stood out as a country where many religions
UNITY IN DIVERSITY
co-existed in relative social harmony. The role of the ruler like Akbar was also very important in this context. Islam seems to have strengthened the de-ritualising and egalitarian trends in Medieval Hinduism, while Hindu philosophy seems to have strengthened the mystical spiritual strain in Muslim religious thought. For example, the Bhakti movement initiated by the Nayanar Saints of South India found strength in the context of Islam and Muslim dominance in North India. In the same way, the mystic and devotional aspect of Islam was strengthened in the philosophical milieu of Hinduism. Ramanand, Kabir, Nanak and Dara Shikoh played a significant role in the spread of mutual understanding among the Hindu and the Muslim masses. A unified culture in language, music and the arts was developed during the medieval period. Hindi and Urdu are the product of this unified Hindustani culture of medieval India. Both languages have common roots, common vocabulary but these are written in different scripts Devanagari and Persian respectively. In music and arts, the Hindus and the Muslims had come together. North Indian (Hindustani) music was nurtured at the kings courts and in the Hindu temples. Hindus sang at the Muslim courts and Muslims have sung bhajans at Hindu temples. Krishna, Radha and the gopis have provided the staple theme for many of the compositions sung by Hindu and Muslim masters alike. In architecture the process of
blending Hindu and Muslim elements was perfected during the medieval period. During the rule of Akbar, a synthesis of the Turko-Persian conceptions with Indian style was attempted. In Jehangirs time the Hindu influence seems to have had increased. The tomb of Akbar at Sikandra shows, in spite of its Muslim arches and domes, the general pattern of Buddhist viharas or of the rathas of Mahablipuram. Jain influence is found on the mosque of Fathehpur Sikri and Mount Abu. The Mughal architecture acquired new qualities which neither the Persian nor the old Indian styles had ever possessed. Painting also developed a new style during this period through the blending of the Turko-Iranian with the old Indian style. Akbar founded an academy of painting at his court where Indian and Persian artists worked together. Jehangir was not only a patron of art but was himself an artist, and during his time Mughal painting reached its zenith. Elements of Unity in the Modern India During the colonial rule different factors led to significant changes in the structure of Indian society. The traditional framework of unity in Indian civilisation came under tremendous stress. Modern education introduced by the colonial rulers initiated a process of cultural westernisation. The freedom movement (1857-1947) created new sources of unity in Indian society. Now, nationalism replaced
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religion and culture as the cementing force within Indian society. Despite the partition in 1947, the experience of freedom movement is still the foundation of Indian unity in modern India. After the independence the nation and its different organs have become the pillars of unity in India. The constitution built on the pre- existing unity of India has strengthened it still further by emphasising the values of equality, fraternity, secularism and justice. In contemporary India the pillars of unity include the following: (1) The Indian Constitution is the most fundamental source of unity in India today. Indians believe in the basic framework of the Constitution. (2) Indian Parliament is the national legislative organ of the Indian nation. Representatives are elected by the people and every adult citizen (above 18 years) of India has a right to vote. This represents the peoples will in general. (3) The Government of India is formally headed by the President who rules on the advice of a council of ministers headed by the Prime Minister. (4) The Judiciary is the legal guardian of Indian people. The judiciary is an autonomous body at the local, regional and central levels. It works as the custodian of the Indian Constitution. (5) The bureaucracy, the police and other educated professionals such as engineers, scientists, doctors, academics and journalists have
(6)
(7)
played an important role in governing the country, maintaining law and order and in carrying out various development projects and schemes of the government. The military services deserve special mention in view of the wars, insurgency and the interborder tensions experienced during the last few decades, as also during national calamities like floods, earthquakes, cyclones etc. Modern means of communication, the network of railways, surface transport, civil aviation, post offices, telegraph, telephones, print media, radio and television have played important roles in maintaining and strengthening the national ethos and creating a we feeling among Indians. Industrialisation, urbanisation and other economic factors have led to the creation of the capitalist and the middle classes and have also created mobility of labour and services throughout the country. Problems of NationBuilding and National Integration
The formation of consciousness of identity in terms of culture, custom, way of life and language, etc. gives rise to ethnicity and ethnic groups. Ethnic conflicts and ethnic self-consciousness result invariably from perceived or real experiences of domination or subordination of one group by another either politically, economically, culturally or socially. A caste group, tribe, linguistic, religious or cultural
UNITY IN DIVERSITY
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group may also act as an ethnic group in its competitive quest for access to resources. A large part of ethnic demands can be resolved following a strategy of constructive reconciliation. There were and there are many ethnic demands in post-independence India. Attempts were made to reconcile some of the ethnic demands of minority religious groups, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes in the Indian Constitution itself. There was also a demand for linguistic reorganisation of regional states. There have been the Dravidian movement, ethnic assertions in Kashmir, the North-East, Gorkhaland, Punjab and other places. The Constitution offers two types of policies for nation building in India, (a) positive discrimination in favour of the traditionally deprived and exploited sections of society, and (b) a broad national policy of social, economic and political development based on principles of civic culture and judicial,
administrative and institutional modernisation. The biggest challenge to effective nation-building and national integration comes from containing poverty, economic polarisation, overpopulation and regional imbalances in development. On the one hand, globalisation is opening up new opportunities for the educated and the well-off who have the education, skills and financial resources to compete in the national and global marketplace. On the other hand, a large number of rural and urban youth and families continue to languish in poverty, unemployment and underemployment. The impact at the cultural level is diverse. On the one hand, we have list of channels focussing on religious themes and on the other hand, we have western serials dubbed in Indian languages. The issue is not just of west ern or non -western sources of culture. But whether the media encourages a critical or passive attitude generally?
GLOSSARY
ACCRETION. An increase in the size of a society as a result of the addition of a new outside group. ACCULTURATION.The process whereby one group of people becomes more like another group of people without loosing their own identity in behaviour, customs, etc., usually because of living near them for a long time. DIVERSITY. Variety in kind, form, type, composition etc.
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INTEGRATION . The social process by which different units of a society are integrated viz., brought together to form a whole. NATION. A community of people of mainly common descent, culture, history, language, etc. forming a state or inhabiting a territory. PILGRIMAGE. A journey to a shrine or other holy places, or to a place celebrated or made special by its associations, undertaken in order to gain a greater sense of closeness to the religion, etc. PLURALISM. The existence within a society of a variety of ethnic, cultural and religious groups. UNITY. To bring different elements within a society to form a single unit or whole.
EXERCISES 1. Explain the geographical factors of unity in India.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Explain the religious factors of unity. How is language a source of unity? Discuss the elements of unity in traditional India. Discuss the elements of unity in modern India. What are the policy measures taken by the Government of India to promote national integration?
SUGGESTED READINGS
1. Ahmad, Imtiaz, Ghosh, P. S. and Reifeld, H., ed., Pluralism and Equality : Values in Indian Society and Politics, Sage Publication, New Delhi, 2000. 2. Gore, M. S., Unity in Diversity : The Indian Experience in Nation-Building, Rawat Publication, Jaipur, 2002. 3. Kabir, Humayun, Our Heritage, National Information and Publications Ltd., Mumbai, 1946. 4. Malik, S. C., Understanding Indian Civilisation : A Framework of Enquiry, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Simla, 1975. 5. Sharma, S. L. and Oommen, T. K., ed, Nation and National Identity in South Asia, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 2000. 6. Singh, Yogendra, Social Change in India, Har -Anand Publications, New Delhi, 1993.
CHAPTER 2
Social Demography
MEANING OF SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY The study of human population is known by two terms: (1) population studies, and (2) demography. Population studies is commonly taken to mean a study of population variables, such as birth, death, migration, marriage, etc. and relationships between population changes and other variables, such as social, economic, political, biological, genetic, geographical and the like. Demography, on the other hand, is taken to mean a mathematical and statistical study of size, composition, distribution of human population and changes therein. Both the terms are, however, used interchangeably as synonyms by various population analysts. But the latter term has become more popular than the former. Etymologically speaking, the term demography was first used in 1885 by Guillard. Demography consists of two roots demos and graphy. The first root refers to people while the other refers to descriptive science. These two roots combined together refer to a systematic, descriptive and scientific study of the people. Thus, demography means a science of the logical and systematic study of people and various related aspects. Demography is the study of statistics of births, deaths, and movement of people, age, rural-urban structures of population etc., as illustrating the demographic conditions of population of communities. It is a discipline concerned with the study of demographic processes, on the one hand, and demographic structures of population on the other. Thus, two basic sub-divisions of demography are: demographic processes and demographic structures. The demographic processes consist mainly of fertility, mortality and migration. Similarly, demographic structures consist mainly of age composition of population, male-female composition, size of population, territorial or regional composition and social composition of population. On the above lines, demography is commonly classified as formal demography and social (or substantive) demography. Formal demography simply refers to a mathematical study of such vital events as birth, death, migration, marriage and divorce. Social demography refers
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to a study of relationship between demographic phenomena on the one hand and social and economic phenomena on the other. The recent developments in the field of demography have marked a shift from formal demography to social or substantive demography which takes into account not only the demographic components but also non-demographic components, such as, economic, social and cultural factors. The shift in demography has made this science more relevant and meaningful because demographic changes can be explained not only from the demographic angle but also from socio-economic and cultural viewpoints. Social demography as a new branch of knowledge exists at the margin of demography and sociology. The subject matter of social demography embraces not only two sub-divisions of demography (viz., demographic processes and demographic structures) but also the two sub-divisions of sociology (viz., social processes and social structures). Thus, social demography comprises four sub-divisions, viz., (1) demographic processes (2) demographic structures (3) social processes, and (4) social structures. Social demography is based on the premise that social processes and social structures regulate demographic processes and demographic structures. This premise highlights the relevance of sociology in demographic studies. Since demographic trends are socially conditioned, social determinants
need to be identified and examined. A student equipped with sociological knowledge tries to examine how demographic variables are regulated and determined by social factors. For example, for a newly born child, it is the family that provides the social context to the process of birth of children. The family, its structures, its cultural ethos and its normative order regulate the birth of the child and the fertility rate. Social processes and social structures include a number of variables such as socialisation, communication, cultural transformation, values, beliefs, customs, mobility, education, family, structure, caste, class, occupations, kinship, ethnicity, forms of marriage, etc. All these processual and structural components, in which sociologists are interested, directly or indirectly affect demographic variables and are, in turn, affected by them. Thus, the relationship between demographic and sociological variables becomes reciprocal. This reciprocity and interdependence among them become the central focus of social demography.
Socio-demographic Profile of India

We have seen that social demography is a complex subject because it combines a number of demographic and social factors. In the context of social demography, let us now briefly examine some of the salient features of demographic trends in India. India is the second most populous country in
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the world. Indias population is roughly around 16% of the total population of the world while Chinas population is about 22%. But China has almost attained demographic stability, which has not yet been achieved in India, because the fertility rate has not stabilised significantly in the country. According to the Human Development Report 2002, prepared by UNDP, the total fertility rate in India was 5.4 per woman during 1970-75. Whereas during 1995-2000, the total fertility rate was 3.3 per woman. The tables given below indicate the trends of population in India in terms of selected demographic indicators:
Table 1: Demographic Characteristics of Indias Population
Year CBR CDR IMR Migration (% istribution of migrants) 30 31 27 28
Table 3: Age Composition of Population in India

Year 1971 1981 1991 2001 0-14 (%) 42 40 36 35 15 59 (%) 53 54 58 59 60 and above (%) 5 6 6 7
Table 4: Male-Female Composition of Population in India (in million)

Year 1971 1981 1991 2001 Male 284 353 438 531 Female 264 331 406 496
Table 5: RuralUrban Composition of Population in India

Year 1971 1981 1991 2001 Rural 80 78 74 72 Urban 20 22 26 28
Table 6: Level of Literacy in India

Year 1971 1981 1991 2001 Size of educated population (total population as the base) 34 44 52 65
1971 1981 1991 2001
37 34 20 18
13 10 9 8
129 110 85 71
CBR Crude Birth Rate per thousand population CDR Crude Death Rate per thousand population IMR Infant Mortality Rate per thousand live births.
Table 2 : Indias Population and its Growth Rate

Year Total Population 548 683 846 1027 Decadal Average Growth Annual Growth Rate (%) Rate (%) 25 25 24 21 2.20 2.22 2.14 1.93
Table 7: Gender Composition of Indias Population

Year 1971 1981 1991 2001
Source : Census of India, 2001. Note : Figures of all the tables have been rounded off to the nearest number.
Gender Ratio (F/M) 930 934 927 933
1971 1981 1991 2001
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These social and demographic characteristics of Indias population indicate the following: 1. The birth rate, the death rate and the infant mortality rates of population in India have declined but they are still quite high as compared to developed countries. 2. The growth rate of population has declined over the years, but the size of total population in India has increased. India has crossed a population of more than one billion now (see Tables 1 and 2). 3. The increase in the size of population in India can be attributed to a relatively faster rate of decline in mortality than fertility. A relatively faster rate of decline in mortality has obviously resulted in increase in life expectancy of the people of India. Simultaneously, it has also resulted in an increase in the size of the population. There are numerous socio-economic and cultural factors which are responsible for the declining yet constantly high birth-rate in India. 4. The age composition of the population indicates that the size of the population at lower agegroups has become smaller because of decline in mortality and fertility. Yet the size is quite significant as compared with more developed countries because of the progressive impact of high fertility (Table 3). 5. The age composition indicates an important change in Indias population, that is, marked
6.
7.
8.
9.
increase in the size of the working population, which has a number of socio-economic implications. Another significant change noticeable in Indias population is that the size of elderly population has increased. This has got a number of social, economic and health related implications. Increases in the size of working population and in the size of adult population too have certain policy implications for the government. The gender composition and rural-urban distributions of population (Tables 4 and 5) indicate a relatively smaller proportion of female population, and continuing preponderance of rural population in Indias total population. These two characteristics are related with the decline in the gender ratio and slower process of migration and urbanisation. The composition of literate population in India indicates an increase in the size of literate population but there is no significant decadal change in this regard. This raises a question mark against the satisfactory progress of formal education in India. The lower gender ratio (Table 7) and high infant mortality rate (Table 1) indicate comparatively lower status of women and poor health condition of Indias population. All the above
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characteristics point towards a poor quality of life in general. 10. Like the process of fertility and mortality, migration is another demographic process. It brings about changes in the size and structure of population. Since migration causes change in the place of residence, it is termed as spatial mobility, which may be local , regional, national or even international. The spatial mobility at local level is mostly a process of short-term migration, such as the movement of seasonal workers or of students going out for study or of a person going out to a hill resort. Such a movement, however, does not cause change in the usual place of residence of movers. Therefore, such persons, in a real sense, are not considered migrants. A person who moves with the intention to change her or his place of usual residence on a permanent or semi-permanent basis is regarded as migrant in Indian census. There are two major streams of migration: (1) Shortterm migration, which consists mainly of those seasonal migrants who live at the place of destination with an intent to work for a while and come back to the place of origin after a short duration, and (2) long-term migration, which consists of those who cover a longdistance in search of work with an intent to change their place of
work on a permanent or semipermanent basis. Both these streams form a part of internal migration. The most important among them is, however, a longterm rural to urban migration because it brings about significant socio-cultural and economic changes in the life of migrants. Since, migration is the cause and the consequence of a number of social, cultural and economic factors, this process is considered an important component of social demography. Major Theoretical Approaches to the Study of Population in India If we look at the trends of population growth in India, we find that the rate of growth is still quite high. Since the size of population has gone beyond the available resources, scholars are concerned to view the problems of overpopulation from different perspectives. To them, this problem is closely related with the problem of underdevelopment. The dominant view is that population growth in India is adversely affecting development and, therefore, population has to be controlled at the earliest. It is because of this reason that the National Population Policy (2000) aims at stabilising population at a level consistent with the requirements of the national economy. The problems of over -population and of under development have been examined from varying perspectives. They may be classified into four broad categories:
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1. 2. 3. 4.
Demographic perspective Economic perspective Sociological perspective Historical perspective
(b)
1. Demographic Perspective: This perspective is concerned mainly with the ideas of Malthus and NewMalthusian thinkers. Thomas Robert Malthus(1766-1834) was an economist who looked at the problems of population from the demographic point of view. This perspective is based on the empirical work conducted by Malthus and others mainly in European countries. The main features of this perspective are the following : Population has a natural tendency to increase which is faster than the level of subsistence because: (i) Mankind has an inherent tendency to reproduce. (ii) The means of production, mainly land, has limited capacity for producing subsistence. There is an antagonism between the power of population and the power of the earth. The former has the potential to increase faster than the latter (subsistence). These are two unequal powers. This fact leads to the gap between the growth of population on the one hand and the food production on the other. In the light of this finding, Malthus developed his principles of population growth as given below: (a) Population tends to increase faster than food production. If unchecked, it increases in a geometric ratio.
(c)
(d)
Food production tends to increase in an arithmetic ratio due to diminishing return from the sources of production, mainly the land. The disparity or gap between the two gives rise to shortage of food and other necessities of life, poverty, misery, vices, unemployment, surplus labour etc. Malthus has suggested measures of solving problems resulting from continuing population growth and means of subsistence. They are: (i) Positive checks; and (ii) Preventive checks. If the population keeps on increasing nature itself imposes positive checks such as war, epidemic, plague and famine which tend to shorten the human life. The preventive checks include moral restraint like celibacy, delayed marriage and other methods of birth control.
2. Economic Perspective: Marxian approach as a Politico-economic perspective on population is perhaps the most important. Karl Marx (1818-1883) and the Marxist writers do not support the Malthusian perspective on the ground that certain economic conditions create the problem of overpopulation. Those conditions are created by the capitalist mode of production, which lack a rational distribution of wages and resources and effective use of human productivity. Such a process of capital accumulation creates different forms of
SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY
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surplus population and increases poverty and underdevelopment. Thus, over-population is a consequence of capitalist economy. The main features of this perspective are the following: 1. Growth of population is determined by economic conditions of living. 2. There is no universal law of population and food production. If there is any law, it is historically determined in accordance with the changes in the mode of production but it is not determined by the so-called unequal powers of population and land. 3. In order to achieve optimum size of population and reduce population growth, social reorganisation or collectivisation of economy and the rational distribution of resources and the expansion of infrastructural facilities are needed. 4. The economic perspective does not support the notion of diminishing return from any factor, mainly the land. According to this perspective, the productive capacity of land increases through the application of science and technology. 5. In this perspective, development is regarded as the best contraceptive. Development and over-population are relative terms. They are inversely correlated and population declines as development takes place. 3. Sociological Perspective: Under this perspective various demographic processes and structures are viewed as
integral parts of the larger social system. This suggests that social institutions and social processes determine demographic processes. This perspective lays special emphasis on social determinism. The demographic processes and structures are conditioned by a number of sociocultural factors and forces. This perspective does not single out any factor as the most important or determining factor. The main features of this perspective are as follows: 1. The sociological approach has shown the limitations of Malthusian and Marxist perspectives. 2. It is a holistic approach because it takes into account the problem of population in its totality in which a number of socio-economic and cultural factors interact with demographic factors. For example, any change in the family structure is likely to generate corresponding change in the fertility behaviour and composition of population. Therefore, certain institutional patterns become responsible for high or low growth rate of population. 3. According to this perspective the problem of over-population is also linked with the traditional norms in favour of high fertility and large family size. 4. The sociological perspective provides a promising framework of analyses because it does not ignore the role of demographic and economic factors while giving greater emphasis on socio-
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cultural factors. It takes an integrated and holistic view of human population. The sociological perspective seems to be more appropriate for understanding the Indian situation. India is, by and large, a semi-traditional society where socio-cultural factors have deep roots in the organic structure of Indian society. If we examine the cultural ethos of Indian society, it seems that the people of this country have always been in favour of a large family size. Children are regarded as social and cultural assets. Such a traditional consideration continues to influence the cultural basis of the large family size in India. Appropriate changes in our sociocultural system may facilitate the acceptance of small family norm. To realise such changes, fast economic development is recommended by the proponents of this approach. 4. Historical Perspective: This perspective is also known as the threestage model of demographic transition. This perspective gives a generalised explanation of socio-demographic changes passing through three well defined stages of transition from ancient to medieval to the modern stage. These three stages indicate an evolutionary sequence of changes from simple to complex and from a high to a low fertility-mortality rate. The main features of this perspective are as follows: 1. It signifies a clear sequence of evolutionary socio-economic and demographic changes. 2. The changes follow an identical
pattern of change from simple to complex and from high to low fertility-mortality rate. However, the historical perspective makes generalisation on the basis of limited empirical facts and this evolutionary historical model of demographic changes is based on the western experiences to a large extent. Therefore, it may not be useful for logical and precise generalisations relevant for Indian conditions. POPULATION POLICY OF INDIA We have seen earlier that the population of India and China is quite large. If we combine Africa with India and China, we find that the half of the total population of the world resides in these three regions. India is the second largest country in terms of size of population. In spite of a consistent effort to control population growth, Indias population has crossed more than one billon mark (1012.4 million, March 2001). The projection of population shows that Indias population may reach 1178.9 million in March 2011 and 1263.5 million in March 2016. The realization of the adverse impact of population growth in India on her resources has given rise to continuous efforts to control population. The initial efforts were made in India in the first five-year plan to limit population growth. However, family planning programmes gained momentum in 1966 when a separate department of family planning was established. It was at this stage that the programmes became a combined package of child
SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY
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health, nutritional status of the child and social welfare services. Thereafter, an explicit National Population Policy was formulated during the year 1975-76 consisting of rules aiming at a proper implementation of the targets for reducing the birth rate, growth of population and achieving economic, social and other demographic goals. The National Population Policy-1976 proposed a comprehensive coverage of all these aspects of life. In pursuance of this, and in the light of KAP (Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices) surveys, it was proposed that a programme of introducing population education should be started in order to create awareness of the problem of population in India among young learners. The National Council of Educational Research and T raining (NCERT) was given the responsibility to formulate, and expand the programme of population education at the school level. The realisation of the limitation of family planning programmes gave rise to necessary changes in the scope of the programme. Thus the programme was renamed as family welfare programme, which includes all the principal areas of human welfare. Therefore, in 1983 the emphasis was given in the family welfare programmes on securing the small family norm. The idea of small family norm has also been emphasised in the National Population Policy-2000. The Population Policy-2000 proposed to take a holistic view of population growth, social development and environmental protection. It reiterates
the earlier decision that population must stabilise. It aims at stabilising population growth at a level consistent with the requirement of the national economy. Inspite of all these efforts, population growth could not be reduced drastically in India. In pursuance of this long-term objective, a number of medium-term and short term objectives were also formulated in the Population Policy 2000. The following are the main objectives: 1. To reduce crude birth rate, total fertility rate, crude death rate and infant mortality rate as well as maternal mortality rate to the sustainable level of development. 2. To provide basic reproductive and child health care services. 3. To make school education compulsory upto the age of 14 years all over the country with greater emphasis on the expansion of population education. 4. To enhance the age at marriage and more scrupulously enforce the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1976. 5. To achieve the target of universal immunisation programme for children. 6. To achieve universal access to information, counselling and services related to measures for fertility reduction. 7. To control the spread of Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and to prevent and control various other communicable diseases. 8. To integrate reproductive and child health care services into the Indian system of medicine.
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9.
To vigorously promote the idea of small family norm to achieve the replacement levels of Total Fertility Rate (TFR). 10. To promote the idea of people centered programme of population and make it an integral part of the overall process of social development and transformation. In earlier programmes related to the growth of population, greater emphasis was given to control fertility but in the measures suggested by the NPP-2000,
there is a definite shift to a more integrated approach that includes removal of poverty, and provision of adequate facilities for economic and social upliftment. Indeed, overall socioeconomic progress of the masses is considered an integral aspect of the programme of population stabilisation. It has been realised that social development is the basic necessity to be achieved in order to stabilise population growth in consonance with the level of subsistence.
GLOSSARY
ARITHMETIC PROGRESSION. A sequence of numbers in which each differs from the preceding one by a constant quality e.g. 1,2,3,4,5,..., etc. CRUDE CRUDE
BIRTH RATE. DEATH RATE. RATIO.
Number of births in a year per thousand population. Number of deaths in a year per thousand population. Number of dependent population over working population.
DEPENDENCY
GEOMETRIC PROGRESSION. A programme of numbers with a constant ratio between each number and the one before e.g. 2,4,8,16,32,...,etc. INFANT LIFE
MORTALITY RATE .
Number of deaths of children within one year per thousand live births. Average years of life expected at any given age. Number of females per thousand males.
RATIO.
EXPECTANCY.
MALE-FEMALE
MATERNAL MORTALITY RATE. Number of deaths of mothers at the time of delivery per thousand live births. TOTAL
FERTILITY RATE.
The total fertility rate is the number of children that would be born to a woman who lives to the end of her child-bearing years and who bears children at each age in accordance with prevailing age-specific fertility rates (United Nations, World Population Prospects, the 1992 revision).
KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE. A campaign tilted KAP (knowledge, Attitude and practice) started by Indian Governmant during the period of 1960 1970 to make family welfare programme successful.
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EXERCISES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. What do you understand by demography? Explain the concepts of formal and informal demography. Why the dependency ratio is still high in our country? What are the characteristics of Malthusian perspective to population? What are the main characteristics of Marxian perspective of population? What are the main features of sociological perspective on population? What are the main features of historical perspective to population? What are the salient features of National Population Policy-2000? Explain the following terms: (a) Male-Female Ratio. (b) Total Fertility Rate. (c) Maternal Mortality Rate. (d) Infant Mortality Rate. 10. What is migration? Explain the type and streams of migration.
SUGGESTED READINGS
1. Bose, Ashish, Population in Indias Development (1947-2000) , Vikas Publications, New Delhi, 1947. 2. Davis, K., The Population of India and Pakistan , Russal and Russel, New York, 1952. 3. DSouza, Victor S., Economic Development, Social Structure and Population Growth, Sage Publication, New Delhi, 1985. 4. Haq, Ehsanul, Changing Institutional Pattern and Fertility Decline in India, Journal of Social Change, Vol. II No. 384, 1981 5. Mamdani, M., The Myth of Population Control, Monthly Review Press, London, 1972. 6. Mandelbaum, D.G., Human Fertility in India, Berkeley University Press, 1974. 7. Singh, J.P., ed, Studies in Social Demography , M.D. Publications, New Delhi, 1998.
CHAPTER 3
RuralUrban Divides and Linkages

