Unit Four

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Teacher’s Note

The Marginalisation
Equality is a value and right that we have tried to understand in the Social and Political Life
series. Over the three years, we have deepened our conceptual understanding of equality. We
have distinguished the idea of formal equality from that of substantive equality and the need to
move towards establishing the latter. Kanta’s story, in the Class VII book, is an example of this.
We have also established that to understand equality it is important to delve into how inequality
is experienced and manifested. We have, thus, examined the connections between discrimination
and inequality through the childhood experiences of Dr Ambedkar and Omprakash Valmiki in
Class VI and VII books. The impact of inequality on access to resources was looked at in the
context of women’s access to education. Rashsundari Devi and Rokeya Begum’s writings point
to women’s struggles to overcome this denial. We have often pointed to the Fundamental Rights
enshrined in our Constitution to highlight why equality and the idea of dignity that it contains
is crucial to the functioning of democracy in India.
This unit looks more closely at the ways in which inequality affects different groups and
communities by introducing the concept of marginalisation or exclusion from the mainstream.
The Unit focuses on three groups, namely the Adivasis, the Muslims and the Dalits. These three
groups have been chosen because the causes that contribute to each group’s marginalisation
are different and they sometimes experience marginalisation in different ways. In teaching this
unit, the aim should be to help students identify the factors that contribute to marginalisation
as well as be able to recognise and empathise with the marginalised. You could help children
identify the marginalised communities in your region. In Chapter 7, we look at the experiences
of Adivasi and Muslim communities. Chapter 8 discusses ways in which the government as well
as these communities themselves have tried to address marginalisation through various struggles.
The government does this through its law-making function and through different policies and
schemes that specifically target these communities as beneficiaries.
We have used a variety of pedagogic tools in this unit – data, poems, a storyboard and a case-
study. Use the storyboard to discuss processes of marginalisation experienced by the Adivasis.
The case study on Dalits should lead to a discussion on the importance of the SC/ST Act as well
as the ways in which this law reflects the Constitution’s commitment to Fundamental Rights. To
understand the situation of the Muslim community, we have used data from different sources,
which can be analysed in the class. Songs and poems have been used in this unit to break down
the boundaries created between social science and language textbooks and to establish that, in
the everyday lives of communities, this separation does not exist. Moreover, struggles for justice
have produced memorable poetry and songs that often do not find a place in textbooks.
This chapter does contain several issues that may lead to contentious discussions within the
classroom space. Children are aware of such issues and we have to find a mature way of discussing
these. You play a crucial role in facilitating these discussions in order to ensure that no child or
group of children feel discriminated against, ridiculed or left out from these discussions.

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 Understanding
Chapter 7 Marginalisation

What Does it Mean to be Socially Marginalised?

To be marginalised is to be forced to occupy the sides or fringes and thus not be at the
centre of things. This is something that some of you have probably experienced in the
classroom or playground. If you are not like most people in your class, that is, if your
taste in music or films is different, if your accent marks you out from others, if you are
less chatty than others in your class, if you don’t play the same sport that many of
your classmates like, if you dress differently, the chances are that you will not be
considered to be ‘in’ by your peers. So, often, you end up feeling that you are ‘not with
it’ – as if what you say, feel and think and how you act are not quite right or acceptable
to others.

As in the classroom, in the social environment too, groups of people or communities

may have the experience of being excluded. Their marginalisation can be because they
speak a different language, follow different customs or belong to a different religious
group from the majority community. They may also feel marginalised because they are
poor, considered to be of ‘low’ social status and viewed as being less human than
others. Sometimes, marginalised groups are viewed with hostility and fear. This sense
of difference and exclusion leads to communities not having access to resources and
opportunities and in their inability to assert their rights. They experience a sense of
disadvantage and powerlessness vis-a-vis more powerful and dominant sections of
society who own land, are wealthy, better educated and politically powerful. Thus,
marginalisation is seldom experienced in one sphere. Economic, social, cultural and
political factors work together to make certain groups in society feel marginalised.

In this chapter, you will read about two communities that are considered to be socially
marginalised in India today.

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 Adivasis and Marginalisation The lives of adivasis are
An Adivasi Family in Delhi Soma and Helen are very rich; most people
watching the Republic Day parade on TV with their don’t know that.
Yes, don’t they know
grandfather. anything else about us!

Oh see!
Oh, An adivasi
see! The float!
Nagaland

Dadu why do they always show

adivasis as only dancing?
Suddenly we were told that the forest was not ours.
Forest officials and contractors cut down large
parts of it. If we protested they beat us and then
took us to court, where we did not have our
When I was young, our village in Odisha was lawyers and could not fight our cases.
beautiful. We got everything we needed from
the land and the forests around us. We in
turn respected the land, the forest, the river.

