Social And Political Life Chapter 7 Understanding Marginalisation

To be marginalised is to be forced to occupy the sides or fringes and thus not be at the centre of things.
The word ‘marginalisation’ refers to a situation in which an individual or a group of individuals is deprived of certain privileges or treated as different from others. Marginalisation can be experienced in every sphere. Several factors are there which make certain groups in society feel marginalised. These factors are economic, social, cultural and political.

The reasons:
(i)Adivasis have been increasingly forced – through economic changes, forest policies and political force applied by the State and private industry – to migrate to lives as workers in plantations, at construction sites, in industries and as domestic workers.
(ii)Adivasis have also lived in areas that are rich in minerals and other natural resources. These are taken over for mining and other large industrial projects.

Safeguards are needed to protect minority communities against the possibility of being culturally dominated by the majority. 

The term minority refers to communities which are numerically small in relation to the rest of the population.

Two reasons are :

Three things about the lives of Adivasis in India :

A.

Adivasis

D.

Kerala

C.

Santhali

B.

Dongarria Konds

A.

4

Muslim

militarised

Hinduism

Christianity

45

35

13.4

There are over 500 different Adivasi groups in India.

The states are:

1. Chhattisgarh
2. Jharkhand
3. Madhya Pradesh  
4. Orissa.

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Adivasi societies are most distinctive because there is often very little hierarchy among them.

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Adivasis are invariably portrayed in very stereotypical ways – in colourful costumes, headgear and through their dancing.

Adivasis are viewed as exotic, primitive and backward.

There are 70 lakhs Adivasis in Assam.

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Dongarria Konds, an Adivasi community, view Niyamgiri as the sacred mountain.

Muslims are considered to be a marginalised community in India today because in comparison to other communities, they have over the years been deprived of the benefits of socio-economic development.

Muslims are usually identified by their burqa, long beard and fez.

The social marginalisation of Muslims  has led to them migrating from places where they have lived,  leading to the ghettoisation of the community.

It is commonly believed that the Muslims prefer to send their children to Madarsas.

According to Sachar Committee, only 4% of Muslim children are in Madarsas, whereas 66% attend government school and 30% private schools.

The term, Adivasis literally means ‘original inhabitants’ – are communities who lived, and often continue to live, in close association with forests.
(i)Around 8 per cent of India’s population is Adivasi and many of India’s most important mining and industrial centres are located in Adivasi areas – Jamshedpur, Rourkela, Bokaro and Bhilai among others.
(ii)Adivasis are not a homogeneous population: there are over 500 different Adivasi groups in India.
(iii)Adivasis are particularly numerous in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and in the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. A state like Orissa is home to more than 60 different tribal groups.

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Adivasis are invariably portrayed in very stereotypical ways – in colourful costumes, headgear and through their dancing.
Peoples seem to know very little about the realities of their lives, which often wrongly leads people to believe that they are exotic, primitive and backward. Adivasis are usually blamed for their lack of advancement as they are believed to be resistant to change or new ideas.

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Losing their lands and access to the forest means that tribals lose their main sources of livelihood and food.
(i)Having gradually lost access to their traditional homelands, many Adivasis have migrated to cities in search of work where they are employed for very low wages in local industries or at building or construction sites.
(ii)They, thus, get caught in a cycle of poverty and deprivation. 45 per cent of tribal groups in rural areas and 35 per cent in urban areas live below the poverty line.
(iii)This leads to deprivation in other areas. Many tribal children are malnourished. Literacy rates among tribals are also very low

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Dadu was forced to leave his village in Orissa because the companywallahs took his land for mining iron ore there.

The products are:
(i)Fruit

(ii)Timber

(iii)Gum

(iv)Lac

(v)Honey

The demands are:
(i)timber for construction of houses and railways

(ii)forest land for mining

(iii)orest land for agriculture by non-tribal people

When Adivasis are displaced from their lands, they lose much more than a source of income.
They lose their traditions and customs – a way of living and being forced to take farming land. They leave some houses. They take the cremation ground, temple, well and pond.

Muslim are identified in the society differently as they are conservative in their appearance.