Introduction Every individual belongs not only to a family but also to a community. Ideas of community begin with neighbourhood and then extend to a social group with some degree of wefeeling. A community is characterised by a sense of social completeness and territorial proximity. Village habitations have been an enduring feature of all human societies from the very dawn of human civilisation. The rural community is a kind of enlarged primary group characterised by intimate face-to-face interaction, having a certain degree of community sentiment and a relatively autonomous organisation. The urban community is a loose organisation of people living in a limited area, with relatively high population density, and possessing a relatively high degree of inter-communication. Urban life is the product of complex social forces. They have been produced by population momentum, immigration of rural people, development of transportation and communication, boom of trade centres and influences of industrialisation. Robert Redfield, an American anthropologist, was the first to make a systematic study of communities. He opined that societies could be arranged on a continuum based on their increasing or decreasing complexity, the simplest and the most complex occupying the two polar points. In modern society, one of the great distinctions is between rural and urban region. The Western point of view emphasises differences between city and countryside, where usually the city is considered superior than village. In Western societies traditionally villages were always economically weak, inferior in skills and expertise and mostly dependent on cities. Villages in pre-British India, on the other hand, were relatively strong, autonomous and full of skilled individuals in many fields. In India, urban centres are notified by different state governments using different criterias. These are known as statutory towns and have administrative implications in terms of grants by central governments Urban Development Ministry. These towns have distinct administrative bodies like municipality, notified area committee or corporation.
RURAL-URBAN DIVIDES AND LINKAGES
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In addition to statutory towns, there are census towns also. Indian census classifies Indian territories into two broader groupsRural and Urban centres. This is an academic classification without legal or administrative implications. The census accepts all statutory towns notified by the directorate of the state governments. In addition, census authorities have developed their own criteria to declare non-statutory or census towns. These criterias are: (i) A minimum population of 5000 or above, (ii) At least 75 per cent of all adult male working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits, (iii) A density of population of at least four hundred persons per square kilometre. Types of Settlements The Census of India distinguishes three types of settlements based on the size and density of population city, town and village. (a) A settlement with a population of 1,00,000 or more is called a city. (b) A town should have a population of 5,000 or more, while villages are settlements with less than 5,000 population. (c) The local self-government system of a city is called corporation that of a town is called municipality and a village has a panchayat. The city and the town are grouped together under the category of urban and the rest are designated as rural.
The criteria used to include a settlement in the urban category are size, density, occupational structure and pattern of administrative arrangement. Rural Communities The idea of the village has occupied an important place in India. It has been one of the core categories through which India has been imagined and imaged in modern times. It has preserved Indian culture and has its own social, cultural, economic and political importance. It has retained some of its individual features despite the passage of time. Features of a Rural Community Rural communities in India have their own salient features, as distinct from urban communities and centres. The special features of villages in India include the following: 1. Agriculture: It is the dominant mode of occupation. Agriculture is not only a mode of production, but also a way of life. It influences the entire gamut of relationships in rural setting. Although a small section of the people earn their livelihood from non-agricultural occupations, their occupations are indirectly connected with agriculture. Agricultural economy is the main basis of village economy. Joint Family: One of the most remarkable features of village life in India is the existence of joint
2.
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families. Although joint families are also found in urban areas, their importance as a social and cultural institution is greater in village communities. 3. Caste System: It has always been the foundation of Indian village community. Social interaction, ritual performance, occupations, and other things are affected to a large extent by caste norms. It is the main form of social stratification in village life even today. Jajmani System: It refers to a system of social, cultural and economic ties between different caste families. Each village was divided into two broader groups jajmans and service provider castes. The service providers were usually paid in kind and/or cash. Extra remuneration was customarily paid on auspicious occasions and festivals. This relation of jajmani ties was supposed to bind various caste families into a hereditary and permanent relationship. Land owning jajmans came from upper castes like Brahmans, Rajputs, Patels , Patnaiks , Marathas , Reddys, Lingayats, Nayars etc. while the service provider castes came from middle and lower level castes like Nais, Kumhar, Lohar, Sonar, Barhi, Tamoli, Dhobi etc. Calendar: In most villages people organise their time according to traditional Indian calendars, which are intimately linked with 6.
their socio-cultural and religious life. The English calendar may be kept in addition to the traditional calendars but it is rarely used in daily life. Community Sentiment: This is usually very strong among the members of a village, since the relationship among the members is face-to-face, direct, intimate and personal. Simplicity of Living: It is an important feature of village life. Crimes and deviant behaviour like theft, murder, misconduct etc. are minimal as there is close contact among the villagers. They are godfearing and tradition bound. They are not much affected by the glamour of urban communities and lead a simple life. Their behaviour and activities are strictly governed by rural customs, mores, folkways etc. Poverty and Illiteracy: These coexist in rural India since long. Uneconomic land holdings, barren and fragmented lands result in poor productivity. As a result, a large percentage of villagers live below the poverty line and lack even basic amenities. Basic civic amenities, medical facilities, transport and communication facilities are remotely available. Despite a number of government schemes and rural development efforts, poverty persists in rural areas and productivity of agriculture and other economic
7.
4.
8.
5.
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activities in villages continues to be low. 9. Less Intensity in Mobility and Social Change: It is a striking feature of most village communities in India. Change of occupation is not easily possible. Being conservative in nature, orthodox in their beliefs, values and traditions, most villagers are not quick to accept change or reform. Thus, the processes of social mobility and social change in rural India have been rather slow.
10. Rigidity of Social Control thin: The primary institutions e.g., family, caste, religion etc., play a significant role in exercising informal social control, which is very strong and direct. Observance of these informal rules becomes obligatory for members. There is little chance of any violation, and any such deviation is severely criticised and punished by the people through their village Panchayats. Urban Communities and Centres There are different types of urban communities and centres. Despite the variation of size certain features are commonly found in most traditional urban communities. Traditional cities were usually walled; and the walls emphasised the separation of the urban community from the countryside. The central area, often including a large public space, was sometimes enclosed within a second inner wall, which
usually contained a market. The main buildings were nearly always religious or political such as temples, mosques, churches, palaces and courts. The dwellings of the ruling class or elite tended to be concentrated in or near the centre, while the commoners lived towards the edges of the city. The central square, where ceremonial gatherings took place, accommodated the majority of the citizens. The main factors which led to the expansion of cities are population increase and migration of outsiders from other poorer countries. David Pocock has asserted that in India there is no dichotomy between the village and the traditional city. Both are elements of the same civilisation. There is a lot of difference, however, between the traditional Indian city and the colonial Indian cities. Whereas traditional Indian cities are an aspect of Indian civilisation, colonial Indian cities are vehicles of Western or modern influence. Both types of cities may coexist as two parts of the same urban locality, for example, old Delhi and New Delhi. He systematically counters the presumptions made by some sociologists that urbanisation in India means breakdown of caste and joint family. He also says that in the Indian context, urbanisation is not equal to westernisation. M.S.A. Rao, on the other hand, believes that Pocock has over- simplified the similarity between the village and the traditional city in India. There are structural and functional differences between institutions of villages and
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traditional cities. For instance, while the jajmani (hereditary services) relations are pronounced in villages, it is the mahajan or guild organisation that is prominent in traditional cities or towns. Secondly, although caste and kinship are common to villages and traditional Indian cities, there are significant organisational differences. Thirdly, it is necessary to emphasise that colonialism introduced a different kind of urbanism and urbanisation. This new colonial and modern urbanisation had an impact first on traditional urbanism. As a result of this interaction between the two types of urbanism, new forms of institutions, associations and behaviour patterns have come into existence. For instance, there may be continuity of joint family organisation in the rural and urban contexts. There are differences, however, in terms of property relations and interpersonal behaviour patterns within the joint families in the urban contexts. There are different types and degrees of interactions between towns and villages. Features of an Urban Community and Centre The salient features of urban communities and centres in contemporary India are, among others, the following: 1. Social Heterogeneity: The concentration of a large population in a small area leads to social heterogeneity. Density maximises the competition for space and for
comparative advantage and thus forces specialisation. The city has always been the melting pot of a variety of people and cultures. It has brought together people from different corners of the world, and has not only tolerated but rewarded individual differences. 2. Social Control : In city individuals are free from close social control. The city usually promotes the sense of alienation and loneliness. Secondary associations operate as legal entities and pressure groups. The larger the city, the greater becomes the problem of control and more complex the agencies of secondary regulation. 3. Voluntary Association: The size of the urban population, its close proximity, diversity and easy contact, makes it the perfect setting for voluntary associations. In the urban space nearly every kind of group acquires a voluntary character. In such groups membership does not depend on kinship or other ascribed identities. There are a variety of clubs, associations and semiautonomous neighbourhoods. Individualism : The secondary and voluntary character of urban association, the multiplicity of opportunities and the social mobility all force the individual to make her or his own decisions and to plan her or his life as a career. The competitiveness of the city life
4.
29
gives very little scope for the family care and commitments that are found in traditional communities. As a result, self-interest and individualism tends to grow in urban communities. 5. Social Mobility : City characterises and promotes great social mobility. The elaborate division of labour found in the city coincides with a system of stratification, which is based on achievement, rather than ascribed status. The urban person can raise or lower her or his status to a remarkable degree during her or his lifetime. The competition for status becomes a perpetual preoccupation for city dwellers. Urban structure is managed by recruiting a heterogeneous population on the basis of competence, efficiency and novelty rather than birth. It promotes an open stratification system characterised by class inequality. Greater Inequality: Given the diversity of its population and the impersonality of its contacts, a certain tolerance is found regarding opinion and interest. City demands a certain amount of external conformity on grounds of decency and convenience. In urban spaces there is existence of both extreme poverty and affluence. Urban slums and elite clubs are notable examples of greater inequality in urban communities.
7.
Spatial Segregation: The competition for space in the heterogeneous and dynamic city leads to a characteristic segregation of groups and functions visible in the citys spatial pattern. The centre of the urban area is monopolised by functions of basic importance to the whole city, such as finance and government. Commercial centres that cater to expensive tastes, for example, big depart-mental stores, theatres, big hotels, quality jewellery shops are located in the centre. High-priced professional services such as diagnostic clinics, legal offices, banks, etc. are also found in the central parts of the city.
RuralUrban Divides and Linkages A comparative analysis of rural and urban communities is essential before discussing contrasts between the two. But the rural-urban comparison is not so easy. The first, important difficulty is that there is no way to demarcate where a village ends and a city begins. Secondly, the difference between village and city is one of degree rather than of kind. Thirdly, various transformative factors have been at work in both villages and cities. Fourthly, the very concept of village changes from one country to another. The perception of a village in Asian regions may be entirely different from that in Western regions. Ruralurban differences have been summarised by Sorokin and Zimmerman in the following table:
6.
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Rural World Occupation Totality of cultivators and their families. In the rural community there are usually a few representatives of several nonagricultural pursuits.
Urban World Totality of people engaged principally in manufacturing, mechanical pursuits, trade, commerce, professions, governing and other non-agricultural occupations.
Environment
Predominance of nature over Greater isolation from nature. anthro-social environment. Predominance of human-made Direct relationship to nature. environment over natural. Open farms or small communities, agriculturalism and size of community are negatively correlated. As a rule in the same country and at the same period, the size of urban community is much larger than the rural community. In other words, urbanity and size of community are positively correlated.
Size of community
Density of population
In the same country and at the Greater than in rural same period the density is lower communities. Urbanity and than in urban community. density are positively correlated. Generally density and rurality are negatively correlated. Compared to urban populations, rural communities are more homogeneous in racial and psychological traits (Negative correlation with heterogeneity). More heterogeneous than rural communities (in the same country and at the same time.) Urbanity and heterogeneity are positively correlated.
Heterogeneity and homogeneity of the population
Social differen- Differentiation and stratification Differentiation and stratification tiation and are less in rural areas. show positive correlation with stratification urbanity. Mobility Territorial, occupational and other forms of social mobility of the population are comparatively less intensive. Normally the migration current carries more individuals from the country to the city. More intensive. Urbanity and mobility are positively correlated. Only in the periods of social catastrophe the migration from the city to the country is greater than from the country to the city.
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System of interaction
Less numerous contacts per person. Narrower areas of interaction is found among its members and the whole aggregate. More prominent part is occupied by primary contacts. Predominance of personal and relatively durable relations. Comparative simplicity and sincerity of relations. Individual is interacted as a person.
More numerous contacts. Wider areas of interaction per individual and per aggregate. Predominance of secondary contacts. Predominance of impersonal casual and shortlived relations. Greater complexity, manifoldedness, superficiality and standardised formality of relations. Person is interacted as a number and address.
The main features of rural-urban divides in Indian context can be discussed under the following headings: 1. Social Organisation In villages the joint family usually corresponds with the joint household. This, however, is not the case in urban centres. In cities, the members of a joint family usually prefer nuclear households. The kinship networks may be used in political or economic spheres but in the private lives of the members the family bond is usually weak. Both the ideas of marriage as sacrament and as a contract prevail among different groups in the country. Modern ideas of choice in matter of marriage may be increasingly present among some sections. At the same time the practice of honour killing of young boys and girls getting into marriage outside the community also exist in contemporay India. In rural society neighbourhood is based on mutual help, community sen-
timent and we feeling. In most urban areas, people are often not concerned with their next-door neighbour. There is lack of co-operation and sympathy due to rise of individualism, self-interest and competitiveness of a mechanical kind. In rural life, social ranking is based on caste. In urban life, on the other hand, castes may co-exist but it is the class differentiation that is pre-dominant. 2. Social Relationship and Interaction In rural society, relationships are governed by primary groups. They are personal, informal and permanent. Competition is less intense as they are fearful and complacent about fate. In urban society, individual relationships are mostly formal and impersonal. Community force is weak and there is great individual freedom. 3. Social Mobility Occupational and social mobility in villages is governed by the rigidity of the caste system.
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Urban society emphasises achievement rather than ascription of status. Greater vertical and horizontal mobility promotes alternative opportunities within the urban structures. Status is determined more by class rather than by birth. 4. Social Control In rural society, social control is exercised through informal means like folkways, mores, norms, taboos, ridicule etc. Deviance is checked by threat of caste panchayats or village panchayat. In the urban society, mere public opinion, informal forces and moral mechanisms cannot ensure order. Urban Society is so complex that social control is devised by specialists, enacted by legislators, integrated by law courts and enforced by police. Social control in urban life is restorative more than preventive. 5. Social Change In villages, there is little innovation due to lack of opportunities and specialisation. In urban centers, innovations, adaptations and imitations are more due to wide exposure and opportunities. Such changes are promoted by the government structures and sustained by urban institutions. 6. Cultural Life There is cultural unity in villages. Common values and group norms are reinforced through festivals, rituals, age-old customs and traditions. Even today, Indian villages are agents of In-
dian culture and units of Indian civilisation. They still operate with the traditional Indian calendar. In urban society, on the other hand, cultural patterns have undergone a qualitative change. Cultural life is heterogeneous, individualistic, flexible and dynamic. 7. Economic Life Agriculture is the predominant mode of occupation in rural areas. It also includes agro-based cottage industries and cattle breeding. Cash crops, foodprocessing and artisanal products also generate occupations and income in rural India. However, the average consumption level of people is quite low on account of low level of income and frugal life style. In urban society, technological developments are the catalysts of change. There is better scope of employment as there is literacy, mobility, specialisation and division of labour. Urbanites have often more than one source of income. They are engaged more often in the industrial and service sectors. The urban emphasis on techno-material aspects, influenced further by the forces of westernisation and modernisation has promoted a culture in India which measures the worth of a person on the basis of her or his income and lifestyle with little regard to the sources of income. This, among other factors, has generated pockets of black economy in urban centres. Thus, it is clear that there are many differences between the rural and urban communities. But it has to be
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remembered that they cannot be put into watertight compartments. There is continuity as well as contrast between the rural and urban communities. S.C.Dubey has tried to present the rural-urban divides and linkages in contemporary India. While India is known as a land of villages, it also has an ancient tradition of urban centres. If the village has been an arena of cooperation, it has also witnessed conflicts. Recognised as a unit of development, the village now has several formal statutory institutions like the cities. Political parties have their agents in both the villages as well as in towns. The village like the town is not a corporate group. It has an identity, fixed limits (revenue and forests) and shared resources like wells and tanks. It may also have temples, mosques, churches, and gurudwaras. Most jatis have some craft or occupation linked to them. But all members of the caste need not follow that craft or occupation. In addition, there are some occupations that are open, i.e., they can be taken up by any one irrespective of her or his jati. There are regular economic, ritual, political and social transactions between villagers and townspeople.
While jati panchayats do not exist in urban areas as they do in village communities, new caste associations have emerged in larger cities. Some of these caste associations are regional, and others are of an all-India character. Market relations have replaced Jajmani relations in urban centres. In the process of change, villages are better connected now with each other and with urban areas. If traditional villages and traditional towns and cities were complementary units of Indian civilisation now contemporary villages and urban centres are complementary units of the Indian state. In the traditional Indian civilisation towns or cities were not superior centres in comparison to village communities. Both had different functions. The village represented the perfection of Indian culture and the towns were either administrative units or religious centres or commercial transaction points. Towns were instrumental organs to support, supply and maintain the needs of Indian culture perfected in the villages. This, however, is not the case with contemporary Indian villages. Now, villages are the suppliers of food, labourers and raw materials to urban centres.
GLOSSARY
COMMUNITY. It refers to a collectivity of people who occupied a geographical area, who essentially constituted a self-governing social unit with some common values and sentiments. Examples are rural and urban communities. INDIVIDUALISM. Any set of ideas emphasising the importance of the individual and the individuals interests is called individualism.
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MEGALOPOLIS. It refers to a great metropolis growing uncontrollably and now to denote a very large, functionally interconnected system of cities and suburbs. METROPOLIS. It denotes large urban centres and surrounding suburbs, often capital cities. SOCIAL MOBILITY. The movement between different positions within the system of social stratification in any society is called social mobility. S TATUTORY TOWN . In India urban centres are notified by different state governments using different criteria. These are known as statutory towns and have administrative implications in terms of grants by central governments urban development ministry. These towns have district administrative bodies like municipality, notified area committee or corporation. URBANISM. It refers to patterns of social life typical of urban population. These include a highly specialised division of labour, growth of individiualism in social relations, growth of voluntary associations, etc.
EXERCISES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Give the features of Rural Community. Highlight the features of an Urban Community. Compare and contrast RuralUrban Divides and Linkages. What do you understand by jajmani system? How is town different from city ? What is the difference between municipality and corporation?
SUGGESTED READINGS
1. Desai, A.R., ed, Rural Sociology in India, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai, 1978. 2. Dubey, S.C., Indian Village, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1955. 3. Giddens, Anthony, Sociology, Polity Press, London, 1993. 4. Oommen, T.K., Alien Concepts and South Asian Reality, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 1995. 5. Rao, M.S.A., ed, Urban Sociology in India, Orient Longman, Hyderabad, 1974. 6. Shah, A.M., Exploring Indias Rural Past: A Gujarat Village in the Early Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2002.
CHAPTER 4
Caste, Class and Tribe in India

Introduction In every society some form of inequality and differentiation exists. Social differentiation separates people into distinctive categories on the basis of age, kinship, sex, territorial proximity, etc. Social stratification in sociology denotes the placement of individuals and groups in different layers or strata on the basis of social differences in income, occupation, education and ascribed position, etc. India is one of the most stratified societies. Social, economic and cultural differentiation in India is represented by the institutions of caste, class and tribe. Caste is primarily a social institution whereas class is primarily an economic institution. This, however, does not mean that caste is devoid of the economic dimension or class is without social aspects. It is, only a question of primacy. Caste represents primarily social differentiation while class represents primarily economic differentiation. Both of them result in social and economic inequality and are, therefore, systems of stratification. T ribe is not a for m of social stratification like caste and class. Rather, it is a form of social organisation or social formation. Instead of representing a stratum, a tribe represents the whole society. In the Indian context, tribe is primarily a linguistic and cultural group. Therefore, tribal and non-tribal contexts denote cultural differentiations. Of course, the deprivation of various opportunities, which has been suffered by the tribal people, has brought them into an area of social stratification. Let us look at caste, class and tribe in detail. CASTE SYSTEM Caste is an English term, which is derived from the Portuguese word casta which means a group. Castes are ascriptive groups, membership of which is determined by birth. An individual is born into a caste, and this status is more or less permanent. Initially, European scholars used caste as a synonym for the Indian concept, Varna, but later on it was also used for other terms like jati and up-jati. Most sociologists today translate caste as jati and not as varna. Caste and var na in Sociology represent two different orders of reality. Varna may be described as an abstract
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classification of people on the basis of mythical origin. Caste, by contrast, is a concrete empirical grouping based on social, ritual and occupational criteria. Caste or jati is a concrete, and generally, endogamous group with characteristics of its own such as its hereditary occupation. Marriage rules, commensal taboos, occupational rigidity and even village politics operate at the jati level.M.N.Srinivas says that varna has been the model to which the observed differences of jatis are sought to be fitted in. In the varna order there was the scope for social mobility. Vishwamitra, a Kshatriya by birth, became a Brahman through achievements or purushartha. There is hardly any such possibility for social mobility of individual from one caste to another in the caste system. Further, the varna model had no room for the concept of Untouchability, though the feature of untouchability proved a baneful aspect of the caste system. Features of the Caste System The salient features of the traditional caste system in India include the following: 1. Segmental Division of Society: Society is divided into general social groups called castes. Each of these castes is a well developed social group, the membership of which is based on birth. The segmental division of society refers to its division into a number of groups, each of which has got a life of its
own and stood in a relationship of higher or lower status to other castes. Mobility from one caste to another is severely restricted. The behavioural pattern, food habits, manners of dialogue and interaction differ from caste to caste. Every member of the caste identifies herself/himself with her/his caste. Each caste has its own organisation known as jati panchayat or caste council. Mutual obligation, help and co-operation of the members of a caste in their day-to-day activities make each caste a social world by itself. 2. Hierarchy : According to G.S.Ghurye in each linguistic area there are about 300 castes which can be graded and arranged into a hierarchy on the basis of their social precedence. At the top of this hierarchy is the Brahman caste and at the bottom is the untouchable caste (shudra). In between there are the intermediate castes. Thus, castes are supposed to be based on the basis of superiority and inferiority and involve gradation on the accepted scale of value and prestige of the caste hierarchy. 3. Restrictions on Commensality and Social Intercourse: There are certain rules regarding eating, drinking and social interaction which are to be followed by all castes in order to avoid defilement or pollution and to uphold rules of purity. These rules are powerfully enforced by the caste panchayats.
CASTE, CLASS AND TRIBE IN INDIA
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The notions of karma, dharma and purity and pollution have figured prominently in both religious and legal thought relating to the caste system. There are many taboos regarding the acceptance of kachcha (boiled) and pakka (fried) food by one caste from another. 4. Lack of Unrestricted Choice of Occupation: Membership in a caste is hereditary and choice of occupation is not supposed to be free. Traditionally a caste is usually associated with an occupation. It has made the system closed. Different castes depend on each other for fulfilment of various social and economic needs. Thus, the system has an organic character. 5. Restrictions on Marriage: Endogamous marriages are an essential feature of the caste system. A person has to marry within ones own caste. 6. Interdependence: Each caste is dependent on other castes within the jajmani system at the village level. Their dependence is not only economic but also social, cultural and religious. Functions of the Caste System The caste system is credited to ensure the continuity of the traditional social organisation of India. It succeeded in accommodating multiple communities by ensuring each of them a monopoly of a specific means of livelihood. The caste system has handed down the
knowledge and skills of the hereditary occupation of a caste from one generation to another. It has, thus, helped the preservation of culture and ensured productivity. Simultaneously it has led to interdependent interaction between different castes following different occupations in a village or cluster of villages, through jajmani relationships. The notions of Karma and Dharma sustained through the caste system enforced traditional socioreligious control. Performance of rites and rituals promoted cooperation of the members of the caste and among different castes. On the other hand, the superior position of the higher castes, for example, Brahmans , had been reinforced through it. The importance of above functions traditionally performed by caste has no doubt declined today. In recent times caste has proved to be an effective vehicle for political mobilisation of the vast rural masses for participation in the electoral process sustaining Indian democracy. Dysfunctions of the Caste System The caste system creates obstacles to the unity of the country. It opposes national consciousness by imposing social restrictions and ideas of purity and pollution. Untouchability is the cancer of society. Caste hinders horizontal and vertical social mobility and may, thus, force an individual to carry on the traditional occupation against her or his will and capacity. This is a great hindrance to the industrial development. This may also retard the development of human
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personality in some instances since efficiency and motivation is throttled by the rigidity of the caste system. The caste system usually does not provide opportunity to enhance the status of women in the public sphere. Caste in Contemporary India Being a member of a caste or sub-caste does not have the same meaning in contemporary India. Caste sanctions have also become weak and do not operate with the same force in all sections of Indian society. There is, however, significant continuity in the realm of marriage. Endogamy is still the dominant mode in contemporary India but inter-caste marriages are also acceptable today in some sections of Indian society, particularly in the urban places. The political use of the caste is increasing day-by-day in every region of India. The structures and functions of caste system have weakened. The ritual injuctions and interdictions relating to food and physical contact have almost vanished. The association between caste and occupation is, more or less, a thing of the past. The relations of jajmani have been fully replaced by market relationships in urban areas. Even in villages jajmani relationships are maintained only at the ritual level. Caste dominance no longer depends on ritual status. Factors like numerical strength, economic strength, education, political network and internal cohesion within the class also determines the dominance of a caste in the village today.
Caste system is making adequate adjustment with the changing times. It has retained its relevance by becoming more resilient and accommodative. There are different social processes at work. The most important of such processes include Sanskritisation, Westernisation, industrialisation, urbanisation and constitutional legislation. CLASS SYSTEM Social class is a type of social stratification which is most evident in industrial societies. But classes are found in non-industrial societies also. Unlike the other types of strata, classes are neither defined by law nor sanctioned by religion. Social class is generally defined as a stratum of people occupying similar social position in terms of wealth, income, occupation and factors like education. Classes are related to one another in terms of inequality or hierarchy. Class is a system of stratification in which a persons social status depends upon her or his achievement. It permits an individual to strive for and attain a change in her or his status. It encourages individuals to select their occupations. Membership of a class is not inherited as in the case of the caste system. Social status in the caste system is ascribed to a person at the moment of her or his birth, which she/he bears for life. The boundaries between classes are never rigid. There are no formal restrictions on inter-marriage between people from different classes. Social mobility
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upward and downward movement within hierarchy or startification is much more common in the class system than in other forms of stratification such as caste system or caste. However, the individual may not achieve upward social mobility in the class system at ease under all the circumstances. Further, a social class is also a cultural group sharing a particular way of life. It is related, of course, to the lifechances available for the group. Karl Marx talked about two classes in the capitalist society on the basis of the ownership or lack of ownership of means of production, viz., the bourgeoisie and proletariat. Max Weber had, however, suggested that there can be more than two classes on the basis of social status and political power in society. Cumulative inequality is the characteristic of caste, whereas dispersed inequality is the characteristic of the class system. Social class constitutes an important segment of social structure in modern India. The social classes as we see them today in India had their origin during the British rule. In preBritish India division of the people into classes did not get crystallised for two reasons. First, the self-sufficient village communities produced only that much which the villagers needed. There was hardly any surplus and, therefore, there was little differentiation among the village population leading to clearly formed classes. Secondly, even when there was a differentiation along the dimension of class, it was overshadowed by the caste and jajmani
system. The class division, understood in a broad sense, existed there between the ruler and the ruled. There were also the classes of administrative officers of various ranks of merchants, artisans and specialists of different kinds. Classes in Rural India The British colonial rule in India shattered the traditional rural economy. The interdependence of agriculture and village industries and of the people engaged in them was destroyed. Indian economy was subordinated to British commercial interests. All this led to the emergence of a new class structure. The British rule in India introduced new types of land revenue settlements, viz., Zamindari settlement, the Raiyatwari settlement, and the Mahalwari settlement. The Zamindari system gave rise to the new class of Zamindars who came to enjoy hereditary ownership of very large tracts of land. In the Raiyatwari system the cultivator was recognised as the owner of his land, subject to the payment of the land revenue directly to the British government. It created raiyat landlords and raiyat peasants. The Mahalwari settlement of land revenue was made by the government with landlords or heads of families who collectively claimed to be landlords of the village or the estate (mahal). Under all these settlements, the landlord or owner cultivator had to pay fixed amount of money to the state or British Government irrespective of
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crops produced. They in turn extracted this money from the common tillers of the land. A new class of moneylenders arose. The peasantry was crushed under the triple burden of the government, the zamindar, and the moneylender. Apart from the landlords who were tax-gatherers and noncultivating owners of land, there were now the tenants who were the real cultivators but did not have security of land tenure. The third stratum or class, viz., agricultural labourers, suffered most in the new system. Further the landlords sublet their rights to collect land revenue to others on profitable terms. These in turn further sublet their rights to others. Thus developed a chain of rent-receiving intermediaries between the state and the actual cultivators. This complicated agrarian class structure continued, though in a modified form, even after the departure of the British. Rural industries and artisans were hard hit under the British system. The British destroyed indigenous village industries and crafts in order to secure a market for the goods imported from Britain. Also, the domestic goods made with simple techniques on a small scale could not compete with British goods. For example, cotton spinners and weavers of the villages were almost wiped out as a result of the supply of mill-made cloth from England. The other village artisans too were badly affected by imports from England. Thus scores of artisans became labourers seeking work in agriculture in their
village or jobs outside the villages. After the independence various land reform measures were introduced to change agrarian structure in favour of equality and equity and for encouraging productivity in agriculture. The first step was the abolition of the Zamindari system. Its objective was to bring the cultivators into direct relation with state by eliminating the intermediaries who were allowed to retain land for their personal cultivation only. Secondly, the tenancy reform measures were taken by the state to provide security of tenure and reduction of rent for the owner cultivators and to facilitate acquisition of ownership rights by them. Thirdly, ceilings were imposed on the existing family holding as well as on future acquisitions. The state would acquire surplus land from the big landowners and distribute the same among the small peasants, marginal peasants and agricultural labourers. The overall impact of land reforms has not, however, been satisfactory. Smaller tenants received much less protection and suffered more than the bigger ones. The dominance of the landlords continues in a veiled form. The intermediate class of peasants have, however, benefited replacing the older zamindars in political-economic matters. The process of green revolution and mechanical innovations in agriculture has led to the growth of a new class of progressive farmers who now cultivate
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their land under personal supervision. They do not lease it to their tenants. In addition, they lease in land from the poor peasants who cannot afford costly inputs required for cultivation. A gap has been created between progressive farmers who are owners and managers of very large holdings and marginal and small cultivators who are unable to obtain higher output because of their small landholdings and their inability to bear the cost of modern farming practices. Majority of the small peasants and agricultural labourers are still steeped in poverty, unemployment and underemployment. Tension, therefore, continues in different parts of the countryside. Classes in Urban India During the British rule there was a sudden and quick collapse of the urban handicrafts for which India was famous all over the world. The severity of oppression and exploitation compelled the urban craftspeople to abandon their ancestral professions and occupations. Also, Indian handicrafts could not compete with machine-made cheap goods from England. Modern industries began in India under the British. But they were controlled by the foreign capital. A new class of capitalists comprising industrial, commercial and financial capitalists emerged. They exploited the working class to maximise their profits. Dominant capitalists in colonial India were of British origin. But Indian capitalists gradually gained considerable share in various enterprises.
The traditional Indian business communities initially thrived as traders dependent on the British. They also operated as moneylenders. Gradually, they started investing their accumulated capital in the developing indigenous industries, e.g., textile and sugar mills. This industrial class survived and flourished in Independent India. There were two more classes in urban areas. One of these was the class of petty traders and shopkeepers who were bound up with modern capitalist economy. Then, as a result of the new system of education and administration, an educated middle class had emerged. It consisted of professionals such as lawyers, doctors, engineers, technologists, professors and teachers, journalists, clerks, and other white-collar workers. These classes have flourished in Independent India. The urban working class is divided into (a) workers in the organised sector and (b) workers in the unorganised sector. Large scale operation in terms of capital and wage labour, modern technology, public and private ownership and regulated and protected markets for labourers and output, skilled labour, etc., are features of the organised sector. Small-scale operation, private or small ownership, labour -intensive and backward technology, unskilled or semi-skilled labour, unregulated market and unprotected labour characterise the unorganised sector. The conditions of the workers in the unorganised sector are far worse than those of the workers in the organised sector.
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The most important feature of the class structure in modern India is that all the classes have now come to live as integral parts of a single national economy and under a single state regime. The relative isolation of village artisans no longer exists. The same is true with the handicrafts people in town. Further, the new middle classes of urban India are increasingly recruiting new members from the better off sections of the villages. They constitute the elites of todays India. The caste division among the workers has also weakened. But there is hardly any articulation of class-consciousness among the workers. Every one seems to aspire a position in the middle class which is getting more and more diversified. Caste and Class They represent two main forms of social stratification. There is hierarchy both in caste and class. Caste system is based on a persons birth, while class does not depend on birth. An individual in the class system remains either at the higher or lower place of stratification according to her or his wealth, income and position in a society. This is not possible in the caste system. In terms of mobility, class is more open. One changes ones class position by dint of ones occupation, power and wealth. The caste system is usually considered closed. But M.N.Srinivas thinks that movement is always possible through the process of Sanskritisation and Westernisation.
Andre Beteille has also noted some scope of mobility in the caste system. In class structure, one chooses ones own occupation suitable to ones ability, temperament and efficiency. In caste system, occupation of its members is not so freely available for adoption. TRIBE The tribal population of India represents a distinctive feature in the mosaic of Indian civilisation and culture. It should be noted at the same time that in the Indian context, unlike the situation of tribes in Australia and North America, there have been contact and interaction between the tribals and the non-tribals. Interestingly enough, in India this contact and interaction has not resulted in the loss and submergence of tribal identity or in the physical elimination of tribes as it happened elsewhere. Tribes in India are called Janjati, Vanyajati, Vanavasi, Adimjati, Adivasi etc. According to D.N.Majumdar, a tribe is a collection of families or groups of families bearing common name, members of which occupy the same territory, speak the same language and observe certain taboos regarding marriage, profession or occupation and have developed a well established system of reciprocity and mutuality of obligations. Distinctive Features of Tribes in India Some of the distinctive features of tribes in India are:
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1. Common name: Each tribe has a distinct name of its own. 2. Common territory: T ribes generally occupy common geographical areas. 3. Common language: Members of one tribe speak the same language or dialect of a language. 4. Endogamy: Each tribe has the practice of marrying members within their own tribe. 5. Political organisation: All tribes have their own political organisation which includes council of elders. 6. Economy: They follow ancient occupations such as gleaning, hunting and gathering of forest products. Most of the tribes are engaged in one or the other type of agriculture. 7. Religion: Most tribes in India are traditionally nature or totem worshippers. 8. Inter-personal relations: Members of a tribe have strong feeling of unity. They have a common descent and are related to one another by blood relations. 9. Closeness to nature: Traditionally tribal societies had a close symbiotic relationship with nature. However, every tribe does not share all of the above features. In the social life of the tribals, generally kinship is the principal unit of social organisation. Kinship determines the pattern of landownership, economic production and consumption among the tribal people. In the subsistence economy very few
tribal groups are still hunters and gatherers but many of them are shifting cultivators (Jhum), pastoral, nomads, and quite a few tribal groups are engaged in agriculture and artisans. At the turn of the nineteenth century large chunks of tribal territories came under plantations, mining and industrial development and many tribals became wage labourers. Traditionally, however, tribals do not engage in trading or financial transactions. A tribal society is largely homogeneous with little sense of hierarchy and subordination. Among the tribes, production and consumption are household-based and unlike peasants they are not usually a part of the wider economic, political and social network. Tribe and Caste Conceptually a tribe is a territorial group, while a caste is a social group. When a tribe loses its territorial character, it takes the form of a caste. Due to isolation and negligible contacts with their more developed neighbours, tribals are comparatively less developed and less integrated in the national mainstream than the castes. Usually each tribe has its own language but it is not the case with a caste. A tribe never imposes restrictions on its members regarding the choice of occupation but a caste usually promotes hereditary occupations and the principle of birth. There are, however, borderline cases of tribal castes also. A tribe like the Bhumis has been converted into a caste,
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preserving its original name and many of its characteristic customs, but modifying its animistic practices. According to Max Weber, tribe becomes caste with the loss of its territorial attachment. Caste and tribe emphasise and perpetuate collective identities in strikingly similar ways. A caste or tribe may change its name and also its mode of livelihood and yet retain its collective identity. The tribes have segmentary, egalitarian system and are not mutually inter-dependent like the castes which show a system of stratification and organic solidarity. Members of a tribe have usually an equal access to land and other resources of the community. Equality or inequality varies from one tribe to another. Politically tribal societies are relatively simple and egalitarian. Lineage, clan and kinship tend to overlap with their political organisations. In tribal view human beings, cosmos and the supernatural beings are not separate entities. Tribes in Contemporary India The tribals had maintained an autonomous existence till their territories were opened up by the British for strategic reasons. These reasons involved exploitation of forest and mineral resources as well as regular supply of cheap labour. Once the tribals were exposed to the wider world, they had traumatic experience of losing their land and right to forest and getting
forcibly incorporated into a system about which they knew little. The tribals became vulnerable to various forms of social, economic and cultural exploitation. The tribals started different movements during the British regime against alienation of their land and forest as well as threats to their culture. In independent India also they agitate to protect themselves against deprivation of jobs, training facilities, alienation of their rights to land and other resources due to the influx of the non-tribal in the tribal territories. Many of these movements put emphasis on revitalisation of their traditional cultures which seemed to be threatened by the outsiders. The tribals fought sporadically the colonial forces of the British to protect their autonomy. In todays India the tribals suffer the adverse effects of imbalanced development. They assert their ethnic identity to earn a greater share of political power to protect their cultural and economic interests. Equal distribution of the benefits of modernisation and development is a positive remedy against the grievances of the tribals. The constitutional guarantees for the Scheduled Tribes do not reach to the countless tribals. The new groups of tribal elites tend to monopolise them. Individualism and inequality have crept into the tribal life also. It will have to be matched by a positive concern and effective steps for reaching the benefits of the modernisation and economic development to the poor tribal masses.
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GLOSSARY
KACHCHA FOOD. Boiled food especially rice and chapati etc. PAKKA FOOD. Fried food like poori, paratha. R ITUAL . An often repeated pattern of behaviour which is performed at appropriate times in all religious communities.
EXERCISES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Define caste. List the main features of the caste system. Distinguish between caste and class. What is the role of caste in contemporary India? Bring out the main features of class system in India. Differentiate between caste and class as two major forms of social stratification. 6. Define tribe. What are the features of tribes in India? 7. How is tribe different from caste?
SUGGESTED READINGS
1. Dumont, Louis, Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and its Implications, Vikas Publications, New Delhi, 1970. 2. Ghurye, G.S., Caste and Class in India, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai, 1950. 3. Risley, Herbert, The People of India, Oriental Book Reprint Corporation, New Delhi, 1925/1969. 4. Singh, K.S., The People of India; National Series (Volumes on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes), Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1993. 5. Singh, Yogendra, Social Stratification and Change in India, Manohar Publications, New Delhi, 1999. 6. Thapar, Romesh, ed, Tribe, Caste and Religion, Macmillan, New Delhi, 1977.
CHAPTER 5
Marriage, Family and Kinship in India

