Notes: Confronting Marginalisation

📚 Notes: Confronting Marginalisation

Introduction to Marginalisation

 * Marginalised groups face inequality and discrimination, struggling against exclusion or domination by others.

 * They have used various strategies to overcome their situation: religious solace, armed struggle, self-improvement, education, and economic upliftment.

 * The chosen strategy depends on the circumstances of the marginalised group.

Invoking Fundamental Rights

 * The Constitution of India lays down democratic principles, central to which is the list of Fundamental Rights. These rights are available equally to all Indians.

 * Marginalised groups use Fundamental Rights in two ways:

   * Insisting on their rights to force the government to recognize injustice.

   * Insisting that the government enforce these laws.

 * The struggles of the marginalised have influenced the government to frame new laws consistent with the spirit of Fundamental Rights.

Key Articles

 * Article 17: Abolishes untouchability. Practicing it is a punishable crime. It ensures Dalits can educate themselves, enter temples, and use public facilities.

 * Article 15: States that no citizen shall be discriminated against on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

 * Dalits can invoke these rights when they feel they've been treated badly, drawing the attention of the state to the Constitution for justice.

 * Minority groups invoke the rights to freedom of religion and cultural and educational rights.

   * Cultural and Educational Rights grant distinct groups the right to be guardians of their culture and make decisions on its preservation, thus ensuring cultural justice.

Laws for the Marginalised: Promoting Social Justice

 * Both State and Central Governments implement constitutional provisions to promote social justice.

 * Examples of Government Action:

   * Providing free or subsidised hostels for Dalit and Adivasi students to access education.

   * Operating through laws to end inequity.

Reservation Policy

 * This policy reserves seats in education and government employment for Dalits (Scheduled Castes), Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes), and backward/most backward castes.

 * Rationale: To assist sections of the population denied opportunities for centuries, thereby ensuring equality in a democratic society.

 * How it works:

   * Governments maintain lists of SCs, STs, and other backward castes.

   * Candidates must provide caste and tribe certificates as proof.

   * For college admission, governments set 'cut-off' marks. Only SC/ST candidates who secure marks above this cut-off qualify.

   * Eligible students also receive special scholarships.

Protecting the Rights of Dalits and Adivasis

 * Specific laws exist to guard against discrimination and exploitation.

The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989

 * Passed due to demands from Dalits and tribal groups against the ill-treatment, humiliation, and violence they faced (especially in the late 1970s and 80s).

 * The Act lists various sorts of violence and prescribes stringent punishment.

 * Distinguished Crimes/Levels of Atrocities:

   * Modes of Humiliation (physically horrific and morally reprehensible): Punishes those who:

     * Force SC/ST members to drink/eat any inedible or obnoxious substance.

     * Forcibly remove clothes, parade naked, or commit any similar act derogatory to human dignity.

   * Actions that Dispossess or Force into Slave Labour: Punishes anyone who:

     * Wrongfully occupies or cultivates land owned by, or allotted to, an SC/ST member, or gets their land transferred.

   * Crimes Against Women (specific kind): Penalizes anyone who assaults or uses force on any SC/ST woman with intent to dishonour her.

Adivasi Demands and the 1989 Act

 * The Act is important as it helps Adivasis defend their right to traditionally occupied land.

 * Activists state that the Act confirms the constitutional promise that tribal land cannot be sold to or bought by non-tribal people.

 * Land Repossession/Compensation:

   * The Constitution guarantees the right of tribal people to re-possess their land if it has been illegally transferred.

   * If evicted tribals cannot go back, they must be compensated, and the government must draw up plans for them to live and work elsewhere.

❓ Question and Answers

Q1: What is Marginalisation?

A: Marginalisation is the process of being denied professional opportunities and/or equal access to resources due to aspects of one's identity, such as race, caste, sex, or ability.

Q2: Who are Adivasis?

A: Adivasi is the collective term for the Tribes of the Indian subcontinent, considered to be the indigenous people of India.

Q3: Who are Dalits?

A: Dalit is the term used for the former members of low-caste Hindu groups and those outside the traditional caste system. The Constitution abolished the practice of untouchability associated with this group.

Q4: How do marginalised groups use Fundamental Rights in their struggles?

A: They use them in two main ways:

 * By insisting on their Fundamental Rights, they compel the government to recognize the injustice they face.

 * By insisting that the government enforce the laws that protect these rights.

Q5: What does Article 17 of the Constitution prohibit?

A: Article 17 of the Constitution abolishes untouchability. It makes the practice of untouchability a punishable crime, ensuring Dalits can access public facilities, temples, and education without hindrance.

Q6: Explain the purpose of Cultural and Educational Rights for minority groups.

A: Cultural and Educational Rights allow distinct cultural and religious groups to be the guardians of their culture's content and make decisions on how best to preserve it. This provision in the Constitution aims to ensure cultural justice by protecting and preserving the culture of all groups.

Q7: What is the significance of the Reservation Policy?

A: The Reservation Policy is a government effort to promote social justice by reserving seats in education and government employment for Scheduled Castes (Dalits), Scheduled Tribes (Adivasis), and backward castes. Its significance lies in providing assistance and opportunities to those sections of the population who were historically denied them, thereby working towards equality.

Q8: When was The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act passed, and why?

A: The Act was passed in 1989 in response to demands by Dalit and tribal groups regarding the escalating ill-treatment, humiliation, and violence they faced, particularly in the late 1970s and 1980s, when they began demanding equal treatment.

Q9: Give two examples of crimes listed under The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

A: Two examples of crimes include:

 * Forcing a member of an SC/ST to drink or eat any inedible or obnoxious substance.

 * Wrongfully occupying or cultivating any land owned by, or allotted to, a member of an SC/ST.

Q10: How does the 1989 Act relate to Adivasi land rights?

A: The Act is important as it helps Adivasis defend their right to occupy their traditional land. Activists argue it confirms the constitutional promise that tribal land cannot be sold to non-tribal people. It also proposes punishing those who have forcibly encroached upon tribal lands.