Then how did you survive,

Dadu? Then the companywallahs came.
They said there was iron ore under
our land, they wanted to mine it.
They promised jobs and money, if we
sold our land to them. Some
villagers were excited. Others said
this would destroy our lives and we
would get nothing. Some gave
thumbprints, not realising they were
selling their lands off. Only a few
were given token jobs. But most of
us did not sell…

Many of us were forced to leave our

homes and find seasonal work in
nearby towns.

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Then they beat and threatened us till Oh, Dadu! And our land what…
eventually everyone was forced to sell and For our 30 acres we got a little
abandon the land of their forefathers. They money from one contractor. I
had the support of the authorities. Our never saw most of my friends
whole way of living vanished overnight. again.

After a few years your father got a job in

The money hardly lasted in the city. We had
Delhi and we all moved here. Those were
no means of livelihood anymore. We were
very difficult times… That is why both of you
all cramped into a tiny rented room. How we
missed our carefree lives, the open spaces. did not go to school for several years.

I hated going back to school. But now we have

We had missed so much of our friends. I can even
studies and other children speak some English You can still tell them
made fun of us. We spoke I wish I could have
now. about our village. It has
Santhali at home, and did not shown my friends our
a lot to teach them…
know Hindi. village before it was
destroyed.

One day I’ll make a

movie on this story, our
story, the adivasi story.

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You just read about how Dadu was forced to leave his village Explain at least three different
in Odisha. Dadu’s story is similar to the lives of millions of reasons why groups may be
marginalised.
Adivasis in India. You will read more about the
marginalisation of this community in this chapter. Why was Dadu forced to leave
his village in Odisha?

Who are Adivasis?

Adivasis – the term literally means ‘original inhabitants’
– are communities who lived, and often continue to live, Tribals are also referred to as
in close association with forests. Around 8 per cent of Adivasis.
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. Adivasis are not a homogeneous You may have heard the term
population: there are over 500 different Adivasi groups in Scheduled Tribes. Scheduled
India. Adivasis are particularly numerous in states like Tribes is the term used for
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Adivasis used by the Indian
government in various official
Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and in documents. There is an official
the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, list of tribes. Scheduled Tribes
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. A state are often grouped together with
like Odisha is home to more than 60 different tribal groups. Scheduled Castes in the category
Adivasi societies are also most distinctive because there is Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
often very little hierarchy among them. This makes them Tribes.
radically different from communities organised around
principles of jati-varna (caste) or those that were ruled by kings.

Adivasis practise a range of tribal religions that are different

from Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. These often involve In your own city or village, who
would you think are the
the worship of ancestors, village and nature spirits, the last
marginalised groups? Discuss.
associated with and residing in various sites in the landscape
– ‘mountain-spirits’, ‘river-spirits’, ‘animal-spirits’, etc. The Can you name some Adivasi
village spirits are often worshipped at specific sacred groves communities that live in your
state?
within the village boundary while the ancestral ones are
usually worshipped at home. Additionally, Adivasis have What languages do they
always been influenced by different surrounding religions speak?
like Shakta, Buddhist, Vaishnav, Bhakti and Christianity. Do they live close to the
Simultaneously, Adivasi religions themselves have forest?
influenced dominant religions of the empires around them, Do they migrate to other
regions looking for work?

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 for example, the Jagannath cult of Odisha and Shakti and
Tantric traditions in Bengal and Assam. During the nineteenth
century, substantial numbers of Adivasis converted to
Christianity, which has emerged as a very important religion in
modern Adivasi history.

Adivasis have their own languages (most of them radically

different from and possibly as old as Sanskrit), which have
often deeply influenced the formation of ‘mainstream’ Indian
languages, like Bengali. Santhali has the largest number of
speakers and has a significant body of publications including
magazines on the internet or in e-zines.

Adivasis and Stereotyping

The above two images of tribal communities in
their traditional costumes are often the only
ways in which Adivasi communities are In India, we usually ‘showcase’ Adivasi communities in
represented. This then leads us to think of them particular ways. Thus, during school functions or other
as being ‘exotic’ and ‘backward’.
official events or in books and movies, Adivasis are
invariably portrayed in very stereotypical ways – in
colourful costumes, headgear and through their dancing.
Besides this, we seem to know very little about the realities
of their lives. This often wrongly leads to people believing
that they are exotic, primitive and backward. Often
Adivasis are blamed for their lack of advancement as they
are believed to be resistant to change or new ideas. You
will remember that you read in Class VI book how
stereotyping particular communities can lead to people
discriminating against such groups.