Introduction Marriage, family and kinship are perhaps the most studied institutions in sociology. The term kinship is often used as a shorthand for kinship and marriage. It is usual to distinguish between consanguinity (relationship by blood) from affinity (relationship by marriage). Thus, parents and children are consanguineous kins, wher eas, husband and wife are affines. Marriage is the foundation of family and the family is the foundation of social life. The ties of family and marriage give rise to kinship. Indian society is divided into many religious and cultural groups. Therefore, there is a lot of diversity in matters of marriage, family and kinship in India. Every religious group has its own customs and procedures of marriage. Marriage and kinship are aspects of regional cultures. Therefore, it is not possible to talk of marriage and kinship in India at the level of all India generality. Empirically India has diverse forms of family structure. However a dominant view is that the norm of the Indian family is the joint family. Sociologists have studied usually marriage and kinship life in India around the four broader ethnic groups of Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Tribals. At the level of family organisation, however, sociologists have found a lot of commonality at all India level irrespective of ethnic divisions about marriage and kinship. Let us discuss marriage, family and kinship in India in some detail. THE MARRIAGE Marriage is one of the most fundamental and ancient social institutions. From times immemorial, it has been maintaining order and discipline in human society. Its form, nature and process vary from society to society. Irrespective of these differences this institution has several universally common elements and functions. According to Edward Westermarck, Marriage is a relation of one or more men to one or more women, which is recognised by custom or law and involves certain rights and duties both in case of parties entering the union and in case of the children born of it. In its essence, it refers to a set of rules and regulations, which determines,
MARRIAGE, FAMILY AND KINSHIP IN INDIA
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who will marry whom, how the marriage union will be established under what conditions and when marriage will take place, what will be the rights and duties of the persons entering into such union and finally how the union will be dissolved. It fulfils the physical, social, psychological and spiritual aims and objectives of both the wife and the husband. Marriage is a socially recognised and normatively prescribed relationship between at least two persons one female and other male that defines and estabilishes sexual, economic and other rights and duties which each owes to the other. Marriage gives social and legal recognition to woman and man as wife and husband and their relationship. The children born out of marital relationship are recognised as legitimate children in society. In India different socio-religious and cultural groups have their own traditional concepts, norms and customs of marriage. Let us see some of the most notable forms: Hindu Marriage in India A distinction has to be made of the book view and field view of marriage. The marriage system of Hindu community has a uniqueness of its own which makes it distinct from other communities. Hindu marriage is not merely a union between a female and a male which is sanctioned by society. Alongwith the social sanction, it has a religious and divine aspect. What is more important in Hindu marriage is that it is a sacred bond, a religious
sacrament. Its aim is not only to secure physical pleasure for the individuals but also to advance their spiritual development. K.M. Kapadia says that Hindu marriage is a socially approved union of man and woman aiming at dharma, procreation, sexual pleasure and observance of certain obligations. According to P.H.Prabhu the primary object of marriage is the continuity of the family life. Marriage binds the wife and the husband into an indissoluble bond which lasts beyond death. Sociologists have noted the relative stability of marriage relationship in India. Aims of Hindu Marriage Sociologists and Indologists have discussed about the following aims of Hindu marriage in India. (1) As a sacrament Hindu marriage aims to fulfil certain religious obligations. During the course of marriage the wife and the husband take an oath to live together. A traditional Hindu passes through four Ashramas or stages of life called Brahamacharya (student life), Grihastha , (family life), Vanaprastha (r etired life) and Sannyasa (renunciation). At the commencemnt of each such Ashrama , a Hindu undergoes a sacrament and takes a vow. As a result of this, one becomes purified in body and mind. Marriage is a gateway to Grihastha Ashrama.
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(2) It is very essential for a Hindu to be married for the fulfilment of religious duties like dhar ma (practice of religion), praja (procreation) and rati (sexual pleasure). The foremost purpose of Hindu marriage is to practise dhar ma in accordance with varna, jati and kula norms. (3) The Hindus consider vivah or marriage as one of the Sarir Samskara or sacraments sanctifying the body. It is doubly essential for a woman because marriage is the only significant samskara for her. (4) A Hindu Grihastha is expected to perform daily fire sacrifies such as Deva Yajna , Bhut Yajna , and Pitriyajna by daily chanting vedic mantras, offering ghee or clarified butter in fire, giving some portion of food to different creatures, extending hospitality to guests and by performing shraddha or offering of pinda or rice balls to ancestors respectively. Without the active participation of his wife, a man cannot perform these duties. (5) Hindus believe in a concept of three religious debts or Rinas . These are Pitri Rina, Daiv Rina and Guru Rina . Marriage is essential for repaying Pitri rina and the individual repays it by being the father of a son. Role of a wife is essential for the completion of Grihastha Dhar ma and perform religious rites. The wife among the Hindus is called Ardhangini .
Forms of Hindu Marriage Hindu scriptures discribed eight forms of marriage. Which are as follows: 1. Bramha Vivah: This is the most ideal and the most sought after marriage among the Hindus. In this form of marriage the father of the bride invites for marriage the most suitable groom, in terms of learning capacity and character for his daughter who is given to the groom in kanyadaan. These days it is called samajik vivah or Kanyadaan vivah as well. 2. Daiva Vivah: The father of the bride offeres his daughter in the hand of the priest as Dakshina and Yajna, which has been officiated by him. It was considered as an ideal form of marriage in ancient times but has become irrelevant today. 3. Arsha Vivah: This was the sanctioned procedure of marriage for sages or renunciators, in case they wanted to lead a family life. They used to gift a pair of cow and a bull to the father of a girl of their choice. In case the father of the girl was in favour of this marriage proposal he accepted the gift and marriage was arranged. Otherwise, the gift was respectfully returned to the sage. 4. Prajapatya Vivah: This is a modified, less elaborate form of Brahma vivah. The main difference lies in the rules of sapinda exogamy. 5. Asura Vivah: In this form of
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marriage, the bridegroom pays bride price to brides father or her kinsmen and marries the bride. Marriage by exchange is also permitted within this marriage. 6. Gandharva Vivah: It was the traditional form of contemporary love marriage. It was a sanctioned form of marriage in exceptional circumstances and among certain classes but it was not considered as an ideal in the tradition. 7. Rakshasa Vivah: This is that form of marriage which is known marriage by capture among the tribals. This type of marriage was widely prevalent during the ancient age among the kings as the prizes of war or the machanism to improve relations with the defeated people. It was sanctioned but not an ideal form of marriage. 8. Paisacha Vivah: This is the least acceptable form of marriage. The man cheats the girl and thereby forces her to marry him. The woman, having lost her chastity, has no other alternative but to marry him. Recognising this form of union as marriage was an attempt to protect the rights of the cheated woman. It also gave legitimacy to the children born of such unions. Rules of Mate Selection To maintain the purity and distinctive identity of groups in society, the Hindu law-givers have laid down detailed rules and regulations regarding the choice of
a partner for the marriage union. These laws are based on two principles i.e., the endogamic rule and the exogamic rules. (a) Endogamy While selecting a mate, a person has to choose from her or his own sub-caste and/or caste. (i) Caste Endogamy: This rule prescribes marriage within ones own caste and prohibits the members of a caste to marry outside their own caste. The violation of this rule would result into severe social and economic punishments by the caste council or panchayat amounting to isolation and denial of all sorts of social help and co-operation.
(ii) Sub-caste Endogamy: Each caste is sub-divided into many small groups, the members of which have feelings of superiority over the others. Each such unit is an endogamous group, directing its members to choose their mates only from that sub-caste. For example, Brahmanas are also having some sub-castes like Saraswat, Gaur, Kanyakubj, etc. All these groups are endogamous groups. (b) Exogamy In exogamy a person is supposed to marry outside ones own group. Though endogamy and exogamy seem to be two contradictory rules, in Hindu society both these rules are practised
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simultaneously, of course, at different levels. There are two types of exogamous rules in Hindu society: (i) Sagotra Exogamy: Gotra (sagotra or same gotra) is a clan or family group, the members of which are forbidden to marry each other. It is believed that sagotras or persons with the same gotra have originated from the same ancestor and are, therefore, related by blood. But, this rule has been made legally ineffective by the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. (ii) Sapinda Exogamy: Sapindas are supposed to be blood relatives. Sapindas are those who are related to one another in ascending or descending order, by five generations from the mothers side and seven generations from the fathers side. One cannot select life partner from ones own Sapindas . Though the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 prohibits Sapinda marriage in general, it allows this in the form of crosscousin marriages as a peculiar custom of the South India. Sapinda exogamy indicates the prohibition placed on inter marriage of sapindas. Sapinda represents the relationship between the living member and dead ancestors. The term sapinda (saman pind) means (1) Those who share the particles of the same body, and (2) People who are united by offering pinda or balls to the same dead ancestor.
The Hindu law-givers differ in their definitions of sagotra. The Hindu marriage act, however, does not allow marriage within five generations on fathers side and three generations on mothers side. Inter-Caste Marriage It means the marriage between a woman and a man who belong to two different castes. For example, when a woman of Brahman caste marries a man from the caste of, say, a weaver that is known as an inter -caste marriage. According to the custom such marriages are not preferred, although in the urban areas this custom is not strictly followed. Other Rules of Marriage (i) Hypergamy or Anuloma : Hypergamy is that form of marriage in which the ritual status of a man is higher than that of his prospective wife.
(ii) Hypogamy or Pratiloma : Hypogamy is that form of marriage in which the ritual status of a woman is higher than that of her prospective husband. The inter -caste marriages have however, been legalised by legislations such as Special Marriage Act 1954, Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Hindu Marriage Laws (Amendment) Act 1976 etc. Muslim Marriage in India The Muslim marriage is called Nikah. Conceptually, Muslim marriage is a
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social contract or civil contract. In India, however, marriage among Muslims is also a religious affair. The Muslim marriage can be terminated by divorce. The marriage as a relatively permanent bond between a woman and a man seems to be the common heritage of Indian culture and Muslim marriages in India are reported to be more stable than in Arab world and other places. There are two main sects among the Muslim community in India the Shias and the Sunnis . There are differences between rituals of different sects but the defining features of all Muslim marriages (nikah) are the same. According to the Muslim Personal Law marriage is valid when four persons are present as witnesses. These four persons are: (1) The groom (2) The bride (3) The kazi (4) Witnesses (two male or four female witnesses). The bride and the groom are formally asked by the kazi in the presence of the local community and the chosen witnesses about their voluntary consent to their marriage. If they agree voluntarily their marriage contract is sanctioned. It is called Nikahnama. This contract includes the amount of Mehr or bride-wealth which the groom has to give to the bride as part of the contract at the time of the marriage or later as agreed upon. The marriage rite usually takes place at the brides place in both among the Hindus and the Muslims in India. There are many customs which are commonly
shared by the Hindus and the Muslims in a particular region. For example, among the Mopala Muslims of Kerala, the Hindu rite of Kalyanam is a necessary component of traditional Nikah. Parallel cousin marriage marriage of one with the daughter/son of ones fathers brother has been the preferred marriage among Muslims. Further, widow-remarriage is not a problem among Muslims. There are two types of Muslim marriages regular (Nikah) and irregular (Fasid). Irregular marriage (Mutah) can be converted into regular (Nikah) marriage. Irregular marriages occur in case of (1) Absence of witnesses at the time of making and accepting the proposal, (2) Fifth marriage of a man with four existing wives, (3) Marriage of a woman during the period when she is undergoing iddat. The duration of iddat is three months for divorcee and four months and ten days for widow to assure that the woman is not pregnant. (4) Difference of religion between wife and husband. Christian Marriage in India Christian Marriage in India has great similarity with Hindu marriage. Like the Hindus, the Christians also believe that marriage takes place because of the divine will. It is, however, not a religious duty as among the Hindus. It has got a religious aspect but it is primarily a social institution among the Indian Christians. The marriage partners are selected either by parents or by children
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themselves. While selecting partners the focus is on avoiding close relations, and giving importance to social status of the family, character, education, physical fitness etc. of the boy and the girl. Marriage rules among the Christians and Hindus are quite similar. After the engagement ceremony the marriage custom includes the following steps: (a) Producing a certificate of character, (b) Submitting an application for marriage in the church, three weeks before the due date of marriage, (c) The church priest then invites objections against the proposed marriage and when no objection is received, marriage date is fixed; and (d) The marriage ring the second ring, different from engagement ring is exchanged in the Church and the couple declares that they take each other as wedded partner in the presence of two witnesses and in the name of Lord Christ. The ritual of marriage takes place in the church. A community feast is organised after marriage among the Christians as among all other Indian communities irrespective of religious identity. Christians do not permit polygamy. The Church like the Hindu tradition does not permit divorce, however, among christians divorce does occur. Christians in India are guided by the Church customs as well as by the rules of Indian Constitution. According to the Church customs neither bride-wealth (Mehr) nor Dahej
is permissible in Christian marriage but practice of dowry is on the rise, perhaps under the Hindu influence. Remarriage of widows and divorcee is not only accepted but also encouraged. Tribal Marriage in India In India, there are some tribes which allow pre-marital and extra-marital sex relations on festive occasions. But, this does not mean that the tribes have no marriage rules. In fact, most of the tribes are strictly monogamous except on some festive occasions when there is a laxity in sex morals. Even among the most primitive tribes like the Toda, the Andamanese, the Kadar, the Chenchu, we find the existence of strict marriage rules. Marital fidelity is found to be enforced in most of the tribes. Proscriptions, Prescriptions and Preferences in the choice of mates in tribal societies are based on very elaborate rules. Preference in Mate Selection The tribes of India are different from each other on the basis of mate selection. Most of the tribes of India prefer to select mates in their own kin. Gonds and Khasis prefer a cross-cousin marriage. These preferential marriages may be viewed as a device to avoid bride price and to keep the property of the household intact. For instance, the Gonds call it Dudh Lautav (returning the milk) implying thereby that the bride price a person pays for his wife will be returned when his daughter marries her mothers brothers son. In
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addition to cross-cousin marriage other types of preferential marriages are: (a) Levirate: In this type, after the death of husband, his wife marries the younger brother of her dead husband. (b) Sororate: In this type, after the death of wife, the husband marries the sister of his dead wife. In restricted sororate, after the death of ones wife, the man marries the younger sister of his wife. In simultaneous sororate, the younger sister of ones wife automatically becomes his wife. Types of Marriage 1. Monogamy: It is the ideal form of marriage. The union of one woman with one man is called monogamy. During the lifetime, neither spouse can marry again. It is accepted among many Indian tribes. It is pronounced among the matrilineal tribes of Khasis and Garos of North-East India. 2. Polygamy: In this form, one woman can marry two or more men, or one man can marry two or more women. It is further divided into two types: (i) Polygyny: A man is eligible to marry more than one woman. It prevails among the Naga, the Baiga, the Gond, the Toda. (ii) Polyandry : One woman marries more than one man. This is again sub-divided into two types:
(a) Fraternal Polyandry: It is the marriage of one woman with several brothers of a family. All the brothers in a family have the same woman as their wife. It is especially found among the Todas of South India, Khasas of Jaunsar Bawar. The paternity of children, born of this marriage is determined by a social festival. (b) Non-fraternal Polyandry: In this marriage one woman marries more than one man, who are not brothers. They belong to different families and are not related by brotherly relations. It is found among the Todas of India. When a child is born, then any one of the husbands is chosen as her or his father by a special ceremony. Ways of Acquiring Mates among the Tribal Communities Tribal marriage is a social contract for sexual pleasure, production of children and mutual co-operation. It is not a religious sacrament like the Hindu marriage. There are mainly eight ways of acquiring mates: 1. Marriage by Probation: In this type of marriage, a man is allowed to live with the woman at her parents house for a particular period of time. During the period of probation, if they adjust with each other, they marry, if not, they separate and the man has to pay some money to the parents of the woman as compensation. If the
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woman becomes pregnant during this probation period then that man must marry that woman. It is found among the Kuki tribe of Manipur. 2. Marriage by Capture: It is a type of marriage in which without the consent of a woman, a man marries her forcibly. Excessive bride-price is the main factor responsible for this type of marriage. Marriage by capture is of two types: (i) In physical capture a man adopts a procedure whereby he carries away the woman by force and marries her. (ii) In ceremonial capture a man adopts a procedure whereby he surprises the woman by marking her forehead with Vermilion. Physical capture is found among the Naga, Ho, Bhil, Muria Gond, Badaga and Saora etc. Ceremonial capture is found among the Santhal tribes. Marriage by Trial: In some of the tribes of India, a man is required to prove his prowess and courage by braving the obstacles thrown in his way before procuring his wife. This is found among many tribes including the Bhils of India. Among the Bhils, men and women perform a folk dance around a tree or a pole during Holi festival. A coconut with some gur is tied to the top of the tree or pole. Women dance very near to the tree or pole and men dance around the circle
of the dancing women. Any man from the group has the right to reach the tree or pole. Women beat that man venturing to perform the feat with bamboo sticks and tear his clothes. In spite of all resistance, if he reaches the tree and breaks the coconut and eats gur, that man has the right to marry any one of the girls who have participated in the trial. 4. Marriage by Purchase: In this form of tribal marriage, the parents of bridegroom pay something in cash or kind to the brides parents. This money or material is known as the bride-price. A Garo man cannot get a bride if bride-price is not paid. The bride-price is said to be the compensation to the brides parents which is generally fixed by the tribal customs and traditions. Besides, the so-called bride-price is only a contribution from the bridegrooms family towards the expenses of the marriage feast on which it is usually spent. The system prevails among the Nagas, the Juangs and some of the tribes of Central India.
3.
5. Marriage by Service: Certain tribal families observe this custom. According to this custom, the bridegroom before marriage, simply goes to his prospective father-in-laws house and serves there as a servant for a particular period of time. After the expiry of this period, if the father-in-law is satisfied with the work of the man,
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he gives his daughters hand to him. If he is dissatisfied then the man is banished from the house. During the period of service, the man cannot establish sexual relations with the woman. The tribes of India differ from one another regarding the modalities or the duration of service. The members of many tribes of India such as the Gond, Baiga, etc. practice this. 6. Marriage by Exchange: According to this practice, two families exchange their daughter and son so that neither side is required to pay the bride-price. Marriage by exchange is very common in Indian tribes. The Uralis of Kerala, the Muria Gonds and Baiga of Bastar and the Koya and the Saora of Andhra Pradesh practice this. 7. Marriage by Elopement: It takes place when a woman and a man love each other and want to marry, but their parents refuse their matrimonial relation. In such cases, both of them escape from the village. After some period, they come back to the village and then they are recognised as wife and husband. It is known as Raji Khushi marriage among the Ho tribe of Jharkhand. 8. Marriage by Intrusion: When a man has intimate relations with a woman and promises to marry her but always postpones the marriage ceremony, the woman herself takes the initiative and enters his hut and
occupies her place in one of its corners. Sometimes, she is much harassed, ill-treated and beaten by the parents of the man. If the woman withstands all this, she wins and the man is compelled by his neighbours to marry her. Among the Oraons it is known as Nirbolok and among the Ho as Anadar. Marriage in Contemporary India Marriage in India today is primarily of monogamous type. The age at marriage is increasing among all the socio-religious communities. Most marriages are settled by the parents but the interests and opinions of the concerned children are being taken into account increasingly. Inter-caste and inter -community marriages are somewhat increasing in urban areas. Dowry is spreading even among those communities which did not practice dowry earlier. For example, dowry is increasing among Muslim and Christian families and some of the tribal groups as well. The traditional system of Dahej was a voluntary form of gift giving. The modern practice of dowry, instead, is negotiated and demanded either in cash or in kind or both given by the brides family to the grooms family. The custom of dowry represents the declining role of community and collective ideals and increasing emphasis on individual and family interests in the short term. The prevalence of dowry system seriously affects the bond of love and affection between the bride and her in-laws, particularly where her natal family is
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forced to spend enormously on dowry. It creates endless sufferings for the bride whose parents are unable to meet the greed of the grooms family. Legislation against dowry has been passed. Economic self-sufficiency of women and their sense of dignity as well as enlightenment of the prospective grooms is expected to minimise dowry. The rate of divorce and separation is also increasing. Even in stable marriage contexts, the conjugal bond is increasingly under stress. However, wives are gradually becoming aware of their rights and they have become relatively assertive. As a result conjugal relationship is being redefined in tune with the democratic ethos. It is not uncommon for husband to take part in the domestic work, especially when the wife is also working. In comparison to other societies, however, stability of marriage as an institution is still intact in Indian society. THE FAMILY Family is a basic and universal unit of human society. It performs functions that are necessary for the continuity, integration and development of social life. In most traditional societies family has been the unit of social, cultural, religious, economic and political activities and organisations. In modern industrial societies, the family performs primarily the functions of reproduction, socialisation and provision of emotional satisfaction. Sociologists talk about family in two senses. It refers (i) to an empirical entity of a specific type, and (ii) to an analytical
concept. The empirical type of family varies from community to community and region to region. As an analytical concept, family is a universal institution. It refers to groups composed of parents and children. If parents live with their immature economically and emotionally dependent, usually unmarried children, it is called nuclear or elementary family. If parents live with their mature children and their spouses, it is called joint family. Family as an analytical concept is primarily concerned with legitimate mating and sanctioned procreation in all human societies. In modern industrial and urban societies family provides the chief principle of kin-group formation. In traditional societies, however, the family is dominated by principles of kinship organisation and ties of filiations or blood relationships. The group formed around the primacy of marriage is composed of spouses and dependent children. It is called nuclear or conjugal family. It is upon the conjugal relation that the solidarity of elementary family depends. The solidarity of joint family depends primarily on the mutual trust among family members. Sociologists also talk about patrilineal and matrilineal families. A patrilineal family is constituted by the children of the father and children are known by the name of the father. After marriage the daughter goes to live with her husband and the spouse of the male child comes to live with her husbands family. Family property is primarily transmitted from father to son. A
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matrilineal family is constituted by the descendents of the mother and children are known by the name of the mother. After marriage the husband may go to live with his wife and her family or, in some societies, stay with his sister. The family property is transmitted from the mother to the daughter but it is usually managed by the mothers br other. The management right is transferred from the mothers brother to the sisters son. Patrilineal families may be either nuclear or joint but matrilineal families are mostly joint. The Family In India According to I.P.Desai the concept of family as nuclear family is still not the Indian concept. To the Indian the family is that which is the joint family in English. Sociologists like A.M. Shah have differentiated between joint family and a residential household. In both modern and traditional India nuclear households did exist. Joint family remained for most Indians the ideal pattern of family life. Contemporary sociologists have reported from different regions of India that nuclear family or household is merely a stage in the developmental cycle of the joint family. Households in India develop into joint and nuclear structures in a cyclical order. This is linked with the natural process of death of the older generation and birth of the new generation. This cycle is usually completed within thirty years times and a new cycle begins after that. Iravati
Karve says that the joint family is a group of people who generally live under one roof, eat the food cooked at one hearth, hold property in common, participate in common family worship and are related to each other as some particular type of kindred. According to I.P.Desai, co-residence and common kitchen are not as important elements of the joint family as intra-family relationships. He has suggested that there are five types of family life in India: 1. Nuclear Family: The smallest family which consists of wife, husband and their unmarried children. 2. Functional Joint Family: When two families having blood relationship are living separately but function under one common authority, it is called functional joint family. 3. Functional and Substantial Joint Family: When a functional joint family is also joint in terms of property it is called functional and substantial joint family. 4. Marginal Joint Family: When two generations of family members live together functionally and substantially it is called marginal joint family. 5. T raditional Joint Family: It consists of three or more generations of people living together in one household, own property commonly and participate in the family rituals. Joint and nuclear households and the cultural norm of joint family have
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existed side by side in India. Changes are now taking place both in the structure of households and the degree of sentiment of jointness. Structural Features of Joint Households 1. Common Residence and Kitchen: The members live under one roof. The entire residence is divided into many small rooms for the use of different brothers and their families. Jointness in living fosters a common bond among the different members of the family. There is a single kitchen for the whole household. Generally, the wife of the head of the house or an elderly woman remains in charge of the common kitchen. 2. Large Size: It consists of a number of people. It may even consist of people of three or more generations including at least grandparents, grandchildren, uncles, aunts, cousins and so on. 3. Common Property: The property of the family is held in common. Both movable and immovable property are owned jointly. Everyone works according to ones efficiency and earnings are pooled together in a common fund. Wealth and goods of joint family are produced and consumed collectively. The head of the family, known as the karta remains in charge of it. Every male member is legally a co-owner of the family property.
Functional Elements of Joint Household in India 1. Common Rituals and Ceremonies: Every joint family has its own rites and rituals in accordance with the caste norms and religious obligations. This common pattern of worship is inherited from generation to generation. This brings unity and integration to the family. The common God they worship i.e., the family diety is known as kul devta. 2. Role of the Karta: In the household, the authority to take decisions and maintain peace and discipline in the family lies in the hands of the Karta. All the earning members keep their earnings with him and the entire property is kept under his control. Family ceremonies and celebrations are held under his guidance and direction. He also settles the disputes within the household. In nutshell, the Karta is the trustee of the family and enjoys unquestionable authority. 3. Mutual Obligations: Members of the joint family are bound together by mutual obligations. No one works against the interests of the others. All members are responsible for each other and are bound by mutual understanding, love, reciprocal relationships and cooperative spirit. These bonds and relation-ships are said to be the sustaining force of the joint family. The individuals interests are sub-
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ordinate to the interests of the family as a whole. 4. Socialist System: It is a functional unit based on socialistic norms. Everyone works for the welfare of the family as a whole. The rights and privileges are distributed equally among the members. Each member contributes according to her or his capacity and gets according to her or his needs. Functions of the Joint Family The Indian joint family system is considered the backbone of Indian social organisation. As a system of social organisation it has been prevalent for many centuries till today. It, evidently, follows that this ancient institution has performed some beneficial functions for the society. Some positive functions of the joint family are the following: Reproduction The family functions as the usual legitimate site of reproduction. Human fertility and procreation are determined to a large extent by the family. The responsibility of child raising is shared with the wider kin group. Consequently, numerous offsprings are viewed as a positive asset to the group, providing security to the parents in their old age. Socialisation Following from the familys role as the site of reproduction, the family is the first and primary agency of
socialisation. The young are always under constant guidance and discipline. The family imparts the values of tolerance, co-operation, sacrifice and sympathy to its members. It involves the young in the care of elders. It helps one to grow into a mature, responsible full-fledged social being. In the process of growing as an adult it emphasises among its members inculcation of traditional norms associated with general roles as a female or male. The family is greatly concerned about childrens education, employment and marriage; and it plays a crucial role in the social placement of the younger generation. Agency of Social Control The joint family is a self-regulating administrative unit, operating under the guidance of the Karta whose authority is questioned only in terms of exceptional use of power. It acts as an informal means of social control. The elder members in a joint family check the indiscipline and anti-social tendencies of its young. The family ensures that its members grow up as well behaved and disciplined people. Welfare A major function of the family is that of care and nurture of the young, the handicapped, the sick, and the aged. It takes special care of the infant and the pregnant or lactating mother. The joint family organisation is well adapted to provide the maximum degree of
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security to its members, especially so in the times of distress. The joint family, thus, creates a conducive and friendly social environment for its members. It also provides opportunities for recreation and participation in cultural functions. Production, Distribution Consumption and
Crucial to the familial organisation of production is the sexual division of labour, both within the household itself and outside. The women usually take charge of the domestic and reproductive sphere. They may also contribute to home-based industrial activities. The men are employed in the public domain and contribute to the familys earnings. However, this sexual division of labour has come under criticism in recent times. The joint family is a single unit of consumption. This implies an economically efficient arrangement as large amounts of consumable commodities are purchased at low prices, while non-consumable commodities are shared among the large number of family members. The members pool in their earnings and expenses are made depending on the needs of the whole family. Dysfunctions of the Joint Family Despite the numerous advantages, there are also dysfunctions and pathological aspects of the joint residential pattern of the family in India. Some of these, noted by sociologists, are as follows:
The joint household is a centre of conflict with respect to petty issues. There is often lack of adjustments, accommodation and assimilation between the members. Differences and bitterness lead to internal contradictions and thus prepare the way for dissolution of the household. The joint family stands in the way of development of the individuals autonomous personality. Since the family-head makes important decisions, there is less scope for taking into consideration limitations of individual members or their likes and dislikes. Thus, independent thinking is restrained and creative potential of members is not fully tapped or expanded. Sometimes there is psychological dissatisfaction and misunderstanding as intimacy fails to develop between newly married couples. Under the joint family system, most of the time of young married women may be spent on catering to the needs of all the members. This sometimes leaves them with little free time or opportunities to enjoy and sometimes even to look after their health properly. Since the joint family has both old and young members, there is an intergenerational conflict. The old people strictly abide by the traditional norms and beliefs and do not accept new cultural limits and trends. This sometimes creates problems and disrupts peace in the family. The young oppose supposedly authoritarian, unfair, unjust behaviour and emphasise on individualism. There is
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difference in attitudes to social customs. Changes in the Joint Family The following changes in the joint family or household have been observed by sociologists: Structural Changes The facts and values which nurtured, stabilised and sustained the joint family organisation are: (1) filial devotion of sons; (2) the readiness of the economically viable members to stand by those other members of the joint family who lack in the capacity to support themselves and their spouses and children economically; (3) lack of state organised system of social security for old women and men; and (4) a material incentive for organising the size of the land and the capital and the labour required to utilise the same profitably. The factors which are now leading to the breaking-up of the joint household are: 1. Differential earnings of brothers, generating tensions in the household. 2. Disinclination of sons and their wives to share the joint responsibilities of the household. 3. Growth of individualism, especially among the young and the westernised sections of society. 4. The growing importance of the service sector in the economy and external earning opportunities,
which are leading to nuclearisation of the joint household. Functional Changes These can be examined at three levels: 1. Wife-Husband Relations: In the traditional household, the wife had a sub-ordinate voice in decisionmaking. But in the contemporary household, the wife plays a more active role, often at par with her husband. It requires mutual adjustment between the wife and the husband as well as between work and home. 2. Parent-Children Relations: In the traditional family, while power and authority was totally vested in the Karta and he was virtually allpowerful in decision-making about education, occupation and marriage of children in the family, this is not the case in the contemporary household. Today, in most joint households all members are part of decisionmaking. 3. Relations between Daughter-inlaw and Parentsin-law: A significant change has come about in their relationship. The educated bahu does not observe purdah from her father-in-law. The relationship between the bahu and the motherin-law is often less strained now. The mother-in-law is not a powerful figure but she remains a respected kin like the father-in-law.
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The Family in Contemporary India Although the cultural norm of family in most socio-religious-cultural groups in India has been joint, nuclear households have existed since earlier times at the empirical level. During the modern period different factors like urbanisation, migration, industrialisation, spread of western education and the process of westernisation have led to the development of a new type of household and family in India. These factors have not led to the demise of the joint family in the structural sense, but have certainly strengthened the existing nuclear households and families. To some extent nuclear families have even emerged as an alternative cultural norm. The modern media has played a significant role in the spread of the new cultural norm of the nuclear family. Demographic factors, however, have strengthened the institution of joint family and joint households. Census data and ethnographic studies have shown that it is the older people rather than children who have contributed to an increase in the average size of the Indian household. For various reasons, life expectancy was so low in the past that it reduced the chances of forming a joint household and preserving it for a long time. This situation has changed now since medical facilities and other factors have significantly raised the average life expectancy. A.M. Shah says that while the average size of household in urban areas has been lower than in rural areas, since 1951, it has been steadily
increasing in both. There is, however, one section of urban society, particularly in metropolitan cities, where the institution of nuclear family and household is gaining popular acceptance. This is the middle and professional classes and westernised upper caste sections in metropolitan cities. This is a modern and rapidly growing section of Indian society. It has been under the maximum impact of the ideology of individualism. This section has developed a liberal attitude towards daughters, whereby the absence of a son does not create over-anxiety. The middle class professionals have accepted the small family norm. Consequently, this class has usually followed the one or two child norm. The children after marriage may not live necessarily in a joint household with their parents. The age at marriage in this class is high and usually sons and daughters-in-law have jobs in places away from the parents place of residence. They may continue to uphold the norm of the joint family but do not live together as an integrated household unit for long. Among the nuclear households the following features are reported: (1) Small size of the household facilitates greater freedom and independence to the members. (2) Sense of individual responsibility is greater in such households in comparison to the joint households. (3) In the urban context, nuclear households have become economically more viable for the prosperous middle classes.
