Chapter - 7 Understanding Marginalisation

'Marginalisation' is a term that refers to those groups of the society which remained ignored in the past due to various social and economic causes. "Marginalisation" comes from the word "margin" meaning at the outskirts or periphery. When applied to a specific community or tribe, it implies that a particular class, caste or tribe is excluded from mainstream society.

Adivasis are becoming increasingly marginalized because of the following two reasons:

• They follow a different culture, language and traditions from mainstream Indian society which leads us to wrongfully classify them as exotic, primitive and backward.
• They are used to a way of life close to nature and with the cutting down of forests they are being forced to migrate to urban areas where they feel out of place and not in sync with a lifestyle so vastly different from their countryside background.

The Constitution's safeguards to protect minority communities are very important because they ensure that India's cultural diversity is protected from becoming largely unitary and they also help to promote equality and justice to all.

The term minority is used for defining communities that are smaller in number in relation to the rest of the population. It includes issues of power, access to resources and also bears cultural and social dimensions.

Two reasons in support of the statement "Muslims are a marginalized community": firstly, the Muslim community has not been able to gain from the country's socio-economic development as statistics on basic amenities, literacy rate and public employment show. 63.6% Muslims live in kutcha houses as compared to only 55.2% Hindus; the literacy rate amongst Muslims was the lowest at 59% in a 2001 survey. Secondly, their customs are distinct from other religious communities, so much so that they are identified as separate from the "rest of us" leading to unfair treatment and discrimination against Muslims.

The three things I would tell a friend about the Adivasis in India would be:

• 'Adivasis' is a term literally means 'orignal inhabitants'. They lived and often continue to live in close association with forests.
• Adivasis are not a homogenous population. There are over 500 different Adivasis groups in India.
• The Adivasis have their own languages which have influenced "mainstream" languages like Bengali and Santhali, commonly spoken in urban areas.
  
  

Here a story has been given below for an example: An Adivasi group lived in a village. They lived there peacefully and used to fulfil their needs from the land and the forests around them. One day a few strangers reached their village along with a government document and announced that the land where Adivasis were living belonged to Mr. Sharma (an industrialist). So they will have to vacate the village because Mr. Sharma wanted to establish an industry over there. When Adivasis did not agree to leave their land, they were humiliated and tortured Mr. Sharma finally decided to visit the- village personally and tried to settle the deal by offering some money to them. While coming to the village with his son, his car met with an accident in which he was badly injured and his son fell into the valley, but was saved.When Mr. Sharma opened his eyes, he saw himself surrounded by some villagers. He came to know that they saved the life of his son with the help of medicinal herbs available in forests. Mr. Sharma learnt that those people belonged to the same Adivasi group whom he wanted to abandon from their land.Finally, Mr. Sharma begged apology from the Adivasis and withdrew his idea of locating an industry in the village. He realized that it would not be justified to ruins the life of those who saved his son's life.

Yes, economic marginalization and social marginalization are inter-linked. Marginalisation implies having a low social status and a consequent lack of access to education and other resources. Social marginalization, as seen in the case of the Muslim community, is based on how their traditions, culture and dressing make us identify Muslims as different from us. This sometimes leads to unfair inequity on the basis of religious differences. As a result, minority groups may find it difficult to rent houses, procure jobs or even send their children to schools. This is economic marginalization. Thus, the two are inter-connected.