SOCIOLOGY- II – ( Study Material)

 

SOCIOLOGY- II

LEGAL SYSTEM AND SOCIETY

 

  1. Basic concept

(a) Meaning: Caste, Class and Varna.

(b) Scheduled Castes and Tribes and their Place in Indian Society.

  1. Law and Society

(a) Customs and law

(b) Basis of Legitimacy

(c) Evolution of legal System

(d) Significance of Law in Indian Society

(e) Law in Relation of Social Order

 

  1. Occupation and Profession

(a) Meaning: Distinction between Work and Leisure

(b) Division of Labour and Jajmani System

(c) Legal Profession in India- An Introduction

 

  1. Social Change

(a) Meaning

(b) Modes of Sanskritization, Westernization, urbanization.

(c)  Factors of Social Change.

(d) Law and Social Changes in India.

 

  1. Social Evils and Movements

(a)  Communalism

(b) Regionalism

(c) Casteism

(d) Social Movements

 

 

BOOKS RECOMMENDED

Davis, A.R., Rural Sociology in India, 1991.

Davis,Kingley, Human Society.

Maciver R.M. & Page C.H., Social Anthropology, 1990.

Oommen, T.K. &VenuGopal C.N., Sociology For  Law Students, 2001.

 

UNIT-1 BASIC CONCEPTS

CASTE, VARNA AND CLASS

 

Meaning of Caste System

The origin of the word caste found differently. Some says that “caste” means lineage. In other books the term caste was derived from Spanish word “Casta” meaning breed or race. The word caste also signifies race or kind.  It means that the people of the same caste belonging to the same race. The caste system today is still existent, but not in its worst form. It is because of media, education and modern means of communication available to the people.

Caste is closely connected with the Hindu philosophy and religion, custom and tradition .It is believed to have had a divine origin and sanction. It is deeply rooted social institution in India.

There are more than 2800 castes and sub-castes with all their peculiarities.  The Sanskrit word for caste is varnawhich means colour. The caste stratification of the Indian society had its origin in the chaturvarna system.

According to this doctrine the Hindu society was divided into four main varnas–

  • Brahmins,
  • Kashtriyas,
  • Vaishyas and

The Varna system prevalent during the Vedic period was mainly based on division of labour and occupation. The caste system owns its origin to the Varna system.

Definitions of caste

Ghurye says any attempt to define caste is bound to fail because of the complexity of the phenomenon.

According to Risely caste is a collection of families bearing a common name claiming a common descent from a mythical ancestor professing to follow the same hereditary calling and regarded by those who are competent to give an opinion as forming a single homogeneous community.

According to Maclver and Page when status is wholly predetermined so that men are born to their lot without any hope of changing it, then the class takes the extreme form of caste. Cooley says that when a class is somewhat strictly hereditary we may call it caste.

M.N Srinivas sees caste as a segmentary system. Every caste for him divided into sub castes which are the units of endogamy whose members follow a common occupation, social and ritual life and common culture and whose members are governed by the same authoritative body viz the panchayat.

The major attributes of caste are the hierarchy, the separation and the division of labour.

 

Characteristics of Caste System

There are some important characteristics of a caste system.

Segmental Division

In segmental division of caste system, a society is divided into different segments. In this segmental division the status or position of an individual is recognized by birth not by ability or money. Caste confined the behavior of an individual in segmental division and described punishment for the violators.

Group Hierarchy

It divides a group into lower and upper groups. Those who are on the top of such groups or segments are considered pure if they compare to those who are at the bottom. Group hierarchy exists both in social and religious class and everyone is limited to remain in their own group.

Restriction on Marriages

There are two types of people in every caste which is upper and lower. Those who belong to one caste are restricted and are not allowed to keep in touch with other caste in form of marriages or any other social interaction. There is violation in both caste systems for one another that are why they cannot marry outside the same caste.

Religious Disability

Those belonging to lower caste system are religiously disabled. They are not allowed to participate in any religious activities. The upper caste people are the only one to participate in religious activities. There are severe social and religious disabilities in caste system.

Limited Choice of Occupation

Any individual belonging to any caste system today cannot choose the profession of another caste. There are limits for everyone in their caste system while choosing occupation. The occupation is described and predefined by birth for every caste. In caste system of India everyone is stuck to certain occupations and cannot cross the limits.

All these characteristics of caste system are those which are running the caste system. No change is allowed in the predefined rule and regulation for the caste systems.

 

Functions of the caste system

The caste system is credited to ensure the continuity of the traditional social organization of India. It has accommodated multiple communities including invading tribes in the Indian society. The knowledge and skills of the occupations have passed down from one generation to the next. Through subsystems like Jajmani system the caste system promoted interdependent interaction between various castes and communities with in a village. The rituals and traditions promoted cooperation and unity between members of the different castes.

The dysfunctions

Caste system promoted untouchability and discrimination against certain members of the society. It hindered both horizontal and vertical social mobility forcing an individual to carry on the traditional occupation against his or her will and capacity. The status of women was affected and they were relegated to the background. The caste system divided the society into mutually hostile and conflicting groups and subgroups.

Purity and Pollution

The notions of purity and pollution are critical for defining and understanding caste hierarchy. According to these concepts, Brahmins hold the highest rank and Shudras the lowest in the caste hierarchy. The Varna System represents a social stratification which includes four varnas namely- Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Shudras.TheShudras were allocated the lowest rank of social ladder and their responsibilities included service of the three Varnas. The superior castes tried to maintain their ceremonial purity

Dumont holds the notion of purity and pollution interlinked with the caste system and untouchability.The hierarchy of caste is decided according to the degree of purity and pollution. It plays a very crucial role in maintaining the required distance between different castes. But the pollution distance varies from caste to caste and from place to place.