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(4)
Nuclear households are supposed to promote more adaptability to cope with crisis situations in the contemporary context. Modern facilities like insurance, banking and medical clinics have made the traditional security and care offered by joint households less attractive to the prosperous professional classes. (5) From childrens point of view, however, nuclear households have both negative and positive aspects. The role of grandparents and other senior relatives in child development is well recognised by psychologists and social scientists. In nuclear households, sometimes, both the parents are working outside. As a result, children feel a lot of loneliness and anxiety. They have to rely on servants, house-keepers, playschools and other formal childcare agencies. In many instances this leads to emotional strain and emotionally vulnerable personalities, although in most cases children learn to cope and develop an attitude of independence and individualism. A large number of Indians even today live in joint households and the norm of joint family is more or less intact. The cultural ethos of jointness and the emotional bond between the members is, however, under strain. The moral authority of the family head or Karta has been undermined. Instead, family decisions are mostly the result of negotiated procedures. The Indian
parliament has passed various Acts to safeguard the interests of female members in the family. Education has also empowered women and children. Therefore, joint family norms and customs are changing rapidly. The joint households are adapting to the changing norms and customs. As a reflection of these changes, in the last two decades, the popular media such as cinema and television programmes have often dealt with the changing joint family and households in the modern context. On the whole, the institution of joint family and household is undergoing adaptive changes. Resilience of Indian society and culture is reflected in the institution of the family even today. KINSHIP In societies of almost all varieties, kinship provides the framework of social relationship. Outside her or his nuclear family she or he has secondary relatives and tertiary relatives. Each individual has primary relatives in the nuclear family to which she or he belongs. Kinship is that part of culture which deals with notions of, or ideas about relatedness or relationship through birth and through marriage. The kinship organisation refers to a set of persons recognised as relatives either by virtue of blood relationship or by virtue of marriage relationship. According to G. Duncan Mitchel, when we use the term kinship we are referring to people who are related by consanguinity and affinity. Consanguinity is a relationship based on
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supposedly common blood relationship. A consanguine is a relative who was born in the family as well as one who was adopted in the family concerned. An affine is a relative by marriage. For example, fatherson relationship is consanguineous relationship whereas wifehusband relationship is affinal relationship. Kinship serves two important and related purposes, (i) it provides a way of transmitting status and property from one generation to the next, and (ii) in some societies it serves to establish and maintain effective social groups. Kinship is the product of two related institutions, family and marriage, and it regulates the social behaviour relating to birth, physical union of woman and man and death. Kinship also indicates the expectations, rights and duties that kinsmen have to one another. In most societies where kinship connections are important, the rules of descent affiliate individuals with different sets of kin. Descent concerns the tracing of relationships through succeeding generations, i.e., who has descended from whom. There are several ways of tracing descents. Unilineal Descent or one-line descent is that form of descent in which a relationship is emphasised through one sex or line. It is of two types: 1. Patrilineal or Agnatic Descent is a form of unilineal descent traced through males only. It is important to remember that ego or the person calculating descent may be either female or male. Females in a
patrilineal descent trace their descent through the line of their fathers as male members do. 2. Matrilineal or Uterine Descent is a form of descent traced through females only. Both females and males trace their descent in this way. 3. There is also the form of Double or Duo lineal or Bilineal Descent. It is a form of unilineal descent which combines both patrilines and matrilines. Descent is traced separately through female and through male lines for different purposes, e.g., inheritance of immovable property through one line and inheritance of movable property through the other. Cognatic or Bilateral Descent is non unilineal descent. Here descent is traced through all progenitors, female and male, through both the mother and the father. In India we generally find the patrilineal and matrilineal descent systems. Of the two, patrilineal descent system is more common. Patrilineal descent is more prevalent in North India. Among the tribals, many tribes such as Santhals or Mundas have the patrilineal system. Interestingly the polyandrous Todas too have a patrilineal system. Tribes such as the Khasis and Garos of North-East have the matrilineal descent system. The Nayars of Kerala are a good example of matrilineal descent. Unilineal descent groups often take the form of lineages and clans. Lineage
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is a set of kin, whose members trace their descent from a common ancestor through known links. A clan is often composed of related lineages. A clan is a set of kins who believe that they have descended from a common ancestor but cannot specify the genealogical links with her or him. Marriage is usually not allowed between the members of a lineage. Marriage is not permitted also within the clan. The gotras of Indian society are, for example, exogamous descent groups particularly in North India. The members of a unilineal descent group may often come together for ritual and ceremonial celebrations. Rules of inheritance tend to coordinate with reckoning of descent in most societies. In most parts of India till very recent times immovable property such as land and housing has been inherited only by sons and in their absence by the nearest male relatives. Recent legislation has, however, established right of the daughter to her paternal property. Kinship Terminology A.R. Radcliffe Brown, the famous anthropologist, has observed that kinship terms indicate, among other things, classification of egos rights and duties. Prior to him, L.H. Morgan, pointed out that kinship terms provides the context and idiom for our social relationships. He talked of two systems of kinship terminologies : (i) Classificatory, and (ii) Descriptive. The Classificatory System uses kinship terms that merge or equate
relatives who are genealogically distinct from one another. Here the same term is used for different kin. The Descriptive System refers to a kinship system in which a single term refers to a particular relative and a specific kind of relationship of the ego the person from whom the relationship is calculated with her or him. For example, mothers brother is referred to as mama, fathers brother as chacha etc. In most contemporary societies, both terms descriptive and classificatory are used. Within the nuclear family only descriptive terms father, mother, etc. are used. The North Indian kinship terminology is comparatively descriptive in the sense that it describes elementary relationships starting from the ego. In order to emphasise the patrilineal descent, the terms in the system make a clear-cut distinction between parallel and cross-cousins, e.g., bhatiji ones brothers daughter and bhanji ones sisters daughter. Here, the distinction between crosscousin and parallel-cousin may be noted. Persons who are respective children of brother and his sister are cross-cousins. Thus, the cross-cousins of ego are her or his fathers sisters (phuphis) child and mothers brothers (mamas) child. Parallel-cousins are persons who are respective children of same-gender siblings. Thus, the parallel-cousins of ego are her or his fathers brothers (chachas) child and mothers sisters (mausis) child. In the South Indian kinship terminology there
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is relative stress on classificatory terminology. Here the same term mama includes mothers brother, fathers sisters husband and wifes father. Kinship Terms and Usages Signifying Social Behaviour Some of the usages, which have social sanction and convention are considered necessary for keeping order and decorum in the society. Joking relationship is an example of it. It indicates equality and mutual reciprocity between the two kin participating in it. This is particularly true of the joking relationship between a man and his wifes younger sister (jija-sali in the Indian context) or a woman and her husbands younger brother (bhabhidevar in the Indian Context). After the premature death of a husband, bhabhi may be married to devar. This practice exists in North India among some agricultural caste groups. There are other types of joking relationships as well. For instance, some communities have joking relationships between grandparents and grandchildren as well. As a contrast to the joking relationship is the behaviour or relationship of avoidance between a woman and her husbands father. Similarly, she has to avoid her husbands elder brother. The term for husbands father is shvasur and for husbands elder brother is Bhainsur. Bhainsur or Bhasur is a combination of the Sanskrit word bhratri (brother) and shvasur (father-in-law), and is, therefore like father-in-law.
Teknonymy In many rural communities in India, Teknonymy is a very common practice. It denotes the custom of naming the parent from the name of the child, for example, the mother of Ramu (Ramu ki maa) or father of Sita (Sita ke Pitaji). One reason for this may be that a person becomes a full member of the family, in which she or he is married, only after the birth of a child by whose name she or he is addressed. Kinship System in India Kinship in India represents the diversities of marriage customs and practices. It is not possible to talk of kinship in India at the level of all India generality. Kinship as an organisation in India is mostly an aspect of the regional cultures. Iravati Karve has talked about four regions (North, South, East and West) of kinship in India. Many others, however, talk about two systems of kinship in India: the North Indian and the South Indian. The North Indian and the South Indian Kinship systems are also known as Aryan and Dravidian kinship systems. Kinship Systems of North India and South India In the Southern Zone one usually finds a preference for a marriage with certain categories of close kin, in particular, with one or the other or both of the cross cousins but never parallel cousins or even with the elder sisters daughter. On the whole, the inter-marrying groups are of comparable status. The marriage
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will involve groups which are geographically quite proximate even from the same village and the bride will already be familiar with her in-laws. In South India, the existing bonds between kin groups are strengthened by the new marriage relationship. The circle of kinship does not widen. In North India, by contrast crosscousin marriages are not permitted. In fact, in this region marriages are not encouraged between those who are already closely related. A rule of village exogamy also operates in most places. As a result brides are given to and taken from villages or towns, often at a considerable distance. Here the emphasis is on extending the circles or boundaries of kinships and not so much on intensification of the existing bonds. The bride in North Indian kinship system comes to her husbands family as a stranger. She may sometimes become vulnerable to various types of unkind treatment from her in-laws. In North India it is also often the case that marriages unite groups whose social status is already unequal, the bride-givers being of inferior status than the bridetakers (hypergamy). The marriage transaction commonly takes place in
the form of dowry payment which may create problems for the bride. Kinship in Contemporary India Kinship ties are still important for majority of Indians. In times of crisis majority of Indians rely primarily on their kinship networks. When a kin dies, all kinsmen and women rally to support the aggrieved family. When a person migrates to another place, she or he contacts the relatives by birth or by marriage. When she or he requires a job, she or he is given all the possible help by her or his relatives. In a new place she or he stays initially with her or his kin or relatives. When she or he is to be married, the marriage proposal comes by the mediation of the kinship networks. In the same way, when marriage takes place in a family, the members of the kinship group are obliged to give gifts to the bride or the groom they are related to. In the life of the majority of Indians, kinship still provides the framework of social and cultural life. Caste, class, club and neighbourhood are also important but the role of kinship are perhaps more decisive than any one of these.
GLOSSARY
AFFINITY. A social relationship based on marriage gives rise to affinity or affinal relationship. For example, a man and his wifes brothers or sisters are affines.
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INTRA-GENERATIONAL CONFLICT. The conflict within the same generation is called intra-generational conflict. For example, the conflict between brothers and sisters. FRATERNAL. It refers to a brother, real or classificatory. KINSHIP
BEHAVIOUR. The performance of duty or obligation by kin members for each other is called kinship behaviour. For example, gift given and taken by kin members on ritual occasions.
SAMSKARA. Samskara or sacrament is a cultural religious device of socialisation among the Hindus.
EXERCISES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. What is marriage? Discuss its various types. Discuss the salient features of marriage among the Hindus. Muslim Marriage is a contract. Explain this statement. Write an essay on Christian Marriage in India. What do you understand by the family? What are the functions of joint family? What are the dysfunctions of joint family? Write down a short note on changes in the joint family. What is Kinship? Discuss the functions of kinship in Indian society. What is kinship behaviour? What are the social implications of kinship behaviour? 11. Explain the following terms: (a) Affinity (b) Cognatic descent (c) Joking relationship (d) Teknonymy 12. Explain cross-cousin and parallel-cousin marriage in India.
SUGGESTED READINGS
1. 2. Jain, Shobhita, Bharat Mein Parivar, Vivah aur Natedari (in Hindi) Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 1996. Karve, Iravati, Kinship Organisation in India , Asia Publishing House, Mumbai, 1968.
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3. 4. 5.
Shah, A.M., The Household Dimension of the Family in India, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1974. Shah, A.M., The Family in India : Critical Essays, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1998. Uberoi, Patricia, ed., Family, Kinship And Marriage in India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1994.
CHAPTER 6
Religion in India
Introduction Religion is a very important institution of society. It is considered a bulwark of morality, a source of public order and inner individual peace. Human beings live in conditions of perpetual uncertainties. Human beings capacity to control and affect the conditions of her or his life is inherently limited. This generates a need to enter into a relationship with the supra empirical aspects of reality, a need that is fulfilled by religion. Although religion and dharma are normally used interchangeably, the connotations and meanings are not exactly the same. Whereas religion denotes beliefs and rituals, dharma denotes social duties and the normative order of the cosmos. Dharma is the orientation of the human action towards its fruits. It is the regulation of social life by norms of conduct. In Indic practices, dharma has implications that go beyond religion, as normally understood. For Emile Durkheim, A religion is a unified set of beliefs and practices related to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden, beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a church to all those who adhere to them. In other words, religion presupposes a classification of all things into two classes or opposed groups, generally designated as sacred and profane. Many sociologists also emphasise another aspect of religion: It serves as a mechanism to help people solve the problem of meaning of life, death, illness, failure, success, happiness etc. It, thus, provides an overall sense of direction and meaning to human life. A religion has three aspects rituals, beliefs, and organisation. Rituals deal with religious behaviour. Beliefs deal with the sources as well as the patterns of faith. Organisation deals with the mechanism by which religions manage the behaviour, expectations, status and role of the members concerned. India is a multi-religious country. According to 1991 census of India, there are 82 per cent Hindus, 12.12 per cent Muslims, 2.3 per cent Christians, 1.94 per cent Sikhs, 0.76 per cent Buddhists, 0.40 per cent Jains, and 0.44 per cent others. The last category of others include Parsis or
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Zoroastrians, Jews and Animists groups of tribal origins. In other words, almost every major religious group is represented in India. Traditionally all the groups have lived together respecting the others beliefs and practices. The different religions practised in India can be broadly classified into the following two groups: 1. Religions of Indic Origin: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. These are rooted in the long religious tradition of India. 2. Semitic Religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These are rooted in the prophetic tradition of Adam and Abraham. No village or town in India is devoid of a religious monumenttemple, mosque, church and Gurudwara etc. There are two aspects of religion in India, the individual aspect and the collective aspect. It is the latter aspect which is emphasised in India. Religion, Law and the State in India Indian tolerance of beliefs and acceptance of diversity are proverbial. India is a multi-religious state in which various faiths are entitled to the protection of their religious laws to an extent. The Indian Constitution respects the religious laws of different communities under the rubric of personal law. Personal law refers to the system of religious rules, customs and practices related with family, marriage and succession, for different religious groups.
The Indian Constitution does not refer to religious pluralism as such, but its overall effect is often described as secular. It gives equal importance to all religions and this accords well with the traditions of pluralism in India. Article 25(1) of the Indian Constitution grants the right to freely profess, practice and propagate ones religion. It is guaranteed to all persons subject to considerations of public order, morality and health. Religion as a Way of Community Life in India In Indian society religion is, primarily, associated with communities rather than with individuals. The Indian Constitution as well as the Indian traditions recognise the place of individual beliefs and individual attempts to search for the divine. The individual quest is considered spirituality, whereas religion is conceptualised as a collective affair to lead a moral life. Let us look at the major religious groups in India in brief. THE HINDU COMMUNITY IN INDIA A notable dimension of Hinduism is the belief that God is pervasive and easily accessible to the people in one form or the other. Hindu communities do not believe in one God. Hinduism as a way of life is very accommodative regarding beliefs and rituals. There are no beliefs or rituals which are common to all Hindus, and which
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mark them off from others. While the caste system and joint family are fundamental to Hinduism, these are not confined to Hindus alone. By and large, recruitment to Hinduism is by birth into one of the many Hindu castes. Arya Samaj and other modern sects, however, are exceptions. They convert new members into their own variety of Hinduism. In the course of centuries, other groups who came to India often assumed the character of castes and entered the Hindu fold gradually. Although there is much diversity in Hindu Dharma the three central tenets of textual Hinduism at the philosophical level are dharma, karma and moksha. Dharma is the basic moral force that holds the universe together. Karma is a theory which believes that every action of human being bears a definite fruit and a person has to enjoy the fruit good or bad depending upon the action performed. There is no escape from Karma. Mostly, a person enjoys the fruit of her or his Karma within this life. In case death intervenes in between, she or he is bound to take rebirth just to enjoy the fruit of her or his previous Karma. This is called fate or Prarabda. Fate can be modified to some extent by the present Karma. In this way the present conduct holds a key to future existence. Moksha is liberation from karmic bondage the cessation of cycles of births and deaths. Even in present life one can attain liberation from worldly attachment and achieve mental peace.
Varnashrama-dharma is the most popular example of Hindu social organisation. It is an ideal framework of a moral community and has functioned as the reference point from the time of Rig Veda. It presents a functional division of Hindu society into four categories Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras . The Brahmana varna is a symbolic equivalent of intellectual professions teachers, priests, astrologers and vaidyas. Kshatriyas are symbolic equivalents of kings, administrators, and managers. Vaishyas are symbolic equivalents of entrepreneurs, traders and merchants. Shudras are the service provider groups. Such classifications are found in many traditions and societies. What makes the classification of varna unique is the requisites professional and other required to perform dharma of the concerned varna. Ashrama is the complementary institution of varna. If varna tried to present an ideal principle of social organisation, ashrama tried to present an ideal principle of the organisation of an individuals life. This concept divides life into four parts (i) brahmacharya or student life, (ii) grihastha or family life, (iii) vanaprastha or life of gradual withdrawl as well as social service, and (iv) sanyasa or renunciation of the world and transcending the limits of human life. The importance of ashrama is dependent on the concept of Purushartha. It is believed that an ideal Hindu must give equal importance to dharma (duties), artha (sources of
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livelihood), kama (desire of sex), and moksha (liberation from all types of bondage and attachment). In other words, Hindus believe that both material and spiritual aspects are important for a balanced life. The classical texts mention sixteen samskaras for an ideal Hindu but only three sacraments are popular: 1. Initiation sacrament (wearing the sacred thread), 2. Marriage sacrament, and 3. Death sacrament. Out of even these three life-cycle rituals, sacred thread is usually given to the male members of the Dwija or so-called twice-born castes only. Usually Hindus do not bury the dead body of adults. There are three types of rituals which are performed in Hindu families: (a) Life-cycle rituals like initiation ritual, marriage ritual, death ritual etc. (b) Domestic rituals like Raksha Bandhan or Bhai Duj (performed by sisters for brothers), Teej and Karva Chauth (performed by wives for husbands), Jitia (performed by mothers for sons), and some others. (c) Annual festivalsHindus celebrate annual festivals like Diwali, Dushehara, Holi, Onam, Makar-Sankranti, Baisakhi etc. Pilgrimage is also a defining feature of community life in India. Most Hindus visit temples situated all over India, take dip in the sacred rivers, pay homage to their ancestors in sacred places. Varanasi, Haridwar, Prayag, Madurai, Puri, Dwarka, Badri- Kedarnath, Shringeri, Tirupathi, Vaishnodevi and Kam arupaKamakhya etc., are some sacred places of the Hindus.
Most Hindus give donations and gifts to the needy as well as to the virtuous. However, they believe that philanthropy or charity is virtuous only when it is given secretly. Charity that is publicly given or advertised is usually looked down upon. The Religious Groups and Sects of Indic Origin Hinduism is divided into many sects. Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, Lingayats, Kabirpanthis, Ravidaspanthis are among the most notable sects within Hinduism. There have been inter -linkages among these religious groups and the wider Hindu society. Sikhs and some Hindu castes in Punjab were intermarrying among each other until recently. Buddhists and Hindus also have marital relationships. Jains and Hindu Baniyas have very close social and cultural links. Buddhism and Jainism were the early religious orders (Sampraday) of India which devalued priestly power and the constraints of caste and hierarchy. Buddhism made compassion to all living entities human beings, animals and plants religiously significant. Jainism believes in Ahimsa (non-violence). Subsequently, the bhakti (devotional) sects emerged in South India during sixth to eleventh century AD, and in North India during fourteenth to seventeenth century AD. These sects propagated a liberalism which freed people from rituals and social inhibitions and made them all equal
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before God. Kabir Panth , Ravidas Panth , Nanak Panth , Lingayat Sampraday etc. are some of the famous devotional sects of Indic origin. In the wake of colonial rule, new reformist trends emerged in Indian society. The reformist movements included Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, and Ramakrishna Mission , among others. In more recent times, the Anuvrat Andolan , Bhoodan movement and Swadhyay movement have given new dimensions to reform within the Hindu society. THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY IN INDIA Islam first came to India in the late seventh century AD when some Arab traders migrated to the Malabar coast. The Muslim conquest of Sindh in eighth century AD led to the beginning of conversion of Hindu castes and tribes into Islam. Between eleventh and eighteenth centuries, India faced waves of invasions by Turks, Afghans, Mughals and Persians. Thus, Islam in India is thirteen centuries old. The Muslims from West Asia came as conquerors, settled down, got attuned to native ways and ruled India for seven centuries. Those who came from outside, first as traders then as conquerors or as Sufi Saints, were far less in number than those Indians who converted to Islam. India has the third biggest Muslim population in the world today. Islam says that there is one God and submission to Him results in peace. Islam simply means surrender to the
will of one God, called Allah in Arabic. To become a Muslim, it is sufficient to bear testimony and accept by heart before two Muslim witnesses that there is no God except Allah and Mohammad is the messenger of Allah. The first testimony asserts the unity of the divine principle and the second testimony establishes Mohammad as the final prophet of the supreme God. The Islamic religion is composed of diverse schools and interpretations that are deeply rooted and united in the principles of the Islamic revelation. All Muslims agree that the Quran is the verbatim revelation of God and they agree about its text and content. Muslims also believe in the reality of the afterlife. They are united in the main rituals performed, ranging from the Namaz to Roza to making the Haj pilgrimage. Muslims in India, as elsewhere, are divided into two major sects, Sunnis and Shias. These two sects separated from each other upon the death of the Prophet on the question of succession. The Sunni Caliphs and the Shiite Imams have never accepted each others authority. In comparison to Shias, Sunnis are in majority in India. The Ahmadiyas, the Dawoodi Bohras, the Ismali Khoja etc. are some other denominations of Muslim Community in India. There are caste-like groups in Indian Muslims, e.g., Syed, Sheikh, Khan, Malik and Ansari etc. These become more significant during matrimonial match making. One of the key concepts in Islam is that of the ummah or the totality of the
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people who are Muslims and compose the Islamic world. Ummah creates an Islamic brotherhood that goes beyond a single ethnic, racial and cultural group. In the Islamic perspective, religion is not seen as a part of life or a special kind of activity along with art, thought, commerce, social interaction, politics, and the like. Rather, it is the matrix and worldview within which these and all other human activities, efforts and creations take place or should take place. Islamic religion is a total way of life. Islam does not accept the dichotomy between sacred and profane or spiritual and secular. Islam asserts that nothing can be legitimate outside the realm of religion. The Quran, the Prophet, the Hadith , the Shariat and the Tariquat are the foundations of Islam. The Quran is the central foundation of Islam. It is supposed to contain the revealed words of the God. The God revealed Quranic words to Prophet Mohammad through the angel Gabriel. The text of Quran is considered divine not only in meaning but also in structure. Prophet Mohammad is the second foundation of Islam. He is the most perfect human being, the perfect creation of the God, the best interpreter of the Gods message as well as its faithful transmitter. Islam is based on the Absolute Allah, and not on the messenger, yet, the love of the Prophet lies at the heart of the Islamic piety. The love of the Prophet embraces all the dimensions of Islam,
affecting both those who follow the Shariat and those who walk upon the spiritual path the Tariquat , of which he is the founder and guide. The Hadith is the third important foundation of Islam. The Hadith is a book of sayings dictated by the Prophet himself as well as recordings of his sayings by his companions and followers. The Hadith deals with nearly every question from details of legal significance to the most exalted moral and spiritual teachings. The Hadith is the indispensable guide for the understanding of Gods word as contained in the Quran. The Shariat or the Divine Law of Islam is the fourth important foundation of Islam. Muslims consider the Shariat to contain concrete embodiment of the will of the God. The life of a Muslim from the cradle to the grave is governed by the Shariat . The Shariat is sanctioned path that women and men must follow in this life. The root of the Shariat is found in the Quran, and the God is considered as the ultimate legislator. The Tariquat or the spiritual path is the fifth important foundation of Islam. It represents the inner dimension of Islam. The Tariquat or the spiritual path was perfected by the Sufi orders in the Sunni sect as well as by the Shia sect. Haj is the supreme pilgrimage of Islam and is made to the sacred building of Kaba at Mecca. Muslims believe that the God forgives a human beings sin if she or he performs the haj with devotion and sincerity.
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Islamic Practices and Institutions The basic rites of Islam include worship of only one God (Toheed), the Canonical prayers (Namaz), fasting (Roza), the obligatry offering for charity (Zakat) and pilgrimage ( haj ). Every Muslim is supposed to perform namaz five times a day. The namaz must be performed in the direction of the Kaba in Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Obligatory offerings are made annually under Islamic law on certain kinds of property; and used for charitable and religious purpose. Muslim festivals come from the life of Mohammad and the history of Islam. The lunar Hijra calendar is followed by the Muslims for all religious matters, weddings and celebrations. The Muslim new year starts with the month of Moharram. Ramazan, the ninth month is the holiest of all the months. From dawn to dusk, for one month, women and men fast during the hours of daylight as a means of self-purification. On the twenty-ninth or twenty-eighth day of Ramazan when the new moon is sighted in the evening, the festival of Eid-ul-fitr is celebrated. Men go to the Eidgah for congregational prayers after which people visit and embrace one another. Muslims other important festivals are Eid-ul-azha, Moharram, Shab-e-Barat etc. which are celebrated in India. THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IN INDIA Jesus Christ as the Prophet, the New Testament as the revealed book and the
Church as the religious organisation are the foundation stones of Christianity. Jesus and his early disciples were all Jews. The New Testament in the present form was accepted in the church around the fifth century AD. In early years the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible or the Torah was their only scripture. Christianity and Islam are rooted in the Jewish or Hebrew tradition and affirm the revelation of Moses contained in the Old Testament. The three constituents of Christians religious life include (i) Faith in Jesus Christ as the son of God, (ii) Active service, and (iii) Love to neighbour. Christianity came to India in different phases. According to the Syrian Christian tradition, Apostle Thomas, one of Jesus original twelve disciples, came to the vicinity of Cochin in 52 AD. There was a Christian church in India perhaps as early as the end of the second century. Thomas or Syrian Christians have never shown any great desire to expand beyond their own natural frontiers. The second, a Roman Catholic phase of Indias Christian history, began in the 1250s, with the arrival of the first missionaries of the Franciscan and Dominican orders. After 1500 AD , following the Portuguese occupation of parts of Western India, there was fresh infusion of missionaries. The third phase of Christian history in India began in July 1706 with the arrival of the first Protestant missionaries from Germany.
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The fourth phase of Christian expansion started during the British Rule in India. The English Baptist missionary William Carey arrived in India in 1793. He inaugurated the most concentrated phase of Protestant Christian activity in India. Between 1757 and 1813 the East India Company was against Christian missionaries but later its policy changed in favour of the Christian missionaries. During the British rule after 1833 there were two dimensions of Christian activity (i) it was very active in and around colleges and universities at Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, (ii) it was also active in rural and tribal areas especially among the weaker sections. During 1920s the fifth phase of Christian activity began in India. The American organisation, Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA), and American Christians like Stanley Jones and Katherine Mayo were influential during this phase. The sixth phase of Christian activity began after 1947. The Church of South India was founded in 1947. It comprised fourteen dioceses and about a million members spread over four language areas. Most notably it did not involve the Roman Catholics or the Lutherans. The Church of North India, founded in 1970, tried to Indianise Christianity at the organisational level. Following the second Vatican Council in the mid of 1960s, the Roman Catholic church in India was liberated from many of its earlier restrictions. Many experiments were made to
Hinduise the churchs liturgy by the introduction of elements from the temple and bhakti traditions. The Indian Census merges Christians into a single group, but they belong to different denominations. Catholics form the largest group, nearly 50 per cent of the total population. Another 40 per cent are Protestants, 7 per cent are the Orthodox Christians (eastern orthodox church) and 3 per cent belong to indigenous sects. Catholics are organised according to a well-defined hierarchy and they consider the Pope as the supreme head in all religious affairs. Protestantism includes many distinct persuasions and churches. Orthodox groups, such as the Syrian Christians, are affiliated to the orthodox churches of Eastern Europe or West Asia or to the churches dependent on these. At one point, even today, the boundaries between the Kerala Syrians and Hindus are blurred, as in the rituals of house building or astrology. The ceremonies of marriage and birth among the Syrian Christians also manifest many similarities with Hindu custom, particularly in the use of ritual substances such as sandalwood paste, milk, flowers, areca nut and rice. In Tamil Nadu and Goa, Christianity is embedded in the indigenous socioritual order. Pilgrimage: Whereas Protestant Christians, with the exception of the Anglicans, do not go on pilgrimages, Catholics and the orthodox visit places of pilgrimage on the occasion of
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festivals. Owing to their greater Christian population places like Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and cities like Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata have many places of pilgrimage. The Roman Catholics in India regard the Pope the bishop of Rome as their supreme religious leader. Indian Catholics are guided by two cardinals, one at Mumbai and the other at Ernakulam. There are over 120 bishops in India. There are thirtyfive religious orders of Christian priests in India. Ceremonies: Seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church have to be administered by a priest or bishop. Baptism the ritual process of becoming/making a Christian is performed when a child is a few days old. Confirmation is performed when a child is seven years old among Catholics and fifteen years old among Protestants. She or he is taught the main tenets and obligations of the Christian faith for several months by the priest. After this instruction one is ready to be confirmed by the bishop. Marriage rites have to be solemnised by a priest in church. The Christian masses have castes or caste like groups. Joint family is a dominant institution. They do not have a distinct style of life (except AngloIndians) and are usually absorbed into the local regional linguistic communities. JAINISM Jainism is one of the oldest religions in
India. It is a form of Sanatan Dharma. It has 24 tirthankaras . The first tirthankar was Risabhdev and the twenty-fourth tirthankar was Mahavir. The Jains share some doctrines, rituals and general religious beliefs with early Buddhists and Hindus but they have a religious system of their own. Mahavir is supposed to be senior contemporary of Gautam Buddha. He was a great system builder. The Jain community is divided into two important sects, Svetambar (white clothed), and Digambar (unclothed). Another lesser known sect is called Sthanakvasi . The Sthanakvasis think that tirthankaras need not be represented in images. The Svetambaras think that tirthankaras should be represented in images with white robes. The Digambaras think that tirthankaras should be represented in images without robes or clothes. The word Jain is derived from Jin, which means the conqueror. Mahavir (599-527 BC ) said that everything, animate or inanimate, has jiva (life force). The goal of human endeavour should be to exhaust karma and the way of deliverance is in the three gems or rules of behaviour: right faith, right knowledge and right conduct. Right conduct includes non-violence, adherance to truth, chastity and the renunciation of worldly possession. Jains believe in soul, theory of karma, the cycle of birth and death like the Hindus. Jainism has, however, more similarities with Buddhism. Janism alongwith Buddhism belongs to the
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sharamanic forms of sanatan dharma. The shramanic traditions as a whole emphasises the renunciation of worldly belongings and pleasures. Their quest is directed at achieving emancipation from worldly existence and the cycle of birth and death. Emancipation (Kaivalya) and renunciation (vairagya or sanyasa ) are the two themes addressed principally. For all Jains, fasting and austerity are considered essential for selfpurification. They lay stress on mental disciplines to obtain self-control, concentration in contemplation and purity of thought. Jainism also stresses that personal spiritual development achieved through penance should be for the benefit of the community. The teaching of Mahavir is that altruism in individual life can be the source of positive social welfare. The five fold discipline of nonviolence, truth, honesty, sexual purity and indifference to material gain is not for personal virtue alone but also aims at the social good. Jain festivals are meant for the spiritual development of the self through the practice of austerities. Mahavir Jayanti is the most well known festival of Jains. The Jains are among the richest community in India. The majority of Jains are engaged in trade and commercial activities. BUDDHISM Buddhism was one of the new religious movements that arose in India around
the sixth century B C. It is rooted in the traditional Indian religion called Sanatan Dharma . It was founded around the teachings of Gautam Buddha. The Buddhist profession of faith is known as the Triple Refuge, or the Three Jewelsthe Buddha , the Dhamma a n d t h e Sangha . T h e Buddha is the enlightened teacher or the prophet. The Dhamma is the doctrine given by the Buddha and the Sangha is the community of believers in the doctrine taught by the Buddha . One formally becomes a Buddhist by r eciting the T riple Refuge three timesI go for refuge to the Buddha ; I go for refuge to the Dhamma ; I go for refuge to the Sangha . Dhamma has four meanings (1) the absolute truth, (2) right conduct, (3) doctrine, and (4) the ultimate constituent of experience. The first three meanings are found in Hinduism as well but the fourth meaning is specific to Buddhism. The Buddhists believe in the four noble truths preached by the Buddha. The first noble truth preached by the Buddha is that there is suffering. The second noble truth says that there is cause of suffering (desire). The third noble truth says that the cause of suffering can be removed. The fourth great truth supplies a detailed blueprint to remove the cause of suffering. The Eightfold Path consists of right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort,
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right mindfulness and right meditation. The Eightfold Path leads to Nirvan, which involves the cessation of all sufferings. The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path are meant to serve as provisional teaching. Vinay Pitak (Book of Discipline), Sutta Pitak (Book of Sermons) and Abhidhamm Pitak (Book of Doctrine) are the basic scriptures of Buddhism. There are four major forms of Buddhism: (i) Theravad (ii) Mahayan, (iii) Vajrayan or Tantra, and (iv) Zen. Different forms are predominant in different countries or geographical areas. The most important festival of the Buddhists in India is the Buddh Purnima. There are other festivals which are celebrated by different sects and denominations. Some Hindu festivals like Diwali, Holi and Makar-Sankranti are also celebrated by many Buddhist families. SIKHISM Sikhism emerged as a devotional sect within the Indic religion around the teachings of Guru Nanak (1469 539). The term Sikh has originated from the Sanskrit word shishya, which means disciple. Nanak travelled all over India, and to Sri Lanka, Mecca and Medina. He sang his hymns wherever he went, spreading his message of love, purity and universal brotherhood. There are ten gurus (religious teachers) of Sikhs. Nanak was the first guru and Govind Singh was the tenth guru. Arjun was the fifth guru who compiled the Guru Granth Sahib (holy book of the Sikhs). The Guru Granth