Adivasis and Development

As you have already read in your history textbook, forests
were absolutely crucial to the development of all empires
and settled civilisations in India. Metal ores like iron and
copper, and gold and silver, coal and diamonds, invaluable
timber, most medicinal herbs and animal products (wax,
lac, honey) and animals themselves (elephants, the mainstay
of imperial armies), all came from the forests. In addition,
the continuation of life depended heavily on forests, that
help recharge many of India’s rivers and, as is becoming
clearer now, crucial to the availability and quality of our

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air and water. Forests covered the major part of our country What metals are important in
till the nineteenth century and the Adivasis had a deep present-day India? Why?
knowledge of, access to, as well as control over most of these Where do they come from? Are
there Adivasi populations
vast tracts at least till the middle of the nineteenth century.
there?
This meant that they were not ruled by large states and
empires. Instead, often empires heavily depended on List five products that you use
Adivasis for the crucial access to forest resources. at home that come from the
forest.
This is radically contrary to our image of Adivasis today as By whom were the following
somewhat marginal and powerless communities. In the pre- demands being made on forest
colonial world, they were traditionally ranged hunter- land?
gatherers and nomads and lived by shifting agriculture and ·houses
timber for construction of
also cultivating in one place. Although these remain, for and railways
the past 200 years Adivasis have been increasingly forced – · forest land for mining
through economic changes, forest policies and political
force applied by the State and private industry – to migrate
·non-tribal
forest land for agriculture by
people
to lives as workers in plantations, at construction sites, in
industries and as domestic workers. For the first time in
·wildlife
reserved by government as
parks
history, they do not control or have much direct access to
In what ways would this affect
the forest territories. tribal people?
From the 1830s onwards, Adivasis from Jharkhand and
adjoining areas moved in very large numbers to various
plantations in India and the world - Mauritius, the
Caribbean and even Australia. India’s tea industry
became possible with their labour in Assam. Today, there
are 70 lakh Adivasis in Assam alone. The story of this
migration is full of extreme hardship, torture, heartbreak
and death. For example, in the nineteenth century alone
five lakh Adivasis had perished in these migrations. The
song below captures the hopes of the migrants and the
reality they faced in Assam.
Come Mini, let’s go to Assam
Our country has so much suffering
The country of Assam, oh Mini
Has tea gardens full of greenery...
The Sardar says work, work
The Babu says catch and bring them in
The Saheb says I’ll take off the skin of your back
Hey Jaduram, you deceived us by sending us to Assam .
What do you think this poem
Source: Basu, S. Jharkhand Movement: Ethnicity and Culture of Silence
is trying to convey?

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This is a photo of Niyamgiri Hill located in
Kalahandi district of Odisha. This area is
inhabited by Dongarria Konds, an Adivasi
community. Niyamgiri is the sacred mountain of
this community. A major aluminium company is
planning to set up a mine and a refinery here
which will displace this Adivasi community.
They have strongly resisted this proposed
development and have been joined by
environmentalists as well. A case against the
company is also pending in the Supreme Court.

Forest lands have been cleared for timber and to get land for
agriculture and industry. 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. Powerful
forces have often colluded to take over tribal land. Much of
the time, the land is taken away forcefully and procedures are
not followed. According to official figures, more than 50 per
cent of persons displaced due to mines and mining projects
are tribals. Another recent survey report by organisations
working among Adivasis shows that 79 per cent of the persons
displaced from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Odisha and Jharkhand are tribals. Huge tracts of their lands
have also gone under the waters of hundreds of dams that
have been built in independent India. In the North east, their
lands remain highly militarised. India has 104 national parks
covering 40,501 sq km and 543 wildlife sanctuaries covering
1,18,918 sq km. These are areas where tribals originally lived
but were evicted from. When they continue to stay in these
Adivasis use around 10,000 forests, they are termed encroachers.
plant species – approximately
8,000 species are used for Losing their lands and access to the forest means that tribals
medicinal purposes; 325 are lose their main sources of livelihood and food. Having
used as pesticides; 425 as gradually lost access to their traditional homelands, many
gums, resins and dyes; 550 as
fibres; 3,500 are edible. This
Adivasis have migrated to cities in search of work where
entire knowledge system gets they are employed for very low wages in local industries
wiped out when Adivasis lose or at building or construction sites. They, thus, get caught
their rights over forest lands.

