Tag: understanding marginalisation

In India, we usually showcase Adivasi communities in particular ways. Adivasis are becoming increasingly marginalized and the people often wrongly believe that Adivasis 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.

Adivasis practise a range of tribal religions that are different from Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. These often involve the worship of ancestors, village and nature spirits, the last associated with and residing in various sites in the landscape – ‘mountain-spirits’, ‘river-spirits’, ‘animal-spirits’, etc. 

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.

Losing their lands and access to the forest means that tribal lose their main sources of livelihood and food. 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. 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. This leads to deprivation in other areas. Many tribal children are malnourished. Literacy rates among tribal are also very low.

Muslims are 13.4 percent 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. 

Literacy rates point to demographic shifts in the years to come. The 2001 Census showed Jains, with a literacy rate of 94.1%, the most educated. They were followed by Christians at 80.3%, Buddhists at 72.7%, Sikhs at 69.4%, Hindus at 65.1% and Muslims at 59.1%. 

The Constitution provides safeguards because it is committed to protecting India’s cultural diversity and promoting equality as well as justice. 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. 

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. The Indian Constitution recognized 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 marginalization of the relatively smaller communities. 

Thus, safeguards are needed to protect minority communities against the possibility of being culturally dominated by the majority. The Constitution provides these safeguards because it is committed to protecting India’s cultural diversity and promoting equality as well as justice.

Adivasis means original inhabitants are communities who lived, and often continue to live, in close association with forests. Around 8 per cent of India’s population is Adivasi and many of India’s most important mining and industrial centers are located in Adivasi areas.

Forests covered the major part of our country till the nineteenth century and the Adivasis had a deep knowledge of, access to, as well as control over most of these vast tracts at least till the middle of the nineteenth century. This meant that they were not ruled by large states and empires. Instead, often empires heavily depended on Adivasis for the crucial access to forest resources.

The Constitution provides safeguards to religious and linguistic minorities as part of our Fundamental Rights. Though the Constitution of India does not define the word minority and only refers to minorities and speaks of those based on religion or language, the rights of the minorities have been spelt out in the Constitution in detail.