contains hymns composed by the devotional saints as well as the writings of the Sikh gurus. Guru Arjun Dev infused great vigour into Sikhism. He made Amritsar his headquarters where he built a gurudwara (temple of the guru ). From the time of sixth guru Sikhism gradually became a militant organisation, to protect religion. Govind Singh (1675 1708), the tenth guru converted the Sikhs into a militant community called the khalsa (the pure). He gave the Sikhs a distinct individuality in 1699 by initiating five of his followers. He enjoined them, among other admonitions, never to cut their hair, always to wear a comb, a pair of short drawers, a bangle and a kirpan (dagger). These are called five Ks Kesha , Kangha, Kachha, Kada and Kirpan. The Sikh community life is centred around gurudwara (gateway or temple of the guru). The central object of worship in the gurudwara is the Granth Sahib. The Sikhs are primarily divided into two broader groups (i) The Sanatani Sikhs, and (ii) The Khalsa Sikhs. The Sanatani Sikhs are the followers of Guru Nanak and his son Srichand. The Sanatani Sikhs do not stress the separate religious identity of Sikhs, rather they consider themselves as an offshoot of a broadly defined Hinduism. The Khalsa Sikhs or Tat Khalsa is based on the radical interpretation of the teachings of Guru Govind Singh. It claims to represent true Sikhism, stripped of the popular customs of Hinduism. It separated Sikhism from the broader rubric of Hinduism. They
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emphasised that Sikhism is an independent new religion based on three foundations Guru, Granth and Gurudwara. In 1925 the Gurudwara Act was passed. It led to the emergence of Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) as the supreme body of Sikhs in Punjab. It manages the religious affairs of Sikhs and the Gurudwaras. Sikhs still participate in some of the festivals celebrated by the Hindus like Basant Panchami, Holi and Diwali . Their own festivals include Baisakhi and the birthdays of Sikh Gurus like Nanak and Govind Singh and the martyrdom of Guru Arjun, Guru Teg Bahadur and the two sons of Govind Singh. They also celebrate the founding of the Khalsa and Hola Mohalla. Sikhs, too, are a prosperous community in India. They are engaged in diverse professions in both villages and cities. Although Sikhism does not believe in caste, there are caste like groups among the Sikhs as well. OTHER RELIGIOUS GROUPS ZOROASTRIANS OR THE PARSIS The word Parsi means Persians and refers to those Persians who migrated to India from Iran in the tenth century AD. They had migrated to India from their Iranian (Persian) homeland. The Parsi community recognises Zoroaster or Zarathustra as their Prophet. Therefore, they are also known as Zoroastrians.
Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest Prophetic religions of the world. Zoroaster lived in the North-east of Iran on the Asian steppes around 6,000 BC. He inherited much of the Indo-Iranian tradition so that Zoroastrianism and Hinduism have something of a common parentage. This results in a number of similarities between the two, such as the place of fire in ancient texts the Vedas of Hindus and the Avesta of the Parsis and certain purity laws and attitudes toward the priests. The Prophets teachings are preserved in hymn form in Gathic Avestan language which has strong links with Vedic Sanskrit. Zoroastrianism was the state religion of Iran until the Muslim Arab invasion of the seventh century AD. By the ninth century, the persecution of Zoroas-trians in Iran became unbearable which compalled them to migrate at different places in India and other countries. Most Parsis in India are city dwellers. They are settled in Mumbai and different places in Gujarat. They are one of the most prosperous communities of India. Among the minority communities they are also one of the most integrated communities to the mainstream of modern India. Dadabhoy Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta and the family of Tatas have played significant roles in the building of modern India. They have been pioneers in modern trades and industrial enterprises. They have also played important roles in building various institutions of Mumbai. Parsis usually spend little time in theological study. To most Parsis, theirs
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religion is tied up with their identity. Their identity is maintained by the performance of life-cycle rituals and observances of moral practices in daily life. The ideas of purity and pollution are very important among the Parsis. Their daily prayer is called navjote. There are only two religious duties for Parsis, the daily prayers and the observance of the seasonal festivals, the gahambars. Zoroastrianism was originally a religion of Nature Worship. Natural objects like fire, air, the sun, and water were considered sacred. Today they are primarily fire worshippers. At Udwada, the centre of pilgrimage for Parsis, there is one permanently burning fire shrine. There are two types of fire temples which are distinguished from each other by the grade of fire which burns within them, one is called the Royal Bahram or victorious fire and the other is called the Dar -i- Mihr or the ordinary fire. The Parsis are known for their philanthrophy. The many sided philanthrophy of the Parsis has established through their Panchayat, a remarkable social security system for the community. Its members make their contributions to the local anjuman fund or community chest which constitutes the foundation of the system. The community has many trusts and foundations, benefiting non-Parsis as well. The Parsis have laid claim to no territory and to no special right for themselves. They emphasise the moral and civic sense and philanthropy over philosophical doctrines.
JUDAISM The Jews or the followers of Judaism are perhaps the smallest religious community in India. According to Indian Census of 1991 there were about 5,000 Jews in India. They were classified by census authorities of India along with Zoroastrians and Animist tribals as part of a miscellaneous category called other religious groups. The Jews in India comprise three main communitiesthe Bene Israel, Kerala Jews and Baghdadi Jews. Some Jews came to India before the beginning of the Christian era. The oldest communities have been the Bene-Israel who are settled mainly in the Coastal areas of Maharashtra. The other groups settled in Kerala near Cochin. The third group came from the Middle East (Baghdad) and settled in Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Surat and Chennai. A large number of them have migrated from India to Israel in 1948. Judaism is the original Hebrew or Semitic religion. It is based on the revelation of Moses. The Hebrew Bible or the Torah is their sacred religious text. Their temple is known as Synagogue. Led by Abraham, they settled in Israel, originally called Canaan and later Palestine. In 63 BC Palestine came under Roman Rule and between 70 AD to 1948 the Jews lived in different places as scattered groups. In 1948 they re-established Israel as their holy nation-state and Jews came back to their homeland in large numbers from different countries.
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Jews in India began to integrate themselves increasingly with their surroundings. They adopted the customs, dress, characteristics and dayto-day practices of the people of the region. They are a very homogeneous group and strictly adhere to their religious beliefs. Unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism is not open for non-Jews. They do not convert. ANIMISM Most tribals who have not converted to Hinduism, Islam or Christianity are classified by sociologists as Animists or Nature worshippers. There are striking similarities between Animist tribals and followers of Folk Hinduism. Therefore, Indian census authorities have always encountered difficulties. In 1991 census, Animist tribals are classified in the category of Other Religious Groups but some other tribals have been classified as Hindus. There is always ambiguity in the classification of Hindu tribals and Animist tribals. There are different types of nature worshippers both among the Hindus as well as among the tribals. One thing is common among all Animists that they do not have written texts. They usually believe that every animate object of this world is inhabited by spirits and they venerate all these. Functions and Dysfunctions of Religion Religion is interconnected with the other elements of society and culture in complex ways. It plays the following positive functions vis--vis society and
individuals: (1) It provides support, consolation and reconciliation to individuals in the times of uncertainty, disappointment and conflict of goals or norms. (2) Religion offers a relationship to the other world through priests and the ceremonies of worship. (3) Religion provides divinity to the norms and values of the society. (4) Religion provides standards of values in terms of which social norms may be critically examined. (5) Religion involves the performance of priestly functions by participation in religious ritual and worship. Religion also plays corresponding dysfunctions: (1) Religion may inhibit protest and act as a force for social changes, which might prove detrimental to the welfare of society and its members. (2) Religion can lend authority to certain rigid ideas and provincial attitudes, which may be detrimental to the development of knowledge, in general, and science and technology, in particular. (3) Religious identification may prove divisive in a multi-religious society. (4) Religion often develops among its adherents, dependence upon religious institutions rather than helping them to become mature and wise.
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GLOSSARY
BAPTISM. The religious ceremony of initiating someone into Christian faith or group is called baptism. DENOMINATION. It is an organisation which is mid-way between the Sect and the Church. HENOTHEISM. The belief in one particular God out of several, in a specific belief system as the God of the particular tribe, group, houshold etc. LITURGY. The standard form of service in a church is called liturgy. MONASTICISM . The monastic system or way of life is called monasticism. Monastic means belonging to monasteries, monks or nuns. Monastery is the home of a community of monks or nuns. MONOTHEISM. It is a belief in a single, transcendental God. PANTHEISM. It is belief that God dwells in the world and human beings and nature are aspects of an all inclusive divinity. RENUNCIATION. Renunciation is a formal, ritual process of self denial, becoming a formal ascetic, leaving the world of the householder, abstaining from physical pleasure. WORLDLYASCETICISM. Transcending the lust for selfish interest without taking the formal renunciation.
EXERCISES
1. What is religion? 2. Write down the names of various religious groups of India. 3. Write an essay with examples to show distinctions between the Semitic and Indic religious groups. 4. What is Dharma? 5. Explain the concept of varnashram dharma. 6. What do you understand by Purushartha? 7. Explain the salient features of Hindu Community in India. 8. Explain the salient features of Muslim Community life in India. 9. Explain the salient features of Christian Community life in India. 10. What are the three constituents of the Christian spiritual life?
SUGGESTED READINGS
1. Derrett, D., Religion, Law and the State in India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999.
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2. Gopal, Lallanji and Dubey, D. P. , ed, Pilgrimage Studies, Text and Context, The Society of Pilgrimage Studies, Allahabad, 1990. 3. Madan, T. N., ed, Religion in India , Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1992. 4. Srinivas, M.N., Caste in Modern India and Other Essays, Media Promoters and Publishers, Mumbai, 1962/1985. 5. Venugopal, C.N., Religion and Indian Society: A Sociological Perspective, Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi, 1998.
CHAPTER 7
Educamtion in India
Introduction Education is a process that develops the personality and inherent capabilities of a child. It socialises her or him to play adult roles in society and provides the necessary knowledge and skills for an individual to be a responsible citizen and member of the society. As part of the socialisation process, it inculcates among new members the norms, values and cultural heritage of a society. Socialisation is a primary and informal process whereby an individual shapes her or his own behaviour in accordance with the social expectations of others. In Indian society there have been well-developed educational institutions right from ancient times. Indian culture is known for the guru-shishya tradition of learning. Great universities like Nalanda and Taxila were situated in ancient India. During the eighteenth century there were places of learning like Navadweep in Bengal, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Puri in Orissa and Madurai and Kanchi in Tamil Nadu. In traditional India, there was a distinctive spiritual thrust associated with education. Education was meant to help the individual for the realisation of the ultimate and the absolute reality. It involved the following areas and disciplines: (i) Critical Enquiry : philosophy, ethics, logic, mathematics, literature, grammar, etc.
(ii) Technical and Vocational Skills and Knowledge : ayurveda (medicine), agriculture, vaastushastra (architecture), carpentry, pottery etc. (iii) Inner Discipline, S pirituality, Moral Values and Religions : yoga, meditation etc. The traditional pattern of education prevailed in India for many centuries. In areas that came under Muslim rule from the eleventh century onwards, the rulers sponsored education mainly of a theological kind in the form of Maktabs and Madrasas (educational institution). The Muslim kings liberally endowed such institutions with grants but for most of the time, they did not interfere in the Hindu system of education. Primary Education in Pre-British India We have a systematic account of the indigenous system of education during the eighteenth and the nineteenth
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century India. For example, according to the William Adams Report, 1835, there existed a large number of village schools, particularly in Bengal and Bihar around this time. Similarly, according to Thomas Munro, during 1812-13, every village under the Madras Presidency had at least one school. In the Bombay Presidency also around 1820, each village had at least one school. These examples indicate that over large parts of India, there was a network of village schools. These schools were known as Pathshalas and Madrasas. Education in these traditional institutions was practical as well as holistic. The medium of imparting knowledge for reading, writing and arithmetic was local languages. These schools emphasised moral wisdom and attempted to build the character of students. In the higher classes students were also taught technical and vocational skills. These institutions in fact were custodians of the culture of traditional communities in India. There was no school for the education of girls, though the rich people used to educate their young girl children at home. There were no printed books and only the locally made slates and chalks were the equipment the pupils needed. The hours of instruction and the days of working were adjusted to local requirements. There was no regular period of admission. A pupil could join the school at any time and leave it when he desired. Such schools were held sometimes in the home of a teacher or
a patron or a temple or a mosque. The teachers for these schools, like their students, came from all classes, including the lower classes, as Adams analysis of castes shows. The teachers were paid either in cash or in kind. These schools had shown wonderful adaptability to the local environment and existed for centuries through a variety of economic conditions. But during the period of British rule, the traditional system of education became unsustainable and gradually disintegrated. Higher Education in Pre-British India The traditional elementary as well as higher education had always emphasised the classical and the spiritual aspects. The education system also dealt with literary, philosophical and religious aspects. The classical languages, like Sanskrit, Pali, Tamil, Arabic and Persian were used for instruction in higher education. The scriptures, grammar, logic, codes of law, mathematics, philosophy, traditional sciences and literature were among the subjects taught. The students often stayed with the guru or teacher during the years of learning. The course of studies extended for many years and the hours of study were long and severe. There were also larger centres of higher education in various religious places like Navadweep, Tirhut, Vikramshila and Mithila, Kashi, Puri, Tanjore, Madurai, Kanchi and Trivandrum. Higher education was primarily restricted to the upper castes. These were conducted by learned pandits,
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who were liberally patronised by the rulers and the aristocracy. The Muslim seats of higher learning were located at places like Jaipur, Lucknow, Patna and Jaunpur. These were meant chiefly for the training of religion and law. Besides the scriptures and law, instruction was given in literature, grammar, logic, rhetoric, philosophy and arithmetic. Hindus could also attend these seminaries meant primarily for the Muslims. These institutions were the higher seminaries of learning meant for the training of experts. Education in British India The entry of East India Company in the early seventeenth century, brought far reaching changes in Indian society. The British rule in India laid the foundation of modern education in India. During the modern period both the British and the post-Independence period education has been concerned primarily with the secular, scientific, technical and managerial skills. Some of the Britishers like Hastings, Jones, Wilkins and Wilson were great admirers of the classical traditions of India and under their influence the East India Company became a patron of oriental learning. This gave a new lease of life to traditional classical learning in India although the traditional elementary education was crumbling down in the absence of the British patronage. The British were initially attracted to the classical aspect of Indian culture and education. The British established the
Calcutta madrasa in 1781. Warren Hastings, the Governor General of Bengal, promoted the classical study of Indian culture and institutions. He was instrumental in attracting reputed scholars of Islamic theology, law, mathematics and grammar to this madrasa. He also encouraged scholars like Charles Wilkins to publish Indian classics written in Sanskrit and Persian. William Jones founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784. The aim was to discover, edit and publish rare Sanskrit manuscripts. The British had established institutions of oriental as well as modern European learning. There was, however, another group of British intellectuals who were not admirers of oriental learning and Indian culture. They, under the leadership of Charles Grant, James Mill and Macaulay were able to plead the case of European education through English language in place of Indian education and culture. During the period 1790 to 1835, there was a heated debate between the Indians and the British about the education policy of the British East India Company. A group of middle class Indians was also in favour of European education through English language. This group led by Raja Rammohan Roy strengthened the hands of Bentick and Macaulay and a new education policy was announced in 1835. Between 1824 and 1830, the teaching of English had already been initiated in oriental institutions at Kolkata, Delhi and Varanasi. A decision was taken to stop the use of government funds for the
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promotion of oriental education and instead promote European literature and science through English education. After 1835 new educational institutions were established by the British. New universities at Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi became the centres of modern learning. Rabindranath Tagore criticised the system of education under the British Raj in 1893 and pleaded for Bengali as the medium of instruction. The Bengal National College was established in 1906. During this period, some prominent Indians also started two types of educational institutions: (i) Traditional institutions like Deoband and Lucknow seminaries; Gurukul Kangari, Kashi Vidyapeeth, Gujarat Vidyapeeth and Jamia Milia Islamia, reflecting their own educational aspirations during the British rule; and (ii) Modern institutions like Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Vishva-Bharti at Shantiniketan etc. During the British rule, mainstream Indian education was gradually transformed to suit the interests of the British and the emerging middle class. This education initially led to the westernisation of Indian society but later on it also became instrumental in spreading modern nationalist thoughts and activities. It also led to various socio-religious reform efforts, such as Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, the Aligarh and Ahmadia movements. Thus, education during British rule was a complex phenomenon. It
represented different, often contradictory, streams of thought and cultures. It weakened the economic institutions and destroyed the social balance of traditional India. It, however, also played a significant role in the making of modern India. In Pre-Independence India, three schools of thought pertaining to education were visible: 1. The nationalist and revivalist school which rejected everything that was foreign and not enshrined in the ancient heritage of India. 2. The second school of thought, aimed at indigenisation of education, was not against modern learning of foreign origin. Their principal objective was to make education nationalistic and more relevant to Indian conditions. The AMU and the BHU are some of the examples of this school. 3. The third school of thought, supported by the British, focused on setting up educational institutions of the British model. Examples of such institutions were the universities of Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Delhi. English education was primarily helpful in acquiring government jobs. It did not promote mass education but provided an entry into an exclusive elite club to middle class Indians. Education in Independent India Mahatma Gandhi disliked the inherent elitism and the irrelevance of English
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education within the Indian context. He felt that English education was hampering integral development of the child and it had created a cleavage between the culture of the Englisheducated few and the uneducated many. It had made one a stranger in ones own land. Gandhiji condemned this education as intellectual dissipation. Gandhiji formulated a new blueprint for education in the independent India, called Nai Talim or Basic education. The emphasis here was on practical ways of acquiring knowledge. Basic Education was needed because Gandhiji wanted each village, community, as well as the country as a whole to be self-sufficient and self-reliant. Through Nai Talim Gandhiji wanted to impart socially and economically productive skills such as spinning, weaving, carpentry, pottery, animal husbandry to the students. For him, handicraft was the medium that would enable the learner to relate ideas to practice as well as arouse students curiosity and enthusiasm in learning. He wanted the lessons to be rooted in the learners vocation. He wanted free/compulsory education for seven years, mother-tongue as the medium of instruction, education centred around some form of manual/ productive work and a self- supporting education. However, the Gandhian agenda did not succeed, and attempts to operationalise this model of education have not been successful as yet. Tagore was also critical of colonial education. Its alien character, its
remoteness from the rhythm of everyday life, and English as the medium of instruction were not acceptable to him. The idea of a school as a factory was not appealing to him. Instead he pleaded for a child-centred holistic education patterned on the ancient gurukuls. Unlike Gandhi and Tagore, Indias first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru was in favour of modern education. He wanted to make education in free India a potent vehicle for industrial, technological, scientific and democratic development. He set up the Radhakrishnan Commission on education. The Central concern of this Commission (1948) was to formulate ways and means to achieve the objectives of the Constitution through education. The Commission aimed at philosophical, scientific and technical dimensions of development. To achieve the values enshrined in the Constitution, this Commission put great emphasis on democratic values, science and technology. It also recommended setting up rural universities to meet the needs of rural reconstruction. It gave greater emphasis on higher education. The Government set up another Commission under the chairmanship of D.S. Kothari. It is known as Education and National Development in India or Kothari Commission (1964-66). It deals with all the levels of education and examines their roles in national development. It stressed the need of scientific education for modern India, in order to augment productivity,
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self-sufficiency, economic growth and to generate opportunities for employment. The Kothari Commission recommended that (i) science should be taught in such a way that it enables the learner to understand its basic principles; (ii) to develop problemsolving analytical skills and the ability to apply scientific principles to the problems of the material environment and social living; and (iii) it should promote the spirit of enquiry and experimentation. The National Education Policy, 1986 stressed the necessity of promoting technical and management education for the growth of the industry and the economy. It also emphasised the importance of computer education. Thus, education in Independent India is primarily oriented towards science and technology. The other significant aspect of education in contemporary India includes preservation, promotion and dissemination of Indian culture. Indian education has tried to promote an attitude which is receptive to both Western modernity and Indian culture tradition. The National Education Policy, 1986 stressed that education can and must bring about the fine synthesis between change-oriented tendencies represented by modern technologies and the countrys continuity of cultural tradition. The attempt has been to combine the best of all traditions in that educational system in order to have a virbrant democratic and plural society.
This is critical for education and significant for the making of citizens. Elementary Education Education is recognised as a fundamental right of all citizens of India. According to the 83 rd Amendment of the Indian Constitution (1997), elementary education is a fundamental right of all children between 6-14 years. At present, India spends 3.6 per cent of its GNP (Gross National Product) on education, which is much lower than many countries. In the post-Independence years, there has been an enormous increase in the number of institutions, teachers and students in elementary education. The number of schools in the country has increased four times from 2,31,000 in 1950-51 to 9,30,000 in 1998-99. At the Primary Stage, 94 per cent of the count rys rural population have schooling facilities located within a distance of one kilometer. However, the high drop-out rate of children is still a matter of great concern. The participation of scheduled castes and tribes as well as women in education has increased significantly. Nevertheless, in nearly 40 per cent of our districts, the female literacy is less than 30 per cent. In nearly one in four districts, the female literacy among the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes is less than 10 per cent. Out of the children joining schools, more than one-third drop out before completing
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eight years of elementary education. Among those who remain in school, half of them barely attain the educational standards expected of them. Many children do not attend school regularly. Thus, despite government commitments and efforts in the last few decades, we are still far from the goal of universal literacy. Article 45 of the Constitution of India provides that the state shall endeavour to provide free and compulsory education for all children until the age of 14 years. Article 30 declares that all minorities, whether based on religion or language, should have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. Article 46 says that the state shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections, the Scheduled Castes and Tribes; and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation. Our literacy rate has increased from about 18.33 per cent in 1951 to 65.38 per cent in 2001. The Directive Principles of Indian Constitution lay down that within the limits of its economic capacity, the state shall attempt to make effective provision for securing the right to education. Accordingly, primary education is free in government schools and schools run by local bodies in all parts of the country. Before 1976, education was the exclusive responsibility of states. Since then, education became a joint responsibility of the Centre and the States. The National Policy on
Education, 1986 and the Programme of Action, 1992 envisage free and compulsory education of good quality for all children upto the age of 14 years. Education and Social Inequality in Independent India Educational institutions are highly stratified in India. State supported schools cater to the needs of the masses while elite private schools cater to the needs of the upper and upper middle classes. The government spends less money on school education than on higher education. Students from elite private schools occupy the majority of seats in institutes of higher learning. Therefore, the Indian elite has developed a vested interest in influencing government decisions about higher education. The government has failed to sufficiently vocationalise higher education. The inability or reluctance to upgrade technical education and open more vocational institutes is also related with the system of rewards and employment prospects. Even today, the system of rewards and employment opportunities is based on formal book knowledge and not primarily on applied skills, local knowledge and the use of hands. Schools in India are funded from three sources: 1. Government departments 2. Municipalities and other local bodies 3. Private enterprise. The government sponsors a fifth of the
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countrys schools, the local bodies a little less than half and private initiative accounts for one third of schools at all levels. However, almost 90 per cent of the private schools receive government aid and have to abide by some regulations on the appointment of teachers, the structure of fees, the number of teaching hours, types of extra and co-curricular activities and so on. Private participation in education has resulted in a variety of English medium institutions such as the elite public schools, the Anglo-Indian schools (mission and convent schools) and others run by big trusts and local elites. National Education Policy,1986 The National Policy on Education, 1986 provides scope for equal access to education to all irrespective of class, caste, creed or gender. It envisages a common educational structure like 10+2+3 and a common core curriculum throughout the country. It also sought to remove disparities by catering to the needs of women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, the handicapped and certain minority groups. This policy emphasised that the government will try to eradicate illiteracy, particularly in the 15-35 year age group. The document also underlined the need to link adult education with national goals of development. The new thrust in national education after 1986 has been on: 1. Universal enrolment upto 14 years with improved quality of education.
2. Free and compulsory education to all children up to 14 years of age. 3. To provide quality education, special schools under the name of Navodaya Vidyalay were opened in different parts of the country. 4. Vocational education as a distinct stream to prepare students for identified occupations spanning several areas of activity. 5. Autonomous colleges (mostly private) and autonomous departments within universities on a selective basis. 6. Indira Gandhi National Open University and the National Open School have come up to take care of non-formal and flexible forms of education. 7. Gradually, an attempt is being made to delink degrees from jobs in the era of liberalisation and globalisation. 8. The National Literacy Mission to achieve total literacy in the age group of 15 to 35 years . The Total Literacy Campaign is the principal strategy adopted for eradication of illiteracy in the country. 9. Application of available communication technologies to promote school education at all levels and in all areas. This has been tried with mixed success. 10. Teacher education to provide quality training to secondary school teachers to update their professional skills. 11. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to provide useful and relevant education for
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all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years by 2010. By 2007 and 2010 all children are expected to complete respectively 5 and 8 years of elementary schooling. Education in contemporary India is a source of modernisation, social change and national development. From the economic point of view education is useful in promoting life enhancing skills among young people. From the cultural point of view contemporary education is oriented to promoting values of an urban, industrial, secular, democratic consumer society. It is one of the factors of change in traditional values, beliefs,
customs and traditions. Thus, while education has contributed to the building of modern India, it has also been a significant factor in the perpetuation of the elite, the pervasive inequality in Indian society and in the alienation of the elite from the masses. As a result, we have an education system which creates literate degreeholders devoid of sufficient technical skill and productive power on the one stream and on the other, we have a small group of professionals, technologist and managers who have achieved international standards in their chosen field but who are not much interested in the welfare of the nation or the masses.
GLOSSARY
EDUCATION. The formal process of giving intellectual, moral, physical and social instructions to a child for her or his allround development. GURUKUL. Traditional Hindu centre of holistic education. MADRASA. Traditional Muslim centre of higher education. MAKTAB. Traditional Muslim centre of primary education. PATHSHALA. Traditional Hindu centre of primary education. MADRASA/MAKTAB. Centre of Islamic education.
EXERCISES
1. Give an account of the educational pattern in Pre-British India. 2. What were the salient features of the education system in British India? 3. What are the salient features of the system of education in Independent India? 4. Write a brief note on the elementary system of education in India. 5. What are the problems of the system of education in Independent India? 6. What are the basic features of the National Education Policy 1986 of India?
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SUGGESTED READINGS
1. Beteille, Andre, ed, Equality and Inequality, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1984. 2. Ghosh, Suresh Chandra, The History of Education in Modern India, 17571986, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1995. 3. Haq, Ehsanul, School, Family & Media, Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 1995. 4. Kumar, Krishan, Political Agenda of Education, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 1991. 5. Pathak, Avijit, Social Implications of Schooling, Rainbow Publications, New Delhi, 2002. 6. Shukla, Suresh Chandra and Kaul, Rekha, ed, Education, Development and Underdevelopment, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 1998.
CHAPTER 8
Culture in India
Introduction Culture refers to the patterns of thought and behaviour of people. It includes values, beliefs, rules of conduct, patterns of social, political and economic organisation. These are passed on from one generation to the next by formal as well as informal processes. Culture consists of the ways in which we think and act as members of a society. Thus, all the achievements of group life are collectively called culture. In popular parlance, the material aspects of culture, such as scientific and technological achievements are seen as distinct from culture which is left with the non-material, higher achievements of group life (art, music, literature, philosophy, religion and science). In sociology, however, culture is that which is created by women and men be it material or non-material. Culture is the product of such an organisation and expresses itself through language and art, philosophy and religion. It also expresses itself through social habits, customs, economic organisations and political institutions. Culture is a comprehensive term and it includes the following: 1. Patterns and modes of behaviour. 2. Techniques and technologies for production, social organisation, institutions for the promotion of the arts and the sciences, education, health and other services. 3. Basic postures, values, beliefs, worldviews that are represented in art, music, literature, philosophy and religion. Culture has two types: (i) material, and (ii) non-material. The first includes technologies, instruments, material goods, consumer goods, household design and architecture, modes of production, trade, commerce, welfare and other social activities. The latter includes norms, values, beliefs, myths, legends, literature, ritual, art forms and other intellectual-literary activities. The material and non-material aspects of any culture are usually interdependent on each other. Sometimes, however, material culture may change quickly but the non-material may take longer time to change. According to Indologists, Indian culture stands not only for a traditional social code but also for a spiritual foundation of life.
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Broadly speaking we can talk about three major elements of Indian culture (i) Classical, or Great tradition, (ii) Folk or little tradition, and (iii) Tribal. This, however, is primarily a conceptual classification. Any of these cultural elements are not represented in their pure form in Indian society. The Folk and the Classical elements often exist in closer proximity and mostly these elements are complementary to each other. In the same way, tribal and folk elements are mostly similar and sometimes it is rather difficult to say where one ends and the other begins. This classification provides only workable conceptual tools through which ideal and typical characteristics of Indian culture could be delineated and studied. It does not depict any empirical cultural classification of Indian society. There have been innumerable cultural variations in different regions and historical epochs. The Classical/Elite/Great Tradition The classical tradition of Indian culture embraces within its fold the various disciplines, languages and the arts. For example, Dharmashastra (metaphysics), Neetishastra (ethics), Jyotishshastra (astronomy and astrology), Darshanashastra (philosophy), Sangeetshastra (music), Natyashastra (dramatics), Vyakaranashastra (grammar), Ayurved (medicine), Vaastu and Shilp (architecture). This tradition has been variously referred to as the Shastric, the Great, or the elite. The tradition has evolved
over time but on the whole its continuity has been maintained. The notable attribute of the classical culture is the high degree of sophistication and systematisation. Proficiency in any aspect of the classical culture requires special training and practice over a long period. This is called sadhana or riyaz. This applies equally to the arts as well as to the various branches of knowledge. The classical elements of Indian culture show remarkable creativity in various directions. It also includes an uncanny deftness in adapting and integrating within itself the elements derived from the folk and the tribal traditions. This process was facilitated by a high degree of tolerance found in the Indian culture. Indian culture usually imposed some norms of ideal behaviour but it also allowed a lot of freedom in matters of belief. This allowed, for example, the integration of widely divergent religious beliefs and rituals into a harmonious whole. This accounts to a large extent for the continuity of classical tradition in Indian culture. The Folk / Little Tradition The majority of Indian population has been the bearer of the folk tradition. This tradition is mostly oral and does not depend directly on books. Folk culture and tribal culture share many common elements. There are, however, significant differences as well. Cultural tradition of a tribe is usually a self-contained whole, whereas
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the folk tradition is complementary to the classical tradition within the overall civilisation. There is a circular movement from classical to folk and folk to classical in India and each borrows elements from the other. The borrowed elements are reworked and refined before integration. For example, many folk melodies have been reworked and included among the classical ragas. In folk culture there is great variation of dialect/language, expression and form, but there is, however, fundamental unity of ideas, themes and values. Although, the linguistic expressions are varied, the spirit and the basic form in most aspects of culture is fundamentally the same. For example, each village seems to have its own Gods, but the systems of beliefs and rituals are basically the same almost throughout India. For example, the serpent God (Nag) and the Goddess of small pox (Shitala) are worshipped in villages throughout India but their proper names may differ. Folk literature, folk songs, epic poems, tales, proverbs, riddles and magical formula have very wide popularity cutting across many linguistic regions. There are linguistic differences but the substance remains more or less the same. Similarly, the folk version of mythology of different regions usually has similar patterns of narration. Regional variations are found not only in folk culture but also in classical culture. Thus, the folk culture too has a wider universalistic aspect. It is neither confined to small area nor is it