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in a cycle of poverty and deprivation. 45 per cent of tribal In your opinion, why is it
groups in rural areas and 35 per cent in urban areas live below important that Adivasis should
have a say in how their forests
the poverty line. This leads to deprivation in other areas. Many
and forest lands are used?
tribal children are malnourished. Literacy rates among tribals
are also very low.
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. “They
took our farming land. They left some houses. They took
the cremation ground, temple, well and pond. How will
we survive?” says Gobindha Maran, who was displaced due
to a refinery project in Odisha.
As you have read, there exists an interconnectedness
between the economic and social dimensions of tribal life.
Destruction in one sphere naturally impacts the other. Often
this process of dispossession and displacement can be
painful and violent.

Minorities and Marginalisation

In Unit 1, you read that the Constitution provides
safeguards to religious and linguistic minorities as part of
our Fundamental Rights. Why do you think these minority
groups have been provided these safeguards? The term
minority is most commonly used to refer to communities
that are numerically small in relation to the rest of the
population. However, it is a concept that goes well beyond
numbers. It encompasses issues of power, access to resources
and has social and cultural dimensions. As you read in Unit
1, the Indian Constitution recognised that the culture of
the majority influences the way in which society and
government might express themselves. In such cases, size
can be a disadvantage and lead to the marginalisation of the
relatively smaller communities. Thus, safeguards are needed
to protect minority communities against the possibility of
being culturally dominated by the majority. They also
protect them against any discrimination and disadvantage
that they may face. Given certain conditions, communities
that are small in number relative to the rest of society may

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Why do we need safeguards for feel insecure about their lives, assets and well-being. This
minorities? sense of insecurity may get accentuated if the relations
between the minority and majority communities are
fraught. The Constitution provides these safeguards because
it is committed to protecting India’s cultural diversity and
promoting equality as well as justice. As you have already
read in Chapter 5, the judiciary plays a crucial role in
upholding the law and enforcing Fundamental Rights.
Every citizen of India can approach the courts if they believe
that their Fundamental Rights have been violated. Now
let us understand marginalisation in the context of the
Muslim community.

Muslims and Marginalisation

According to 2011 census, Muslims are 14.2 per cent of India’s
population and 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. The data in the three tables below,
derived from different sources, indicate the situation of the
Muslim community with regard to basic amenities, literacy and
public employment. Read the tables below. What do you
think these tables tell us about the socio-economic status
of the Muslim community?

I. Access to Basic Amenities, 2008–2009

Religious Community Pucca House Electricity Tap Water

Hindu 65.4 75.2 43.7
Muslim 63.8 67.5 35.8
Christian 69.3 86.2 48.0
Sikh 91.3 96.0 49.3

Source: India Human Development Report 2011: Towards Social Inclusion, Oxford University Press for Institute of Applied
Manpower Research, Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi, p. 346, 389, 392.

Which of these communities have the most and the least access to basic amenities?

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 II. Literacy Rate by Religion, 2011 (percentages)

All Hindus Muslims Christians Sikhs Buddhists Jains

74 63 57 74 67 71 86
Source: Census of India 2011

Which of these communities have the highest and the lowest literacy rate?

III. Public Employment of Muslims (percentages)

Population IAS IPS IFS Central Public State PSU Banks & RBI
Sector Unit (PSU)
13.5 3 4 1.8 3.3 10.8 2.2
Source: Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India, Prime Minister’s High Level
Committee Report 2006

What do these figures convey?

Recognising that Muslims in India were lagging behind in Read the data related to
terms of various development indicators, the government schooling provided by the
Sachar Committee Report:
set up a high-level committee in 2005. Chaired by Justice
Rajindar Sachar, the committee examined the social, • 25 per cent of Muslim
economic and educational status of the Muslim community children in the 6-14 year age
group have either never been
in India. The report discusses in detail the marginalisation
enrolled in school or have
of this community. It suggests that on a range of social, dropped out. This percentage
economic and educational indicators the situation of the is much higher than that of
Muslim community is comparable to that of other any other socio-religious
marginalised communities like Scheduled Castes and community (page 58).
Scheduled Tribes. For example, according to the Report Do you think special measures
the average years of schooling for Muslim children between are required to address this
the ages of 7-16 is much lower than that of other socio- situation?
religious communities (page 56).

Economic and social marginalisation experienced by

Muslims has other dimensions as well. Like other
minorities, Muslim customs and practices are sometimes
quite distinct from what is seen as the mainstream. Some –

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 not all – Muslims may wear a burqa, sport a long beard,
wear a fez, and these become ways to identify all Muslims.
Because of this, they tend to be identified differently and
some people think they are not like the ‘rest of us’. Often
this becomes an excuse to treat them unfairly, and
discriminate against them. Do you remember reading in
your Class VII book about how the Ansaris were finding
it difficult to rent a house? This social marginalisation of
Muslim women are an important part of
the women’s movement in India. Muslims in some instances has led to them migrating from
places where they have lived, often leading to the
ghettoisation of the community. Sometimes, this prejudice
leads to hatred and violence.