parochial in nature. The folk does not form a community either small or isolated. The folk culture is a part of civilisation. The folk culture is not confined to villages even though the bulk of the villagers are bearers of the folk tradition. In the towns also people are generally the bearers of the folk tradition. Thus, the folk tradition has had a very wide coverage. The bearers of the folk and the classical cultural traditions may live in close proximity, sometimes within the same family. Sometimes the same individual is a carrier of both the traditions. Both the traditions share a common worldview, but these are based on the same fundamental values and subscribe to common metaphysical ideas. The major difference between the two traditions lies in the degree of sophistication, systematisation, specialised training and practice. The folk arts, crafts and techniques of folk culture are usually learnt in the ordinary course of life through participation in the ongoing events and day-to-day activities. Classical traditions, on the other hand, are learnt as specialised training under the professional guidance of a well-known expert. This does not mean, however, that folk ideas or artistic expressions are raw products. The folk forms, such as the songs or dances, have traditional patterns, which have evolved over a long period of time. The underlying principles in these folk forms are, however, not always clearly perceived, abstracted and systematised.
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Tribal Cultural Tradition Tribal cultures are relatively insulated and autonomous. A tribal culture may have borrowed from other cultures but this borrowing is occasional and incidental. Therefore, tribal cultures are qualitatively different from the folk and classical cultures. Sometimes, a tribal culture may come so close to the classical or the folk culture that it becomes dependent on it. It becomes a part of the folk or, under exceptional circumstances, of the classical traditions. Tribal communities have four characteristics: (i) small in size, (ii) homogeneity, (iii) distinctiveness, and (iv) an all-pervasive self-sufficiency. Tribal cultures have many characteristics of little communities. A community is characterised by common territory and shared sentiments. There are many tribal cultures in India. Tribes are scattered all around the vast land of India and many of them do not have much cultural give and take with each other. Different tribes show great diversity in the economic, technological, institutional and religious patterns. The specialised pursuit of knowledge and arts is usually not found among the tribes. The classical, folk and tribal represent three types of cultural streams, which have co-existed in India for a long period of time. Historically, there has hardly been a clash of fundamental interests between these different streams of Indian culture. The tribal culture may or may not share the mainstream beliefs and values,
nevertheless, there has not been any conflict between the tribal and the nontribal cultures in India. Religion and Culture in India Indian culture has been very tolerant of diversities. The classical, folk and tribal streams of culture have been present within the major religious groups in India. A.K.Coomarswamy has claimed that the pattern of interaction between the classical and the folk is more or less the same in all religious traditions in India. In India Hindu, Buddha and Jain traditions were complementary to each other. Not only the rulers but also the common people accommodated religious diversity without feeling any loss of freedom. The spirit of accommodation is still widespread in India in spite of political aberrations. This accommodation and tolerance are discernible in the gathering at holy rivers, sacred complexes and far-flung monastries. India has sheltered not only different religions but also different sects within these religions. Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Parsis and Jews alongwith the various sects within these religions have lived together peacefully. Different sects expressed different viewpoints while sharing a common heritage. They gave rise to different patterns of reform in Indian society. They modified the meanings of original texts in order to develop a more pragmatic outlook. During the medieval period Akbar was a promoter of communal amity and common cultural understanding.
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Shivaji had Muslim bodyguards and some of his commanders were also Muslims. Muhammad Ghori had issued gold coins that bore the image of the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi. Dara Shikoh was a great promoter of Indian philosophy and literature. Ananda Coomaraswamy has noted that in the sphere of art, striking similarities have marked the architecture and sculpture of different temples, monuments and courts. Indian art is a symbolic form centred around sacred themes and broad ideals. According to Coomaraswamy, the art belonging to Hindu, Muslim and Christian traditions in India are rooted in similar sacred sources and have shared transcendental meanings. In language and literature, in art and architecture, in music and painting, in dance and drama, in economic and political life, in social habits and customs, a co-existence and understanding exists between different communities. The cross-fertilisation of Islam and Hinduism led to the Bhakti and Sufi movements. The Bhakti cult emphasised the fundamental equality of all religions and the unity of God. It preached simple devotion and faith as the means of salvation and opposed excessive ritualism and social rigidities. The Sufi cult devoted itself to the realisation of self and God and their union in mystic ecstasy. It came to India from Iran and was greatly influenced by Buddhism, Vedanta and Yoga. Thus, through the whole of Indias history, it has been a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious
society. Contemporary Indian culture is a complex phenomenon, the outcome of centuries of fusion and synthesis between its various elements. It represents a synthesis of classical, folk, tribal and different religious ways of life blended into a functional, wellbalanced and harmonious pattern. Salient Features of Traditional Indian Culture Traditional Indian culture, in its overall thrust towards the spiritual, promotes moral values and the attitudes of generosity, simplicity and frugality. Some of the striking features of Indian culture that pervade its numerous castes, tribes, ethnic groups and religious groups and sects are as follows: A Cosmic Vision The framework of Indian culture places human beings within a conception of the universe as a divine creation. It is not anthropo-centric (human-centric) only and considers all elements of creation, both living and non-living, as manifestations of the divine. Therefore, it respects Gods design and promotes the ideal of co-existence. This vision thus, synthesises human beings, nature and God into one integral whole. This is reflected in the idea of satyamshivam-sundaram. Sense of Harmony Indian philosophy and culture tries to achieve an innate harmony and order and this is extended to the entire
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cosmos. Indian culture assumes that natural cosmic order inherent in nature is the foundation of moral and social order. Inner harmony is supposed to be the foundation of outer harmony. External order and beauty will naturally follow from inner harmony. Indian culture balances and seeks to synthesise the material and the spiritual, as aptly illustrated by the concept of purushartha. Tolerance Indian culture accepts the manifoldness of reality and assimilates plurality of viewpoints, behaviours, customs and institutions. It does not try to suppress diversity in favour of uniformity. The motto of Indian culture is both unity in diversity as well as diversity in unity. Emphasis on Duty As against rights, Indian culture emphasises dharma or moral duty. It is believed that performance of ones duty is more important than asserting ones right. It also emphasises the complementariness between ones own duty and others rights. Thus, through the emphasis on community or family obligations, Indian culture promotes interdependence rather than Independence and autonomy of the individual. Sacrifice and Altruism Indian culture respects those who sacrifice their personal interests for the well-being of others. Sages, saints and
renunciators have always been considered superior to kings and merchants. The martyr has nearly always been preferred over kings and merchants as the cultural hero. Change within Continuity Indian culture has always favoured change within continuity. It is in favour of gradual change or reform. It does not favour abrupt or instant change. Therefore, most changes in thought have come in the form of commentaries and interpretation and not in the form of original systems of thought. In matters of behaviour also synthesis of old and new is preferred over replacement of old by the new. The Ideal of Joint Family At the level of marriage, there is a lot of plurality in India. At the level of family, however, there is striking similarity. For example, the ideal or norm of joint family is upheld by almost every Indian. Every person may not live in a joint household but the ideal of joint family is still favoured. The family is the defining feature of Indian culture. Although Indians differentiate between individual identity and family identity, the Western type of individualism is rare in Indian culture. Theory of Karma Most Indians believe that one cannot escape from ones karma. One has to bear the fruit of ones action. It is generally believed that destiny is linked with past karma.
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Diversity and Plurality In Indian culture, diversity or plurality is accepted as the natural way of life, of thought and customs. Most Indians believe that every path, way, custom, tradition and mode of worship can lead us to realisation of self and God. Indian Culture during the Modern and Contemporary Period The social structural affiliation of the classical in the traditional Indian culture had been broadly linked with princes, priests, monks, munis , sadhus, scholars, guild masters and other prosperous groups. During the medieval period the relationship between the classical and the folk was not disturbed. In ancient India the classical tradition was linked not only to Sanskrit but there were also streams of the classical tradition associated with Pali and Tamil. Sanskrit was the bearer of the Hindu classical tradition and the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and some of the Jain science traditions as well. Pali was the vehicle of the Thervadi Buddhist tradition and Tamil was the bearer of the South Indian classical tradition. During the modern period, the relationship between the classical represented by English and the vernacular folk traditions has broken down. Traditional equilibrium has been affected by different factors and processes of modernisation. With the impact of modern social forces the relationship between the classical and the folk traditions has been disturbed.
In the urban centres a new middle class has been growing and assuming the role of the bearer of the classical tradition. The middle class has a world view and outlook that is radically different from the bearers of the folk tradition. They are mostly the bearers of Western cultural values, norms, ideas, outlook and institutions, and English has become their dominant language. Throughout history, the folk and the tribal traditions have remained relatively unaffected by changes in political structures. The importance of classical traditions has been changing from time to time with changes in political power structure but the folk and the tribal traditions have remained consistently vibrant. The classical traditions in traditional India had always accepted the importance as well as given space to the folk and the tribal cultures. The bearers of modern Western classical cultural tradition, on the other hand, have on occasions shown less tolerance towards the folk and the tribal traditions. They usually brand the traditional culture as primitive, barbaric and superstitious in comparison to the modern culture. They try to modernise and westernise all the elements and streams of Indian culture. The processes of westernisation, industrialisation, urbanisation, globalisation and democratisation are influencing various aspects of Indian culture today. These modernising and secularising forces, however, have not yet cut off contemporary Indian culture from the traditional and cultural roots
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of Indian culture. The traditional cultural media not only continue to survive today, but also some aspects of it have also been incorporated in novel ways into an emerging popular and classical culture. ASPECTS OF INDIAN CULTURE Art and Architecture: Indian art is inspired by religion and centres around sacred themes. However, there is nothing ascetic or self-denying about it. The eternal diversity of life and nature and the human element are all reflected in Indian art forms. The art of architecture and sculpture was well developed during the Indus valley period. India has the largest collections of folk and tribal artefacts. Music: The popular term for music throughout India is Sangit , which included dance as well as vocal instrumental music. The rhymes of the Rigveda and the Samveda are the earliest examples of words set to music. The oldest detailed exposition of Indian musical theory is found in Natyashastra, attributed to the sage Bharata who lived at the beginning of the Christian era. North Indian Hindustani classical music and South Indian Karnatak music are the two major forms of classical music in India. More specific schools of classical music are associated with particular gharanas. This is one aspect of Indian culture that has achieved worldwide recognition. Song and dance has always been a part of social gatherings and get-
togethers in India. Fairs, marriages, festivals and other celebrations are not complete without them. Films, film songs and music have had an important role to play in the further popularisation of music among the masses in modern times. Dance: Classical Indian dance is a beautiful and significant symbol of the spiritual and artistic approach of the Indian mind. T raditional Indian scriptures contain many references to nritta (music) and nata (drama). Dance and music are present at every stage of domestic life in India. One classification divides Indian dancing into three aspects Natya, Nritya and Nritta. Natya corresponds to drama. Nritya is interpretative dance performed to the words sung in a musical melody. On the other hand, nritta signifies pure dance, where the body movements do not express any mood ( bhava ) nor convey any meaning. There is a rich variety of classical and folk dances in India. Kuchipudi (Andhra Pradesh), Odissi (Orissa), Kathakali (Kerala), Mohiniattam (Kerala), Bharatnatyam (Tamil Nadu), Manipuri (Manipur), Kathak (Uttar Pradesh) and Chchau (Orissa, West Bengal and Jharkhand) are some of the most notable dance forms in India. Besides, India has a rich tradition of folklores, legends and myths, which combine with songs and dances into composite art forms. Theatre: While classical dance in India is linked to its divine origins, the origin of Indian theatre lies with the people.
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Bharats Natyashastra is still the most complete guide to traditional Indian theatre. Modern Indian theatre of recent times originated in three colonial cities Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. It is strongly influenced by conventions and trends of European theatre. Traditional Indian theatre includes distinct streams. This theatre remained confined to courts and temples and displayed a refined, carefully trained sensibility. In the second popular stream the spoken languages and dialects of different localities and regions were used. Theatre in India is usually staged in the post-harvest season when actors as well as spectators have free time. It is staged in open-air theatres. The narrative, often a myth already known to the audience, is enacted through dance, music, mimetic gesture and stylised choreography. The State, Market and Culture in India After Independence, the state has played a significant role in the domain of culture. The state has set up numerous institutions such as the Sahitya Academy, Sangeet Natak Academy, Lalit Kala Academy, National Gallery of Modern Art etc. to promote and patronise arts, literature and culture. The Department/ministry of Culture is a nodal agency that oversees the functioning of the various cultural institutions. Increasingly, however, in recent times, the private sector too has emerged as an important supporter and
sponsor of art and culture. There is a close interaction between the market, state formation and culture in India. Trade facilitated the movement of persons and helped create a market for cultural products and activities. The commercial activities related to trade and patronage of the rulers greatly influenced literary and cultural activities . The most important traditional temple towns in India (Kanchipuram, Kashi, Ujjain, etc.) have also been important commercial centres. Artistic patronage has always inspired honour and respect. Providing support to an aspiring or established artist is also considered sufficient to bring merit to the benefactor. In traditional times and to a lesser extent now-a-days, temple managements also play the role of such sponsors and facilitators of art. In contemporary period, however, the main sponsors of art and refined cultural pursuits are the institutions of the state and the market. Corporations and market forces have become particularly important in this regard in the era of globalisation. Culture and the Mass Media Modern means of communications radio, television, films, newspapers, magazines and journals have given new forms and modes of expression to the various themes and ideas of Indian culture. Radio has played the most important role in recent times in promoting Indian culture at an all India level. Broadcasting started in India in 1927 and the All India Radio was
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constituted in 1936. All India Radio, and private channels in recent years, have created an audience throughout the country for Indian classical music, for instance. It has also been crucial to the promotion of film and popular music. The Indian television network today is one of the largest terrestrial networks in the world. Dish antennas and cable TV have linked most urban and rural houses to a large number of television channels today. This huge network is, on the one hand, an important means of the dissemination and popularisation of almost every form of art and culture today. On the other hand, through the link of television programmes with market forces and advertisement revenue, it sometimes promotes programmes with little cultural or educational value, which may nevertheless appeal to the wider public. Indian films are considered one of the most authentic representations of Indian cultural life with all its strengths and weaknesses. The first feature film
was made in India way back in 1913. Today India produces the largest number of feature films in the world. More than a hundred films are made every year in nearly a dozen languages. However, cinema has remained basically an urban medium. Its impact on the vast hinterlands has been minimal. The most important impact of films in India is on music. Today, film music has emerged as the most popular form of music in India. Film music is a spontaneous exuberant growth, emerging from an older folk music. It has almost become the folk music of modern India. On the other hand, what is included within the classical music today had its birth in the music meant for entertainment of folk audiences. In the last few years, radio, TV and films have led to a revival of classical music as well. Classical music discs and cassettes have a good market. Classical concerts have a much larger attendance today than two decades ago and the audience is predominantly young.
GLOSSARY
CIVILISATION. Culture and civilisation are used together as complementary terms. Culture refers to the non-material, symbolic aspect whereas civilisation refers to instrumental and material aspects. LOK OR LITTLE TRADITION. It is another term for folk or regional culture. GREAT TRADITION. It refers to classical tradition in art and culture in Indian traditions.
EXERCISES
1. 2. What is culture? Discuss it. Write a note on the types of Culture.
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3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Differentiate between material and non-material culture. What are the elements of Indian Culture? Discuss. Discuss the relationship between religion and culture in India. Explain the salient features of traditional Indian culture. Discuss the features of Indian culture in modern period. Discuss different aspects of Indian culture. Explain the impact of mass-media on Indian culture.
SUGGESTED READINGS
1. Borden, Carla M., ed, Contemporary India: Essays on the Uses of Tradition, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1989. 2. Mukerji, D. P., Sociology of Indian Culture , Rawat Publications, Jaipur,1948/1979. 3. Mukherjee, Radhakamal, The Cosmic Art of India, Allied Publications, Mumbai, 1965. 4. Pandey, Govind Chandra, Foundations of Indian Culture, Books and Books, New Delhi, 1984. 5. Singh, Yogendra, Culture Change in India: Identity and Globalisation, Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 2000. 6. Tripathi, G. C. and Kulke, Hermann, ed, Religion and Society in Eastern India, Manohar Publications, New Delhi, 1994.
CHAPTER 9
Politics in India
Introduction Political institutions are mechanisms or agencies relating to the exercise of power for maintaining peace and order within a society. Institutions of the modern state always have the purpose of ordering, controlling and providing guidelines for the behaviour of people who live within the state. At the same time, the society itself works on the basis of generally recognised and wellunderstood rules of tradition. Rules of governance ensuing from political institutions, therefore, shape social behaviour and are influenced in turn by rules of common social behaviour. Thus, there is a complementary relationship between the institutions of state and society in India. What is Power Power is an aspect of relationships between social units (persons or groups). An individual or group holds power in relation to another. Max Weber has defined power as chance of a man or a number of men to realise their own will in a communal action even against the resistance of others who are participating in the action. There are, broadly, two different views in Sociology regarding the nature of power in society: (i) that of Robert S. Lynd who follows Max Weber and seems to partially agree with Karl Marx, and (ii) that of Talcott Parsons. The view of Lynd and Weber is that those who hold power do so at the expense of the other. This suggests that there is a fixed amount of power in society. It is known as Zero-sum or constant-sum concept of power. This view is different from the Marxian view. According to the Marxists, society is usually divided into two broad groups: the power holding ruling class, and the powerless working class. They say that the power of the dominant group refers to their overall access to economic, political and cultural resources in society. As against this, Parsons observes that power is a societal resource held in trust and directed by those in authority for the benefit of all. Power is the capacity to mobilise the resources of the society for the attainment of social goals. In efficient societies collective efforts to realise common goals generate additional power, privileges and benefits which are collectively shared. The exercise of power then usually means that
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everybody wins. Power is thus a variable-sum or positive-sum phenomenon. This forms a basis for the co-operation and reciprocity, which are essential for the maintenance and wellbeing of society. According to Parsons, political support is deposited in political leaders in the same way in which money is deposited in a bank. The electorate can withdraw its grant of power from political leaders at the next election. In this sense, power resides ultimately with members of the society as a whole. Just as money generates interest for the depositor, so grants of power generate benefits for the electorate. In this way, power in society can increase or decrease. In the analysis of politics and political institutions, both concepts of power are used by different social scientists. The Nature of Authority Indeed, Max Webers concept of authority reflects a reconciliation of the two apparently contradictory notions of power. Power is applied through the use of force or coercion. But, naked power is hardly accepted by those who are subjected to it. Therefore, the weilders of power seek to translate it into authority. Authority is the power legitimised and institutionalised in a society. Sub-ordinates accept the power of those in authority because they accept their control as justified and proper. The subjects have a feeling that those who exercise authority do
not use it for serving their own interests to those over whom this authority is exercised. The legitimate power or authority in a society may be centralised in a person or a class or an institution or it may be dispersed in the whole society. In traditional societies both forms of power distribution are found, which are given below: (i) A kingship or an aristocratic class or religious chief exercising overarching power. (ii) Dispersion of power in the whole society regulated by kinship rules and customs. State in Modern Society In modern industrial societies, however, power is centralised in the institution of state and dispersed among its citizens. Max Weber has defined the state as a human community which successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory. Thus, the state is one of the important agencies of social control, whose functions are carried out by means of law backed ultimately by physical force. A state is characterised by four elements, viz., population, territory, government and sovereignty. A state also requires international recognition. The state grows out of a particular historical process in response to the issue of legitimation of power and integration of power arrangements. To maintain an orderly system of social relations, people have to be
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subjected to some degree of discipline. The discipline in an ordered society or state need not always come from an external agency like the police, army or judiciary. It may come as a result of voluntary acceptance of the norms and values of the society or the constitution of the state by the people themselves. In every political institution, there is definitely a moral aspect, which is binding on the people concerned which often takes the form of rules and laws. EVOLUTION OF THE STATE AND DEMOCRATIC POLITY IN INDIA 1. The Transformation of the Colonial Legacy The independent Indian state, which emerged from the freedom movement, inherited two rather contradictory legacies. Some of its institutions were shaped by the needs of colonial rule. Though the British introduced certain liberal elements like the rule of law and a relatively independent judiciary, the political institutions created by them were gover ned by the principles prompted by the demands of colonial power. The structures of the army, bureaucracy, the police, the administrative rules and their distance from the common people were obviously the consequences of this legacy. At the same time, the independent India is also the product of a great national movement, and is committed to the transformation of some of these colonial structures in the interests of the common people. The independent state is trying to
decolonise the nature and functions of the political institutions inherited by it from the British Raj by making them responsive to the needs and aspirations of India and rendering them accountable to the people. 2. Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic of India India adopted its new Constitution after Independence, on 26 November 1949. It became effective from January 26, 1950. A Constitution contains the fundamental principles of a state, which determine the powers and duties of the Gover nment, and guarantee certain rights to the people and which together constitute the organic law of the land. The Preamble to the Constitution lags out its spirit and broad objectives. According to it, the state of Independent India is sovereign i.e., it has supreme power to decide its own course of action relating to the people and territory of India. It is a democratic state where power is exercised by the representatives of the people who are directly or indirectly chosen by them. It is a republic where the head of the Government is a President elected by the people. Independent India has chosen the form of parliamentary democracy. It ensures the peoples control over the government (the Council of Ministers) by making it responsible to the popularly elected legislature and by ensuring periodic elections to the House of the People at the centre and legislative assemblies in the provincial
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states on the basis of adult suffrage. No person shall be denied the right to vote in these elections on grounds of religion, race, caste and sex. These provisions of the Constitution (Articles 325 and 326) have brought far reaching changes in a society which has been traditionally marked by caste hierarchy, serious economic disparities and gender inequalities. Politics in India is not confined to a small aristocracy. India is today the largest democracy and one of the most intensely political societies of the world. Mass participation in politics of modern India increases the legitimacy of the political system and strengthens its effectiveness. The success of Indian democracy was facilitated by a political process which aimed at modernisation, democratisation and economic development. This political process was controlled by the parliament, the council of ministers as well as the bureaucracy. The bureaucracy, members of which are recruited through open competitive public examinations, implements the policies framed by selected representatives of the people. The members of this bureaucracy are chosen not on the basis of birth, caste, creed, race, religion or gender but on the basis of impersonal laid down rules. The colonial power divided India on the basis of religion and severe communal riots accompanied partition. Independent India chose, therefore, the path of Secularism , which means that the state will have
no official religion of its own and it will not favour or interfere with any religion. From the very beginning the independent state in India has shown equal respect for all religions. Holding of public offices and employment in government services do not depend on the religious affiliation of an individual (Articles 15 & 16). The adoption of socialist ideals of society, in order to curb or reduce inequalities, constitutes another attempt of the Indian polity towards democratic nation-building. Justice, Liberty and Equality The Constitution secures social and economic justice through the guarantee of fundamental rights. Part III of the Constitution secures six groups of rights for the individuals. They are : (1) Right to Equality. (2) Right to Freedom. (3) Right against Exploitation. (4) Right to Freedom of Religion. (5) Cultural and Educational Rights. (6) Right to Constitutional Remedies. The Constitution had also guaranteed the Right to Property which has been modified through later amendments in response to the demands for social and economic justice. An independent judiciary protects these rights and freedoms. The guarantee of these rights by the Constitution is a bold attempt by the state of Independent India to remove the inequalities and disabilities of caste, gender, religion, region or race, suffered traditionally by
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different sections of the people of India in various situations. It, thus, guarantees the dignity of the individual which is the hallmark of the modern society. The Constitution has abolished, for example, the scourge of untouchability. By ensuring the liberties of the individual, the Constitution seeks to curb the exercise of arbitrary power by any individual within the government or outside it. The Humanistic and democratic idealism expressed in the Preamble to the Indian Constitution is further strengthened in the directive principles of the state policy in Part IV of the Constitution. They offer elaborate agenda of what the state should do to promote the welfare of the people and secure a just social order for them. They exhort the state to ensure the equitable distribution of ownership of the means of production, and protection of the health and the strength of certain specific groups and individuals viz., women, workers, and the children who are usually far less privileged than the other sections of the society. Although no citizen can move the court to compel the state to enforce the rights promised in the directive principles, nevertheless these principles provide a means for evaluating the performance of the Government in promoting welfare of the people. The judiciary increasingly functions as the custodian of the peoples rights enshrined in the Constitution. The Federal Structure Soon after Independence, India faced a number of problems, including the
territorial and administrative integration of the princely states, the communal riots that accompanied partition, the rehabilitation of refugees who had migrated from Pakistan, and insurgency. Besides, there were other long standing problems like poverty. The national movement played a pivotal role in welding India together politically and emotionally into a nation and integrating it into a common framework of political identity and loyalty. The political leaders faced the problem of integration of the princely states with the rest of India. In deference to the linguistic, cultural and regional diversities and the need for integration, the Constitution made provisions for a federal structure with a strong centre as well as a great deal of autonomy for the States or Units. There is a division of powers between the Union Gover nment at the centre and governments of different regional units called States in the Indian Constitution. The Supreme court functions as the custodian of the autonomy of the states in India. Of course, to prevent the fissiparous tendencies and to preserve the unity of the nation, the Union Government has been given a large amount of power. The All-India Services ensure uniformity in administration throughout the country. Many States and regions are, however, dissatisfied with the amount of power and autonomy granted to them. It is not unexpected in a country like India which is the home of many diverse groups of people with differing cultural identities and
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different concerns. Differences in socioeconomic positions and cultural identities give rise to various demands that are both the strength and challenge of a vibrant democracy. The Indian nation state is striving hard to meet the challenges by balancing the competing demands of different segments constituting the Indian polity. Democratic Decentralisation and Panchayati Raj To make democracy responsive to the needs of the people at the grassroots, the Constitution directed the state to organise village Panchayats and endow them with such powers and authorities as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government (Art. 40). It has been in response to the emphasis laid by Mahatma Gandhi on local self-government, creation of leadership at all levels, from top to bottom, decentralisation of power and building up of self-reliance of village communities. Gandhiji and other leaders of the National Movement stressed the need for democratic decentralisation. Democratic decentralisation aims at widening the area of the peoples participation, authority, and autonomy through dispersion or devolution of powers to peoples representative organisations from the top levels to the lowest levels. In India democratic decentralisation popularly known as Panchayati Raj was introduced in 1959 and was linked with the major programme for rural development such as the community development programme which was
introduced in 1952. The three-tier Panchayati Raj System aimed at ensuring peoples participation in the decision-making and implementation of developmental programmes. The seventy-third and the seventy-fourth Amendments have given more powers to the Panchayats in rural areas and municipalities in urban areas and made the holding of regular elections to them mandatory. The years from 1951 to 1964 were the beginning of the massive reconstruction of the polity and the economy. Very important measures in this respect were those of land reforms, the initiation of planned economic development and rapid expansion of the public sector. Major programmes for rural development, such as the Community Development Programme and Panchayati Raj were introduced in 1952 and 1959, respectively. Women were given 33 per cent reservation in the Panchayati Raj legislation. Political Parties and Indian Democracy Political parties are indispensable for the working of a democratic gover nment. They are organised groups of citizens who have common views on public issues and, acting as political units, seek to obtain control of the gover nment in order to implement the programme and policy which they profess. The Indian constitution has recognised the right to the freedom of speech and the freedom of forming associations and
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also guaranteed periodic elections of their representatives by the people to the legislatures on the basis of Universal adult franchise. India has adopted a multiparty system. The multiparty system offers enough political choice and interaction, especially for minorities and marginal groups. However, the predominance of all-India parties in India indicates the extent to which political unity is firmly established. In the contemporary political scenario, the growth of regional political parties and the experiment of coalition government reflect the articulation of regional and sectional interests. From 1947 to 1977, Congress was the only ruling party at the all-India level. After 1977, the Congress has been replaced by successful coalitions between different political parties both at the national and state levels. Today we have two broad coalitions of political parties one led by the BJP and the other led by the Congress. At one time, the Janata Party held the centrestage. Today, the leftist parties and many regional parties also claim all-India status. In the subsequent decades after Independence, the political parties were dominated by professional groups such as lawyers. This dominance is declining and their place is being taken over by farmers and agriculturists.
The Party System, Politics of Caste and Voting Behaviour in India
Initially, the Indian polity was characterised by one party dominance. By virtue of its presence over a long
duration and through sustained organisational penetration, the Congress had given a unified leadership to the whole nation. Histori-cally the Congress had developed as a movement for social regeneration and national Independence. The real contribution of the party system to political development lies in its role of being a catalyst of government performance at various levels. These parties represent peoples interests and compete for power. They are the pivots of the political process and provides the base for both the government and opposition. To achieve power, political parties often exploit elements like caste and religion, which have a bearing on human sentiments. Rajni Kothari points out that by drawing the caste system into their web of organisation, po litical parties find scope for mobilisation of mass support. In making politics its sphere of activity, a caste asserts its identity and strives for positions of power. Politicians mobilise caste groupings and identities in order to consolidate their power. The democratic polity based on elections has led to the involvement of the traditional structure of the caste system in politics. The voting behaviour over the years has shown the linkages between the traditional structure of caste and the modern polity in India. The nature of democratic state in India is different from the states in other democracies. India has tried to accommodate the logic of modern democratic state with
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the other institutions of Indian society. For example, the caste system and the processes of democratic participation in politics have successfully accommodated each other. Caste has responded to the constraints and opportunities offered by modern electoral politics. It has given rise to unexpected forms of caste mobilisation. Political mobilisations around caste, region and communities (i,e., casteism, regionalism and communalism), remain the greatest obstacles in the realisation of political goals enshrined in Indian Constitution. The politics of caste is also related with the longterm logic of the policy of protective discrimination, popularly known as the reservation policy, which has given an opportunity to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and the religious minorities to gain an advantage from the resources of the state directed economic system. Political changes in the caste based society have been caused by deliberate and intended direction of state policies. In rural India, the patterns of loyalties and interests and the power structures which prevail at the village or neighbourhood level are often the most important elements of political action. In urban areas, the role of class factor has been found to be more important in voting behaviour. Studies of voting behaviour reveal that debate over issues of public policy plays a negligible role in election campaigns and presumably in affecting
the ways in which individuals vote. To a large extent, Indian voters are still oriented towards particular ties or their specific interests rather than to policy or ideological issues. It is possible for parties and candidates to make emotional and irrational appeals to voters on the basis of primordial attachments to caste and religion. Reports from the rural areas suggest that neither the large landowners nor the landless labourers play a decisive role in the outcome of the elections, the former because their power has been limited by recent legislation and the latter because they are often economically dependent upon others. The class of owner cultivators (middle level castes) have a keen and decisive interest in the elections. However, even voters belonging to low caste and economically backward sections cannot be ignored if only because their numbers are high. Public Sector Units, Interest Groups, Lobbies and Trade Unions The Independent state of India has taken the initiative for economic development in agriculture and industry as well as for equal distribution of resources. The public sector undertakings in the industry sought to strengthen the economic foundation of Indian democracy. The Planning Commission and the National Development Council have been very effective in ensuring it. Two processes of nation building have been operating in India after
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independence: one, the administrative governmental process aiming at coordination and uniformity in planned development efforts; two, the processes involving various types of political group activity by the people. Increasingly there is a political orientation of social interests in contemporary India. Thus, the political system has become, perhaps, the most important instrument of social structure in India. There is politicisation of a fragmented social structure through a penetration of political forms, values and ideologies. In any economic system, the state can play three kinds of roles: 1. As a producer of goods and services. 2. As a supplier of Public goods or Social goods like education, health, drinking water etc. 3. As a regulator of the system. In Indian democracy during the initial stages, the first two roles of the state, have been important. But, with liberalisation, these two roles have declined and the third role has become more important, although the regulation is exercised, in some instances, through independent authorities. In the era of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation, the role of the state has declined further and some of the erstwhile functions of state have now been taken over by the private sector, Non-governmental and civil society organisations. Instead of direct control of the state, the market forces now play a greater role, although in certain sectors independent regulatory
authorities are being set up to regulate market forces. Role of the NGOs The NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) in the voluntary sector, through the last five decades, have worked with communities in every corner of India to bridge the distance between the promises and the reality of development. The important role of NGOs in reaching development schemes to the poor communities has been increasingly recognised by the Indian government. Center for science and Environment (CSE), Lokayan, Sathin , Self Employed Women Association (SEWA) and Sulabh Inter national are some of the significant NGOs which are making appreciable contribution to the process of development in the country. Interest groups have performed an important function in influencing the economic and other kinds of the decisions of the state. Interest groups may be based on economic, ethnic, linguistic, religious, regional and other organisations. Sometimes, they influence the members of the government (ruling party) or the party in opposition to pressurise the government to concede to their demands. An interest group may thus act as a Pressure group. The Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the All-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry, etc., (AIMA) are examples of Interest Groups which may act as pressure groups. The farmers also
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have their lobby in the parliament and state legislatures. T rade Unions represent the workers, interests in Indian democracy. They have succeeded in influencing the decisions of the government for protecting the interests of the workers. Many social legislations passed after independence in favour of the workers are examples of this. The Press The Constitution of India has guaranteed the freedom of expression. The press is the important medium for the free expression of opinion in the democratic polity of India, Press has proved to be the watchdog of the people for controlling arbitrary acts of the government. Today, other forms of mass-media alongwith the Press enable the citizens to know what is really happening in the country, especially what the government does or does not do for them. Whenever a gover nment takes an arbitrary decision, newspapers and magazines function as the vehicle of social checks and balances on the government. The Press had also played a very significant role during the freedom movement. Social Movements and the State Indian tradition provides many examples of socio-religious movements bringing about change in social and religious systems of the country. This tradition has been strengthened during the independence movement. The democratic polity of independent
India also provides an environment for peaceful movements. A social movement may be defined as the collective effort either to promote or to resist social change. Two elements are necessary for a movement to be categorised as social movement: spontaneity and sustainability. The objective, ideology, programmes, leadership and organisation are important components of social movements. These components are interdependent and influence each other. The state which holds the sovereign power looks at social and political movements as a challenge to its legitimacy of governance, at least initially. It adopts different measures, ranging from dialogue and negotiation with the leaders of those movements which do not challenge the power structure of the state to repression of those movements which challenge the power of the state. The democratic polity of India has not indulged in repression of different types of social movements. Rather, it is mostly softer in dealing with those movements which have reformist or welfareoriented demands than those which question the interests of the powerful or seek to bring about more radical social structural changes. Peasant Movements, Labour Movements, Womens Movements have been organised in Independent India. These movements have succeeded in changing the laws in favour of the peasants, workers and women. Ecology has become a major
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issue linked to many contemporary social movements. They involve specific natural resources like land, water, forest, air and sea and the question of peoples access to them and also the problems suffered by the common people because of
disturbances in ecology created by the developments of dams, and industries. Forest based struggles like the Chipko Struggle in the Himalayan region and the Appiko movement in the Western Ghats provide important examples.
GLOSSARY
AUTHORITY. It refers to that form of power which is considered legitimate by those over which it is exercised. BUREAUCRACY. A body of administrative officials, and the procedures and tasks involved in a particular system of administration. CHIPKO
MOVEMENT.
A type of environmental movement in Uttaranchal (Tehri
Garhwal). DOMINATION. It refers to that form of power which rests on force and manipulation rather than social sanction. FRATERNITY. A group of people with common interests and brotherly feeling. GREEN
REVOLUTION .
A particular type of technical change in Third World agricultural practices.
LIBERALISATION. A process of economic reforms which removes governments restrictions in the economy. LIBERTY. Freedom to act and think as one pleases. PRIVATISATION. A process of economic reforms where a particular sector monopolised earlier by the government is opened for private enterprise. RULING
CLASS.
A social class that controls a society through whatever political institutions available. In some societies this control may be overt, while in others it may be less obvious.
SOVEREIGNTY. Supreme and independent political power or authority of a politically independent state. TERRITORY. The land under the control of a ruler, government or state.
EXERCISES 1. What is meant by political institution? 2. What is power? 3. What are the elements necessary for state?
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4. What is meant by politicisation of caste? 5. Elaborate on the role of state in Indian society.
SUGGESTED READINGS
1. Brass, Paul, The Politics of India since Independence , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990. 2. Frankel, F. R., et al, ed, Transforming India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2002. 3. Gupta, Dipankar, Political Sociology in India: Contemporary Trends, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1996. 4. Kothari, Rajni, Politics in India, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1982. 5. Kaviraj, Sudipta, Politics in India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2002. 6. Oommen, T. K, Protest and Change: Studies in Social Movements, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 1990. 7. Shah, Ghanshyam, ed, Social Movements and the State, Sage Publication, New Delhi, 2002.
CHAPTER 10
Deprived Groups
Introduction Historically in every society there are certain groups who are weak or deprived from socio-political-economic or educational points of view. In Indian society the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, the Other Backward Classes and women, especially from these groups, are regarded weak or deprived groups. Religious minorities in Independent India are also considered weak from the point of view of economic and political empowerment. Article 46 of the Indian Constitution requires the state to promote with special care, the educational and economic interests of the backward citizens and in particular of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The Constitution also confers certain rights specifically on minority groups; the right to conserve a minority groups distinct language, script, or culture and the right to establish and administer educational institutions of the groups choice (Articles 29 and 30). Indias system of preferential treatment for disadvantaged sections of the population is popularly known as a policy of compensatory discrimination. Such policies entail systematic departures from norms of equality (such as merit, evenhandedness etc.), which are justified on the following grounds: 1. Preferential treatment may be viewed as a guarantee against the persistence of discrimination in subtle and indirect forms. 2. The beneficial results that they will presumably promote social integration, use of neglected talent, more equitable distribution of power and resources etc. 3. It seeks to mitigate the systematic and cumulative deprivations suffered by deprived groups in the past. Independent India has firmly and explicitly embraced the protective discrimination policy in favour of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), women and minorities. In its scope and reach, compensatory discrimination has received considerable attention from the legislators, the courts and the executive. This policy has succeeded
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to some extent in taking care of the special needs of the deprived groups. It has, however, also created some tension and confrontation between social groups who have received the benefits of reservation and those who have not. Sociologically speaking, compensatory discrimination may be described as a way of reducing social disparities by creating special opportunities for some in addition to equal opportunities created for all. Obviously, there is a tension between the two principles (equal opportunities for all and special opportunities for some) and success in realising the larger objective of reducing disparities will depend on the care with which a balance is struck between the two. BACKWARD CLASSES The term Backward Classes is used to describe all the weaker sections of the society. It includes Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other backward classes. Now we discuss these groups in details. SCHEDULED CASTES According to 1991 census, the population of Scheduled Castes is 13.82 crores. They constitute 16.48 per cent of the countrys total population. The empowerment of the socially disadvantaged groups is high on the government agenda. There is a provision of special central assistance for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes. The term Scheduled Caste (SC) can be understood in the context of
caste as an all pervasive feature of the Indian society. The institutionalised inequality in the caste system manifests its extreme form in the growth of completely segregated set of castes called Scheduled Castes. The Scheduled Castes come at the bottom of the caste hierarchy on the basis of ritual impurity. They are technically outside the four fold varna scheme. These castes were imputed with maximum degree of ritual and social impurity. Their occupations were held to be the lowest in the normative hierarchy. This led to their residential segregation in villages and towns. Scheduled Caste is a politicolegal ter m coined by the Simon Commission and then by the Government of India Act, 1935. In Post-Independent India, the term Scheduled Caste was adopted by the Constitution for the purpose of providing them some special privileges under compensatory discrimination policy. Gandhiji had given them a new name, Harijan or son of God, but the radical elements among Scheduled Castes call themselves Dalits. The word Dalit encompasses the communities known as untouchables who are officially termed as Scheduled Castes. Dalit is a Marathi word which generally means broken to pieces. Jyotiba Phule, Dr. Ambedkar and the Dalit Panther Movement in the seventies have popularised this term. Problems of the Scheduled Castes A majority of Dalits are poor, deprived of basic needs, and socially backward.
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Many do not have access to sufficient amount of food, healthcare, housing and clothing. Moreover, caste inequalities continue to be among the most important factors affecting their access to education. Though traditional occupations are gradually dissolving, Dalits generally continue to be concentrated in occupations that render little social status or possibility for social mobility. Moreover, caste violence has witnessed a dramatic increase over the last couple of years. Modernisation has done much to weaken traditional caste occupations and practices. It has also strengthened them. Practices of untouchability and exclusion are still continuing in some areas regardless of constitutional guarantees and official decrees. Scheduled Castes as a group are not homogeneous. They are internally differentiated in terms of occupation, numerical strength, geographical spread and ritual status. But together they are segregated from other castes on the criteria of untouchability. They are considered as ritually defiled. They were subjected to various types of social disabilities and several restrictions were imposed on them. After 52 years of commencement of the Constitution and after nearly 50 years of planning, they continue to suffer. Untouchability still persists to an extent in some pockets in rural India. The majority of the Scheduled Castes in villages continue to suffer because they work under the control of the dominant castes and the landlords. They continue to be
economically dependent on the landowning castes and are exploited in different ways. As a result, several remedial measures have been tried to improve the conditions of the Scheduled Castes in India. Constitutional Provisions for the Scheduled Castes The Constitution provides the Scheduled Castes many safeguards and special privileges. The government appoints a commissioner for Scheduled Castes to look into their grievances, and his annual report is placed before the Parliament. The important measures taken by the Indian government for Scheduled Castes include: 1. Abolition of untouchability. 2. Protection from social injustice and various forms of exploitation. 3. To keep open religious institutions to all irrespective of caste, class and gender. 4. Removal of restrictions on access to wells, tanks, shops, restaurants, roads, etc. 5. Giving them preferential treatment in admission to educational institutions. 6. Giving them other benefits and grants for pursuing education. 7. Compensatory provisions for recruitment and promotion in government services. 8. Giving them special representation in Lok Sabha,Vidhan Sabha and Punchayti Raj. 9. Setting up separate departments and advisory councils to promote
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their welfare and safeguard their interests. 10. Making special provision for the administration and control of the scheduled areas. Present Status The Scheduled Castes are still not fully integrated to the mainstream of Indian society. Despite constitutional provisions and various developmental schemes exclusively for their welfare, only a small section of the Scheduled Castes has benefited. In fact, the special provisions and reservations for them over generations have led to the emergence of an elite or creamy layer within the Scheduled Castes. SCHEDULED TRIBES According to the 1991 census, the tribal population in India is more than 6.7 million. They constitute 8.28 per cent of the total Indian population. In India Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh have Sheduled Tribes population in large number. Some states like Goa, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi have reportedly no tribal population. The Scheduled Tribe population is spread over the various regions of India and we find much diversity among them. The Scheduled Tribes have been specified by Presidential Orders issued under the provisions of Article 341 and 342 of the Constitution. The Constitution of India does not define the Scheduled Tribes. They have been
specified by the Presidential Orders issued in consultation with the Governors of the respective states. Social differentiation among the tribes is different from that of the advanced agricultural and industrial societies. They have however, gradations and inequalities based on age, sex and kinship. Different tribal groups can be classified on the basis of language, religion, and degree of their isolation and the pattern of livelihood. Some of these attributes of tribes often resemble with that of the non-tribal people of a given region rather than the tribal people of another region. The basic disability of the Scheduled Castes stems from their low ritual and economic status whereas that of Scheduled Tribes is rooted in their physical isolation after adverse and exploitative economic conditions. Some of the major problems of Scheduled Tribes are the following: 1. Indebtedness Indebtedness is probably the most difficult problem faced by the tribal population in India. It is due to rampant poverty, loss of tribal rights over land and forests as well as poor and primitive mode of agriculture etc. It has not only economic dimensions but also social and psychological dimensions. 2. Land Alienation Agriculture is the primary occupation of the tribals. Nearly 88 per cent Scheduled T ribes are engaged in agriculture. Besides, tribals have great
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emotional attachment with their lands. Their chronic indebtedness to the shopkeepers and moneylenders becomes the primary factor in land alienation. Their simplicity and ignorance only accelerate their impoverishment. The other methods that the civilised people use to encroach upon the lands of the tribals are by utilising the intimidation of court, and by using the method of temptation of immediate gain. 3. Poverty and Unemployment Insensitive planning in tribal areas has led to chronic poverty among the tribals. In 1983-84, the percentage of persons below the poverty line among the Scheduled Tribes was 58.4 per cent in rural areas and 39.9 per cent among the urban population. Besides poverty, employment scenario is quite grim in the tribal areas. In the present scenario, the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana for employment generation is under implementation since 1989. The objectives of the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana are generation of additional gainful employment, creation of productive community assets and improvement of overall quality of life in rural areas. The Jawahar Rozgar Yojana has provisions for preference to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for employment. 4. Other Problems Many of the tribal areas have been marked out by migration of people seeking to etch out their livelihood in different parts of the country. For
instance there have been an acceleration of women from Jharkhand coming to cities like Delhi as domestic workers. The other problems which tribals of India usually face are that of illiteracy, housing, communication, industrialisation, urbanisation, migration and depopulation. The main factors responsible for the depopulating trend of some tribes are radical changes in ecological conditions, abrupt disturbances in man-nature equilibrium and the dehumanisation of the forest policy and its cruel implementation. It is, however, a paradox that on the one hand the population of large tribes has been increasing and on the other hand a number of other tribes are moving towards total extinction. Constitutional Provisions for the Scheduled Tribes The term Scheduled Tribe is nowhere clearly defined in the Constitution. Article 342 empowers the President of India to specify a tribe as a Scheduled T ribe. There are two types of constitutional provisions for Scheduled T ribes: one with regard to their protection and the other for tribal development. 1. Special provisions are made for the educational attainment of the Scheduled T ribes. These provisions include reservation of seats and relaxation in requirements for admission to educational institutions,
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scholarships, etc. 2. Reservation of posts in service. 3. Safeguard of tribal interest in property. 4. The State is enjoined upon to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of Scheduled Tribes and protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation. 5. Seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes in Lok Sabha and State Legislatures. 6. The recognition of traditional tribal rights to land and legal protection against alienation of tribal land. 7. The President may at any time appoint a Commission to report on the administration of the scheduled areas and the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes in the State. Efforts have also been made since independence to improve the condition of tribals by: (i) distribution of land to the tribals and development of land already in their possession; (ii) distribution of improved agricultural instruments, seeds, manure and extension of agricultural facilities; and (iii) the protection of tribals from moneylenders. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been set up in 1999 to attend exclusively to the needs of the tribal population in the country. OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES Other Backward Classes comprise the
non-untouchable, lower and intermediary castes who were traditionally engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry and handicrafts services. Caste rank and occupation are the main criteria by which they are considered backward. The OBCs are above the so-called untouchable groups and below the twice born castes. There is much confusion regarding the composition and provisions for the OBCs. The Supreme Court in the Mandal Commission case held the view that the backwardness contemplated by Article 16(4) is mainly social. It need not be both social and educational. The OBCs do not constitute a homogeneous category. There are many divisions within the overall category. Andre Betteille considers peasant castes as the core of the backward classes. The significance of the category Backward Classes lies not only in its size and extent, but also in the uniquely Indian way of defining its boundaries. In India, backward-ness is viewed as an attribute not of individuals but of communities, which are, by their nature, self-perpetuating. The backward classes are not classes at all, but groups of communities. They are a large and mixed category of persons with boundaries that are both unrelated and elastic. Thus, the Other Backward Classes are a residual and highly ambiguous category. Provisions for the Other Backward Classes The OBCs constitute 51 per cent of the
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total population of the country. The Constitution does not define Backward Classes. Under Article 340, the Constitution provides for the appointment of a commission to investigate the condition of backward classes. The first Backward Classes Commission was appointed in 1953, with Kaka Saheb Kalelkar as chairman. This showed that the nation was determined to extend to them the necessary assistance for their empowerment. The Commission was of the view that the Backward Classes cannot come into their own with their unaided strength. The Kaka Kalelkar Commission identified 2,399 castes (about 70 per cent of Indias population) as backward. It suggested several measures for their development. Caste was taken as the key factor in making a list of Backward Classes. The Commission proposed reservations of at least 25 per cent in class I Services, 33.5 per cent in class II Services and 40 per cent in Class III and IV Services for the castes listed as backward. In the Commissions view, real social equality in India could be achieved only by eliminating caste distinctions and social discrimination. However, reservation for OBCs has been seen more from the political angle than from the welfare angle. Pressure for incorporating more castes into the list of OBCs has been seen as a design of vote bank politics. The V.P. Singh Government announced 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs following the Mandal Commissions report. The Supreme Courts verdict of 1992 on the Mandal Commissions report has the
following features: 1. Caste was accepted as basis for identifying the beneficiaries of reservations. 2. The upper limit of reservation was fixed at 50 per cent. 3. Creamy-layer was to be excluded from reservations. 4. Reservation in certain technical posts was not advised. 5. There were to be no reservation in promotions. 6. The Union Government was to specify socio-economic criteria to exclude socially advanced persons among the Backward Classes. 7. Tribunals were to be set up by the union and state governments to examine complaints of over inclusion and under -inclusion and requests for inclusion in the list of Other Backward Classes. Today most states have divided OBCs into two groups comprising Annexure-I and Annexure-II. Annexure-I represents the creamy layer among the OBCs. As another measure of support, the National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation (NBCFDC) was set up by the Government of India in 1992, with the objective of providing concessional finance to members of the Backward Classes living below the poverty line, for income generating activities. Assessment of the Policies for SCs, STs and OBCs Sociologists have differentiated between the compensatory discrimi-
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nation provided to the SCs or STs and the privileges given to the OBCs. If SCs and STs are by now easily recognisable groups in Indian society the same cannot be said about the OBCs. Policies regarding OBCs differ from state to state and different groups of people are included. We can underline the following special features of compensatory discrimination in favour of OBCs: 1. Other Backward Classes are usually not defined in exactly the same way in different parts of the country. The most important measures adopted or recommended for their advancement are reservations in the educational institutions, especially in professional and technical colleges and government service. 2. Reservations for the SCs and STs are directed basically towards the goal of greater equality in society. 3. The OBCs have a very different position in Indian society from that of the SCs and STs. The Harijans and the adivasis have been the victims of active social discrimination through segregation in the first case and isolation in the second. The same cannot be said to be true of OBCs. MINORITIES Minority is a term, which is difficult to define with any degree of precision. It may refer to a relatively small group of people either dominated by or
capable of being dominated by a preponderant majority. It is now widely felt that population size is not the only feature of minority status. If a group is discriminated on the basis of religion, race or culture it can be considered a minority group. The International Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences defines minority as a group of people differentiated from others in the same society by race, nationality, religion or language, who think of themselves as differentiated group and are thought of by others as a differentiated group with negative connotations. The Constitution of India uses the term minority but nowhere defines it. The Supreme Court and various High Courts have depended on the statistical criterion. Any community that does not constitute more than 50 per cent in a state is, thus, called a minority. The Indian Constitution recognises two types of minorities the one based on language and the other based on religion. According to the 1991 census of India, Hindus constitute 82.41 per cent of the total population followed by Muslims (11.67 per cent), Christians (2.34 per cent), Sikhs (1.94 per cent), Buddhists (0.76 per cent), Jains (0.40 per cent), and others constitute 0.44 per cent of the total population of India. The issues of minority are really relational i.e. in terms of the location and the majority. The wish to preserve distinctive features of ones social and cultural life is an essential feature of a minority community. Such a group
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may be held together by shared descent, physical characteristics, traditions, customs, language and religious faith, or by a combination of these. They very often organise themselves into a coherent group drawing on shared values, cultures, languages or religions. For example, the Muslims in India are a minority group on the basis of their religion in comparison to the majority of Hindus. But they constitute a majority in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The wish to represent their demands often gives rise to political demands by minority groups. Contribution of Minorities The minority communities have made significant contributions in practically all fields. They actively participated in Indias freedom movement. Following points show their contributions in different fields: 1. In the political field they have occupied the posts ranging from the President of the worlds largest democracy to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India. 2. Punjab, dominated by the Sikhs, is the foremost producer of wheat and they have made Green Revolution a success. 3. On the cultural front too minorities have made splendid contributions. Urdu by itself is an excellent example. The language imbibes some of the best cultural traditions of Hinduism and Islam. 4. Many Muslims, Christians and
members of other minorities have richly contributed to literature in other Indian languages too. They have also contributed to classical music, dance and films etc. 5. Indian science, journalism and sports are richer by the contribution of minority members. 6. Parsis have played significant roles in the industrialisation of the country. 7. Minorities have done their best in promoting national interests within their reach. Constitutional Provisions for the Minorities The Constitution of Independent India has guaranteed various rights to the minorities. The rationale for this is that while the majority community by virtue of its number can guard its interest, a minority community needs additional support to safeguard its interests. The Constitution has guaranteed them the following rights: (1) Under Article 29(1), if there is a cultural minority which wants to preserve its own language and culture, the State would not by law impose upon it any other culture belonging to the majority of the locality. This provision gives protection not only to religious minorities but also to linguistic minorities. (2) Under Article 350(A), the Constitution directs every State to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother tongue
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at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups. (3) Under Article 350(B), there has been a provision for a special officer for linguistic minorities to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities under the Constitution. Under the Constitutional provision, there can be no discrimination in admission into any state educational institution on grounds only of religion, race, caste or language. (4) Under Article 300(1), all minorities shall have the fundamental right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. Their property cannot be acquired by the State without paying compensation. With regard to granting aid, the state cannot discriminate against any educational institution on the ground that it is under the management of a minority, whether based on religion or language. In 1964, the Supreme Court upheld the right of the minorities to choose the medium of instruction in their schools. The Government has notified five communities namely, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Zoroastrians as minorities at the national level. To evaluate the working of the various safeguards of the Constitution for the protection of religious minorities and to make recommendations to ensure
effective implementation and enforcement of all the safeguards and laws, a Minorities Commission was set up in 1978. This Commission was replaced by the National Commission for Minorities in 1993. The 15 = point programme has been implemented for welfare of minorities. It has the objective of securing life and property of minorities. It has also provided special consideration for minorities in public employment to ensure nondiscrimination in development programmes and grant of financial benefits. In addition, the government has also set up a National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC). The Corporation would provide financial aid for economic and developmental activities for the benefit of backward sections among the minorities. Despite several governmental and non-governmental efforts, a large section of the minorities still lag behind. Most of them are illiterate and deprived in a country of continental dimensions. Industrial and technological growth in India needs to influence not just the majority community but also in equal measure the minorities. Now economic opportunities will enhance their self-confidence and generate in them a new outlook. Industrial and technological growth and educational development are the two most effective instruments to bring about national integration. Legislation and cooperation at the level of society can accelerate the process of integration of minorities in the national mainstream.
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WOMEN India became an independent country in 1947. We dedicated ourselves as a nation in 1950 to build a democratic society based upon justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. But even after fifty five years of Indian independence, women are still one of the most powerless and marginalised sections of Indian society. Various social and economic indicators provide the evidence of inequalities and vulnerabilities of women in all sectors economic, social, demographic, health, nutrition etc. The rising incidence of crime and violence against women are indicators of the condition of society. Increasing physical violence against women in the form of rape, dowry deaths, wife beating and femalefoeticide are all indicative of the powerless position of women in family and society. Sometimes women are treated as inferior members in their own families. They are mostly at the receiving end. Womens oppression and their exploitation cuts across caste and class lines. Even in the neo-rich families, women feel subordinated to men. They have a dual identity in such families i.e., one inside the family, where their identity is defined in relation to their male members, and the other outside the family. Marital status and their fertility provide crucial identity to women. Married women achieve status and respect in the family and society after attaining motherhood, especially after giving birth to sons. Working women are considered to be enjoying an
independent and superior position in society. But they are not free from their family roles. As a result, they face roleconflicts in all places. There is a considerable ambiguity about the nature and status of women in Indian society. She has two contradictory images. On the one hand, she is believed to represent power and evoke both fear and reverence. On the other hand, she is largely appreciated for her beauty and delicateness. In traditional India, women were supposed to be supreme in the household domains, whereas in the public domain men were supposed to be supreme. The status of women improved to some extent during the Bhakti movement. It granted social and religious freedom to women. The religious and social reform movements gave a sense of confidence to women. The reformative measures undertaken during the British rule had positive changes in the status of women. Measures like the spread of education and abolition of practices like sati and child marriage had positively influenced the status of women. Movements initiated by social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, Annie Beasant and Mahatma Gandhi also helped in bringing positive changes in the status of women. After Independence, various legislations were passed to improve the status of women. The legislative measures include Special Marriage Act, 1954, Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Hindu
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Succession Act, 1956 and the AntiDowry Act, 1961. The Constitution of Independent India also guarantees Right to Equality as a Fundamental Right. Being the allegedly inferior gender, women still have to forego some privileges and rights that are regarded as belonging exclusively to the male domain. Even in respect of role allocation, distinction is made between womens domain of work and mens domain of work. The Present Status of Women After Independence, a lot of improvement has been made in the position of women in society. Women belonging to the educated, urban and high-income group are the major beneficiaries of the developmental measures. The life of an average Indian woman is one long battle against discrimination and deprivation. The life of a poor Indian woman is characterised by too many illnesses and too many children. Gender inequality in India stems from three important sources: (i) difference in womens and mens economic roles and potential power, (ii) cultural traditions restricting the movement and autonomy of women; and (iii) marriage and family practices. We shall get a comprehensive picture if we analyse various indicators of the status of women in the present society. Sex ratio in India is always biased in favour of the male population. There is a downward trend from 972 females per thousand males in 1901, to 930 per
thousand in 1971. In the 2001 census, it shows an improvement of 6 points, from 927 per thousand in 1991 to 933 per thousand males. The adverse sex ratio can be attributed to a number of factors such as, preference for male child, discrimination against the female child, female foeticide and female infanticide. Female literacy rate has always been lagging behind male literacy and the national average. There are widespread regional variations in female literacy too. Womens access to income and control over economic resources is even worse. Their work tends to be invisible and under-rewarded. Most working women remain outside the organised sector. On the domestic front, women always work longer hours than their male counterparts. Violence against women is on the rise. This increase in violence can be attributed to the low status of women in a patrilineal society, an increase in lawlessness, poor enforcement of legal provisions, consumerism, and erosion of traditional values. Constitutional Women Provisions for
The Constitution of India accepts the principle of equality of gender. The Preamble of the Constitution speaks of equality of status and opportunity and of social, economic and political justice. Article 14 of the Constitution assures equality before law and equal protection of the laws as a fundamental right. Article 15 and 16 prohibit any type of discrimination on the ground of gender. Article 15 also provides that the state may make
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special provisions for women and that such provisions may not be treated as violation of right to equality. The Constitution imposes a fundamental duty on every citizen through article 15 (A) (e) to renounce all practices that are derogatory to the dignity of women. The Directive Principles refer to women at three places. Article 39 (c) seeks the state to see that the health and strength of men and women workers is not abused. Article 39 (d) asks the state to direct its policy to see that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women. Article 112 requires the state to provide for maternity relief. Other Provisions The State has enacted various women specific and women related legislations to safeguard the constitutional rights given to women. The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 has made divorce an easy affair. The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 provides for equal pay to men and women for equal work. The Immoral T raf fic Prevention Act makes sexual exploitation of male or female, a cognisable offence. The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 aims at containing the evil of dowry. Under this Act, if a girl commits suicide within seven years of her marriage and it is proved that she was subject to
cruelty, the husband/in-laws are liable to be punished. The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1976 has raised the age of marriage of a girl to 18 years and that of a boy to 21 years. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 legalises abortion on health grounds. The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 and the Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 have been passed to protect the dignity of women and prevent their exploitation and violence against them. The Sixth Five Year Plan laid greater emphasis on womens economic role. It identified core development issues of women as health, education and employment. There was a shift in emphasis from welfare in the 70s to development in the 80s, and now to empowerment in the 90s. The Womens Reservation Bill aims at providing women with 33 per cent representation in the legislative bodies. What we must understand now is that by granting the constitutional provisions and by enacting various legislations only the position of women in the society cannot be improved substantially. So, they must be given a participatory role in the affairs of state and society. Moreover, we need to change our attitude towards womens issues and their empowerment.
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GLOSSARY
CUSTOM. Custom means established patterns of behaviour and belief. DEVIANCE. This refers to behaviour which infringes rules or the expectation of other, and which attracts disapproval or punishment. GLOBAL PROCESS. It refers to a social or economic process which is trans-national in nature. It is a process which denotes removal of legal, political and technological barriers for free flow of capital, goods and ideas from the country to another. JATI PANCHAYAT. The village assembly which consists only of a particular caste members in a village is called Jati Panchayat. FOLKWAYS. Folkways refers to day-to-day activities within a society or community which have become established and are socially sanctioned. MORES. Mores are those folkways to which the sense of group togetherness is added. It is more difficult to break than the folkways. PANCHAYAT. Panchayat is a democratic village assembly. It is usually elected by the adult members of the village for 5 years. T HIRD WORLD . The countries outside the industrially advanced capitalist countries and the former socialist countries are known as the third world.
EXERCISES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Who are the Scheduled Castes? Discuss the problems of the Scheduled Castes? State the constitutional provisions for the Scheduled Castes. Who are the Scheduled Tribes? Discuss the problems of tribes in India. State the constitutional provisions for the Scheduled Tribes. Explain the term Backward Classes. Discuss the status of women in contemporary India. What do you understand by the Minorities? Explain the problems of Minorities in India.
SUGGESTED READINGS
1. Beteille, Andre, Chronicles of Our Time, Penguin Books, New Delhi, 2000. 2. Dubey, S.C., ed, India Since Independence, Vikas Publications, New Delhi, 1977. 3. Ahmad, Imtiaz and others, ed, Pluralism and Equality, Sage Publications,
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New Delhi, 2000. 4. Thapar, Romesh, ed, Tribe, Caste and Religion, Macmilan, Delhi, 1977. 5. Srinivas, M.N., ed, Caste: Its Twentieth Century Avatar, Penguin, New Delhi, 1996. 6. Singh, K.S., The People of India : National Series (Volume II) The Scheduled Castes, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1993.
CHAPTER 11
Approaches to the Study of Indian Society