I live in a Muslim-dominated area. Some days back during Ramzan there was
some disturbance that started taking a communal outlook. My brother and I had
gone for an Iftar party in the neighbourhood and were dressed in traditional
clothes, that is sherwani and salwar kameez respectively. On returning home, my
brother and I were asked to change our clothes to jeans and T-shirt.
Now when everything is fine I wonder what was the reason that we were asked
to change our clothes and why I didn’t find it odd. Were our clothes giving away
our identity and is that identity linked to all kinds of fears and discrimination?
Ainee A. Farooqi

The above essay has been In the above section of this chapter, we saw how in the case
written by a child around your of the Muslim community there is a link between economic
age. What do you think she is
and social marginalisation. Earlier in this chapter, you read
trying to convey?
about the situation of Adivasis. In your Class VII book,
you read about the unequal status of women in India. The
experiences of all these groups point to the fact that
marginalisation is a complex phenomenon requiring a variety
of strategies, measures and safeguards to redress this situation.
All of us have a stake in protecting the rights defined in the
Constitution and the laws and policies framed to realise these
rights. Without these, we will never be able to protect the
diversity that makes our country unique nor realise the State’s
commitment to promote equality for all.

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Conclusion
In this chapter, we have tried to understand what it means to be
a marginalised community. We have tried to look at this through
the experiences of different marginalised communities. There
are different reasons for each of these communities being
marginalised. Each experiences marginalisation in different ways.
We have also seen that marginalisation is linked to experiencing
disadvantage, prejudice and powerlessness. In India there are
several more marginalised communities, like Dalits, of whom
The Sachar Committee Report also
you will read more in the next chapter. Marginalisation results debunked other prevalent myths about
in having a low social status and not having equal access to Muslims. It is commonly believed that the
Muslims prefer to send their children to
education and other resources. Madarsas. The figures show that only
4 per cent of Muslim children are in
Yet, the lives of marginalised people can and do change. Thus, Madarsas, where as 66 per cent attend
government schools and 30 per cent
no one is marginalised all the time in exactly the same way. If private schools. (page 75)
we go back to the two examples of marginalisation we have
discussed, we will see that each of these groups has a long history
of struggle and resistance. Marginalised communities want to
maintain their cultural distinctiveness while having access to
rights, development and other opportunities. In the next
chapter, we will read about how different groups have
confronted marginalisation.

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 Exercises
1. Write in your own words two or more sentences of what you understand by the word
‘marginalisation’.

2. List two reasons why Adivasis are becoming increasingly marginalised.

3. Write one reason why you think the Constitution’s safeguards to protect minority communities
are very important?

4. Re-read the section on Minorities and Marginalisation. What do you understand by the term
minority?

5. You are participating in a debate where you have to provide reasons to support the following
statement: ‘Muslims are a marginalised community’. Using the data provided in this chapter, list
two reasons that you would give.

6. Imagine that you are watching the Republic Day parade on TV with a friend and she remarks,
“Look at these tribals. They look so exotic. And they seem to be dancing all the time”. List three
things that you would tell her about the lives of Adivasis in India.

7. In the storyboard you read about how Helen hopes to make a movie on the Adivasi story. Can
you help her by developing a short story on Adivasis?

8. Would you agree with the statement that economic marginalisation and social marginalisation are
interlinked? Why?

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 GLOSSARY

Hierarchy: A graded system or arrangement of persons or things. Usually persons at the

bottom of the hierarchy are those who have the least power. The caste system is a
hierarchical system and Dalits are considered to be at the lowest end.
Ghettoisation: A ghetto is an area or locality that is populated largely by members of a
particular community. Ghettoisation refers to the process that leads to such a situation.
This may occur due to various social, cultural and economic reasons. Fear or hostility may
also compel a community to group together as they feel more secure living amongst their
own. Often a ‘ghettoised’ community has few options of moving out, which may lead to
them becoming alienated from the rest of the society.
Mainstream: Literally this refers to the main current of a river or stream. In this chapter it
is used to refer to a cultural context in which the customs and practices that are followed
are those of the dominant community. In connection with this, mainstream is also used to
refer to those people or communities that are considered to be at the centre of a society,
i.e. often the powerful or dominant group.
Displaced: In the context of this chapter this refers to people who are forced or compelled
to move from their homes for big development projects including dams, mining etc.
Militarised: An area where the presence of the armed forces is considerable.
Malnourished: A person who does not get adequate nutrition or food.

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