Introduction An approach is a way in which a person starts looking at social facts, social phenomenon or social behaviours etc. When a group of scholars come to share a particular viewpoint towards the study of sociocultural and other aspects of human life, a particular sociological approach emerges. Such an approach is accompanied by appropriate concepts, theory or theories, methods and techniques for studying society. This particular approach may be criticised by others who take a different approach towards the socio-cultural phenomena. The development of different approaches calls for different sets of concepts, theories, methods and techniques. In this way, a number of sociological approaches have developed in Western Sociology as well as in Indian Sociology. Sociologists like Comte and Durkheim wanted to apply the approach of physical and natural sciences in Sociology as well. Other sociologists under the influence of Dilthey were opposed to this view. Dilthey claimed that the natural world can only be observed and comprehended from the outside, while the world of human activity can be observed and comprehended from the inside. Therefore, Sociology requires new, alternative approaches for the understanding of meaning in social life. There are many ways to classify sociological approaches in Indian Sociology. According to Yogendra Singh there are four types of approaches in Indian Sociology. These are Indological appr oach, culturological approach, structural approach and historical approach. There are other classifications of approaches in Indian Sociology as well. In all such classifications there is a certain degree of overlapping between two or more classes of approaches. Indological Approach Indology literally means a systematic study of Indian society and culture. Indologists claimed that uniqueness of Indian civilisation cannot be fitted into the framework of European Sociology. They claimed that Indian society could be understood only through the
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concepts, theories and frameworks of Indian civilisation. They rely primarily on the book view. It gives more importance to the culture of Indian society than to the empirical structure. Indology is an independent discipline in itself as well as an approach in Indian Sociology. In both the versions Indological studies comprise investigations of language, ideas, beliefs, customs, taboos, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, works of art, rituals, ceremonies and other related components of the Indian culture and civilisation. The mainstream of Indology, however, has been the creation of Western scholars. The sources of Indological studies are primarily classical texts, manuscripts, archaeological artefacts, and symbolic expressions. The aim of Indological studies is to gain a deeper understan-ding of the Indian culture. As an independent discipline, Indology is much older than Sociology in India. The first important centre of Indology was started by Sir William Jones at Kolkata in 1784 AD. By 1886 the Theosophical Society at Adyar had started Indological studies of its own kind. In 1891, the Oriental Research Institute, Mysore was started. Oriental Institute, Baroda, was started in 1893. The Bhandarkar Institute, Pune, was established in 1917. Thus, when the first department of Sociology was started at Bombay University in 1919, the discipline called Indology was well established in India. As a result, the founding fathers of Indian Sociology were influenced by the Indological
approach. In the writings of B.K.Sarkar, G.S.Ghurye, Radhakamal Mukherjee, K.M.Kapadia, P. H. Prabhu and Iravati Karve, we have a decisive influence of Indological approach. Indological approach in Indian Sociology is influenced by the discipline of Indology but it is not co-terminous with Indology. All sociologists who have used Indological approach are also influenced by other sociological perspective. For example, in the writings of G.S.Ghurye, there is a synthesis of Indological approach and the diffusionist approach propagated by W.H.R. Rivers. In the same way, in the writings of Radhakamal Mukherjee, there is a synthesis between Indological perspective and the empirical Sociology of American variety. Secondly, Indology as a discipline contains a variety of approaches and methods. There are many schools within the discipline itself. Different Indian sociologists were influenced by different schools of Indology. For example, B.K.Sarkar was influenced by the Indological studies of the Asiatic society founded by Sir William Jones. G. S. Ghurye was more influenced by the writings of Indologists of the Bhandarkar Institute, Pune, than by the writings of British School of Indology founded by Sir William Jones or the German scholar Max Mueller. In the same way, Radhakamal Mukherjee was influenced by the Indological writings of Anand K. Coomaraswamy.
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Two trends defined the western perception of India. One was the blatantly racist view that there was nothing of any worth in the culture of India. The other view, termed Oreintalism, found Indias culture and civilization worthy of appreciation. One of the most familiar name associated with this was Max Mueller. The Indological studies have sought to develop an empathic understanding of Indian culture. There is, however, a general tendency, among the Indologists, to exaggerate either the virtues of Indian culture or weakness of Indian culture. The Orientalists see primarily the negative elements in Indian tradition and rationalises the missionary activities as well as the British rule in India. Indologists, however, overemphasise Indian spiritualism and underemphasise the achievements in the realm of material culture and the practical wisdom of the common people of India. The Indological approach within Indian Sociology is much developed, sophisticated and nuanced than the writings of the British school of Indology. Within the broader frameworks of Sociology it has enlarged our understanding of Indian family, marriage, kinship, religion, art, culture, language, mythology and civilisation. Recently, under the influence of Louis Dumont and Mckim Marriott, culturological writings on India have fruitfully utilised the insight of Indological approaches. T.N.Madan
has pleaded recently for the synthesis of Coomaraswamy and Levi-Strauss in the creative understanding of Indian society and culture. D.P.Mukerji had earlier pleaded for a synthesis of an understanding of the Indian tradition (provided by Indologists) within the Marxian analytical framework of dialectics. All the major sociologists before independence were influenced by Indological approach. Even Srinivas had at times used Indological data to supplement his fieldwork. Culturological Approach Culturological approach in Sociology is a non-standardised term. Within it a variety of viewpoints are included. The common thread which runs through all these viewpoints is the primacy of culture as the object of study. For all such approaches the phenomenon of culture is primary and the phenomenon of social relation-ships and social structures is secondary manifestation of culture. Culturological approach is more popular in America and France than in Britain or Germany. It is primarily concerned with person as a cultural being. The study of culture covers ideas and values, social organisation, technology, language, myth, history and religion. In America it is primarily represented by cultural analysis. It is conceptualised as a system of symbols by cultural analysts like Clifford Geertz and David Schneider. They argue that cultural
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systems must be distinguished from social systems and analysed as internally coherent wholes. For cultural analysts, cultural meanings are more important than their behavioural manifestations. Cultural analysts are also known as advocates of culturological approach and interpretative analysis. In France, culturological approach is primarily represented by structuralism of Levi-Strauss. Levi-Strauss received his inspiration from structural linguistics. Structural linguistics concentrate not so much on conscious phenomena but on their unconscious infrastructure. It says that the value of the elements is dependent upon the relations which combine and oppose the elements. Levi-Strauss applied the structural approach of linguistics in the study of kinship, myth, totemic beliefs, primitive mind and other areas of social life. He proposed that social life should be primarily conceptualised as a system of symbols or cultural constructions. He also said that these symbols or cultural constructions are the manifestations of the structure of human mind. For Levi-Strauss, the binary opposition of the categories of nature and culture, incest and exogamy, exchange and reciprocities provided the clue to understand human culture. He says that cultural phenomena are the products of the unconscious structure of the human mind. Structuralism aims to discover the universal elements in human society. It is opposed to the historical approach to social structure
and pleads for an extreme form of culturological approach. The culturological approach in Indian Sociology has, however, many similarities with the Indological approach. The publication of Homo Hierarchicus (1970) is regarded as an important departure for the culturological approach within Indian Sociology. Dumont treats Indology as the basis for a Sociology of India. But, he does not give much importance to the writings of indigenous Indologists. Following the ideas of Levi-Strauss, he highlights the opposition of purity and pollution in the structure of the caste system as the key to its understanding. Dumonts approach to the study of the caste system in India provoked a very substantial debate. The other important variety of culturological approach has come from the method of cultural analysis and theories of culture. It is evident in the writings of Geertz, Mckim Marriott, Inden and Nicholas, Schneider and Milton Singer. The followers of this approach have produced a very substantial body of work. Marriott and his peers, have developed an Ethnosociology of India. Ethnosociology seeks to explore the meanings and symbols, codes and substances that are inherant in the texts and languages of a peoples own culture. Cultural analysts have studied the concept of Person in Indian culture and tradition. They have also studied family, marriage, kinship, food, great and little traditions and processes of social change, etc. There is a shift in culturological
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approach from the study of facts to the study of peoples ideas. They also try to discover the relationship between knowledge and reality as reflected in the peoples own model. This approach has developed very sophisticated methods and techniques of cultural analysis. The element of comparison is, however, missing in such studies. Most of such studies are based on textual material either drawn from epics, legends and myths or from the folk traditions and other symbolic forms of culture. Their construction of social reality is based on translation of the symbols and categories of the people into the language of Sociology. This, translation, however, does not amount to explanation. This is a major limitation of the culturological approach. Structural Approach Structural approach claims that Sociology is a universal science of society and its concepts, theories and assumptions can be fruitfully utilised beyond Europe for comparative analysis. It gives more importance to the empirical structure in the field than to the normative framework of culture. This view propagates a very rigorous and systematic fieldwork for the collection of data. The central concept within this approach is social structure. Social structure usually, refers to any recurring pattern of social behaviour. It also includes enduring, orderly and patterned relationships between elements of a society.
Different sociologists have defined social structure in different ways. We may briefly refer to A.R. RadcliffeBrown who inspired M.N. Srinivas to adopt the structural-functional approach towards the religion and society among the Coorgs of South India. To RadcliffeBrown the social structure is an empirical reality existing at a single moment of time, while the structural form is an abstraction from reality by the investigator, and implies a period rather than a moment of time. Fortes, Evans Pritchard, Firth and Nadel use the term social structure broadly in this sense. Radcliffe-Brown differe-ntiates the culture of a society from its social structure. He sees the culture of a society as its standardised mode of behaviour, thinking and feeling. Social structure for him consists of the sum total of all the social relationships of all individuals at a given moment in time. Radcliffe-Browns structural functional approach also distinguishes the forms (structures) of social relations from their effects (functions). Radcliffe-Brown further insists that culture can only be studied scientifically as an aspect of social structure. Followers of Radcliffe-Brown acknowledge the inseparability of culture and social structure. Structural approach in Indian Sociology is the most popular, most developed and most coherent approach in Sociology after the independence. This approach has been adopted to study village communities,
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caste structure, family structure, kinship structure, religious structure, political structure etc. It underlines the processes of structural cleavages (discontinuities) and differentiation in societies for special attention. Problems of equality and inequality, study of power structure, social stratification, changes in the demographic and family structure of Indian society has been studied by this approach. In the structural approach special consideration is given to comparative study of social categories such as caste and class and their implication for the nature of the society in India. M.N.Srinivass studies of the religion and society among the Coorgs, Rampura village and social change in moder n India were primarily an application of Radclif fe-Browns structural approach with some modifications. Srinivas had studied the structure of village life, the structure of family ( okka ) and the structure of caste relationships by using key concepts of structuralfunctionalism. S.C.Dubeys studies of Indian village and Indias changing villages were conducted by using the structural approach. F.G.Baileys analysis of structural changes in India with the set of comparative categories like tribe, caste and nation is another example of structural approach. Andre Beteilles studies of caste, class and power in a Tanjore village and agrarian structure were based on the analytical categories derived from Max Weber and Karl
Marx. T.N.Madan had studied family, marriage and kinship from structuralfunctional perspective but in the study of non-renunciation and the ideology of householder in Indian culture, he used culturological approaches. A.M.Shah studied the household dimension of Indian family by using structural approach but in the study of village life he used the historical approach. Oommens studies of social movements in India are also rooted in structural framework of sociological enquiry. The use of more than one conceptual category and the application of comparative method are the defining features of structural approach in India. Although most of such studies were rooted in small empirical fields, their theoretical and conceptual schemes were useful for a broader generalisation. For example, Srinivass concepts such as the dominant caste, Sanskritisation, Westernisation and his analytical distinction between varna and jati were useful in the understanding of patterns of relationship at a more general level by generations of sociologists. Structural approach in Indian Sociology includes a very wide spectrum of viewpoints ranging from structural-functionalism to a synthesis of Karl Marx and Max Weber. The main limitations of the majority of structural studies include neglect of cultural dimensions or historical dimensions. They, usually, overlook the hidden contradictions and present a more consensual view of the social
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structure. Their strength lies in their rich empirical traditions and conceptual and theoretical sophistications. Historical Approach Historical approach in Sociology is most pronounced in what is known as historical Sociology. Historical Sociology is a particular kind of comparative study of social groups, their composition, their interrelationships and the social conditions which support or undermine them. Historical approach in Sociology or Historical Sociology has the following theoretical concerns: 1. Sociology is specifically concerned with the transition to industrialism as an historical process. 2. Sociology is concerned with the dynamic interaction between human agency and social structure, not as an abstract problem, but as an empirical issue in world history. 3. Sociology is concerned with the pattern of freedom and constraint in the life histories of individuals in social contexts. Historical Sociology gives more importance to the historical process of development than to the synchronic structures of the social phenomena. Historical approach in Sociology is primarily concerned with the problems of social development, especially the historical processes of industriali-sation,
urbanisation, democratisation and modernisation. The Marxists as well as the Weberians have adopted the historical approach. In Indian Sociology there are varieties of historical approaches. The works of G.S.Ghurye and Radhakamal Mukerjee are also historical but these are classified as Indological or culturological. According to some sociologists Indological approach is concerned more with culture than with social structure. The historical approach gives greater emphasis to social structure and its dynamic aspects. The Marxist sociologists, therefore, prefer the historical approach to other approaches. Historical approach in Indian Sociology is also known as Dialectical approach. It is, however, important to understand that many sociologists, like G.S.Ghurye and R.K.Mukerjee have made simultaneous use of more than one method or approach. D. P. Mukerji tried to synthesise a particular variety of Marxist analysis with the notion of Indian tradition used by the Indologists. He preferred to term his approach as the Marxological in comparison to the more popular term Marxist. He used the categories of structure, class conflict and model of socialist society in his analysis of historical social processes in India. He did not conduct any empirical study using this frame of reference. His analysis of the historical development of Indian culture in general and the historical emergence of the middle class in
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particular remains popular till date. Ramkrishna Mukherjee made systematic historical as well as empirical studies using dialectical model. His Rise and Fall of the East India Company is a contribution to economic and social history of the institutionalisation of colonialism in India. He concentrated on the economic policies of the East India Company, process of disintegration of feudalism and the rise of new middle classes in India in his study. In his The Dynamics of a Rural Society, Mukherjee studied the association between the high caste and landowning classes in rural areas and changes in their class structures. In his studies, Mukherjee tried to explain the connection between the social and economic changes in rural Bengal. Later on he modified his views about the sociological studies to be made. He said that the role of history and dialectics is useful only at the level of formulation of propositions. Beyond this the logical principles of test and verification would have to operate independently. He, therefore, pleaded for an inductive Sociology in India. A.R. Desai was the only major sociologist in India who consistently used dialectical historical method in his sociological studies. In his analysis of nationalism, rural social structure, urban slums, structure of state and society in India, he had consistently tried to expose the contradictions and
anomalies in the policies for and processes of change in Indian society. According to Desai the polarisation of class interests especially of the bourgeoisie against those of the working class and the agricultural labourers in India is the foundation of modern Indian state and society. B.S.Cohns studies of the Scheduled Castes family structure in eastern Uttar Pradesh in particular and his studies of Indian civilisation in historical dimensions are the major examples of non-Marxist historical studies within Indian Sociology. Daniel Thor ner and P.C.Joshis studies of the agrarian structure and land reforms are examples of the application of Marxist historical approaches in Sociology in india. Kathleen Goughs study in Tamil Nadu and D.N.Dhanagares study of peasant movements in India are other noted examples of historical approach in Indian Sociology. Historical approach is a comparatively less developed branch in Indian Sociology. It does not present a unified theoretical approach. A sound empirical tradition of historical Sociology is yet to be institutionalised systematically. The main limitations of historical approach within Indian Sociology are those of economism, formalism and the neglect of symbolic systems of tradition. Their strength, however, lies in the analysis of conflict, contradiction, exploitation and historical dimensions of change.
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GLOSSARY
INDOLOGY. A systematic approach to study Indian society through the categories, theories and frameworks of Indian civilisation. ORIENTALISM. An European point of view which looked at Asia or East including India negatively, symbolising the polar opposite of European civilisation. CULTUROLOGICAL. An approach which emphasises the primacy of culture over social relations and social structure. HISTORICAL APPROACH. An approach which gives more importance to the historical processes of social development than to the synchronic structures. FIELD
VIEW.
An empirical study on the basis of survey or participant observation. It is a popular name of structural approach in Sociology.
TRADITION. Human practices, beliefs, institutions and artefacts which are handed down from one generation to the next. ETHNOSOCIOLOGY. It seeks to explore the meanings and symbols, codes and substances that inhere in the texts and languages of a peoples own culture. CULTURAL ANALYSIS. This analysis is more interested in the study of peoples ideas than the study of facts.
EXERCISES
1. What do you mean by approach? Discuss some of the features of sociological approaches. 2. Compare and contrast Indological approach with structural approach. 3. What is social structure? How social structure is studied in Indian Sociology? 4. What is meant by culture? Write short essay on the study of cultural phenomena in Indian Sociology. 5. Compare and contrast culturological approach with historical approach. 6. Write short notes on the following: (a) Ethnosociology (b) Historical Sociology (c) Marxiology (d) Field-view
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SUGGESTED READINGS
1. Dhanagare, D.N., Themes and Perspectives in Indian Sociology, Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 1993. 2. Kumar, Dharma, Mookherjee, Dilip, ed, Delhi School: Reflections on the Delhi School of Economics, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1998. 3 Mukherjee, Ramkrishna, Sociology of Indian Sociology, Allied Publishers, New Delhi, 1979. 4. Oommen, T.K., Mukherji, P.N., ed, Indian Sociology: Reflections and Introspections, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai, 1986. 5. Madan, T.N., Pathways: Approaches to the Study of Society in India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1995. 6. Singh, Yogendra, Image of Man: Ideology and Theory in Indian Sociology, Chanakya Publications, New Delhi, 1983.

Structure of Indian Society

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STRUCTURE OF INDIAN SOCIETY

A Textbook for Class XII

Author Amit Kumar Sharma Editor Swapan Kumar Bhattacharyya

First Edition February 2003 Phalgun

Reprinted February 2003 Magha 1926 PD 75T SPA

New Delhi January 2005

SECRETARY National Council of Educational Research and Training

10. Deprived Groups 11. Approaches to the Study of Indian Society