Dipankar Gupta observes that the notion of purity and pollution as Dumont observed is integrally linked with the institution of untouchability .But unlike untouchability the notion of purity and pollution is also a historical accretion. Over time this notion freed itself from its specific and original task of separating untouchables from the others and began to be operative at different planes of the caste system.

The concept of purity and pollution plays a very crucial role in maintaining the required distance between different castes. But the pollution distance varies from caste to caste and from place to place.

Advantage or Merits of Caste System

  1. Preservation of Culture:

Caste system helped in preservation of culture and these were passed on from generation to generation.

  1. Preservation of Purity:

Caste system, because of its endogenous nature, permitted marriage only within the caste and thus preserved purity of each caste.

  1. Division of Labor:

Caste system required each individual to do the work prescribed for his caste, i.e. Brahmins job was to teach, Kshatriyas to fight war, Vaishyas to run trade and Shudras to serve other castes. This division of labor ensured smooth functioning of society.

  1. Co-operation within Castes:

Caste system fastened cooperation with each caste. They co-operated with each other to preserve their culture and protect it from degradation by other castes.

 

 

  1. Absence of Competition:

As social status was hereditary and no amount or personal accomplishments could change it, there was no competition to improve status. People, therefore, utilized their energies for general benefit of society rather than Personal advancement.

  1. Panchayat System:

Panchayat system is an outcome of caste system. All disputes within a caste were referred to the caste Panchayat. Panchayats though secular in outlook exist even now in rural India.

  1. Increased Professional Proficiency:

Caste system helped in increasing proficiency in each vocation because accumulated experience of and store was handed over by father to son.

  1. Healthy Social Life:

Caste system made people disciplined and co-operative. People carried out the duties assigned due to their caste with responsibility. There was social amity between members of same caste.

  1. Protected the Society:

Rigidity of our caste system was responsible for protecting our society from cultural invasion by alien societies.

  1. Permanency and Continuity:

Each casts had a permanent body of constitutions to guide his social behaviors and action. The customs and beliefs were passed on from generation the generation. Thus caste system had permanency and continuity.

  1. Improved Living Standards:

Each caste struggled hard to maintain and improve living standards of its members to retain its superiority over subordinate castes. This resulted in overall progress and prosperity.

  1. Social Life Not Dependent on Political Conditions:

Caste system was predominantly influenced by religion. It was totally independent of prevailing political conditions and, therefore provided stability in society.

 

 

 

Disadvantages or Demerits of Caste System:

  1. Social Disorganisation:

Instead of remaining a uniting force as it was in its past, caste system has become a dividing element in Hindu society. It has divided the Hindus into hundreds and hundreds of sub-caste groups and sects. Enmity and hatred has replaced the feeling of respect and sympathy amongst the members of high and low caste.

This attitude between high and low caste gradually developed into the worst form of untouchability which pushed a major section of population to a state of lower than of an animal. This stratification of society into high and low has cast its shadow on all aspects of Hindu society. Even the top caste Brahmins are divided into the hundreds of Sections, each claiming itself to be superior to others. Even in present India, this problem still stands as it was a hundred years ago.

  1. Political Disunity:

Caste system divided the whole society into innumerable subdivisions and to unite them politically has become impossible. This national disunity which was the direct outcome of caste system enabled foreigners to conquer and rule over this land without any apparent difficulty. Even after independence we find that caste elements are very active in our society and more after than not, they stand in the way of social welfare.

  1. Untouchability:

Caste system was the cause of degradation of a large portion of population of the Hindus. Sudras were and still are treated as sub-humans. To say honestly they were regarded more repulsive than crawling worms of the gutters. Persons of high caste think it necessary to wash themselves if they accidentally touch a Harijan. They were deprived of all social privileges which were available to members of high caste and were forbidden from all of such public places as temples, ghats, wells and schools etc. Thus, caste system cut nearly crores of persons from the main stream of Indian social life.

  1. Despotism of Upper Caste:

The caste system ultimately became an instrument in the hands of upper caste for suppression of the persons of lower caste. That section of population which is called by the common name of Harijans, were deprived of all kinds of property rights, of utilisation of villages ponds and the right of self-development. Such treatment of a part of Hindu community by the rest portion weakened the strength of the whole community.

  1. Religious Conversions:

Compelled by the tyranny of upper caste, great masses of the lower castes converted their religion and accepted Islam or Christianity and became worst enemies of the Hindus. In Hindu social organisation, cultural sphere is closely interwoven with the religious one. With the growing rigidity of caste system, the religious life of an individual became an adulterated one and so became the whole culture. Each caste and every sub-caste claimed the superiority of its own brand of culture. This fact stood as a veritable abstacle in the way of cultural development of India as a whole.

  1. Lower Status of Women:

Caste system is the principal cause of the downtrodden state of Hindu womanhood. By the practice of the maintenance of the structure almost every right of a free human being were snatched away from women. They were deprived of education and all directions of their progress were closed. For the sake of caste, they were married before they could differentiate between a doll and a husband. They were not allowed to remarry even if they became widows on the first day of their marriage, instead they were compelled to burn themselves with the dead bodies of their husbands.

  1. Denies Mobility of Labour:

It has denied mobility of labour since the individual must follow the caste occupation and cannot change it according to his likes or dislikes. This hinders the economic progress of the country.

  1. Retards Solidarity:

It has retarded the growth of solidarity and brotherhood in the Hindu society by rigidly separating one caste from the other and denying any type of social intercourse between them, it has been the source of disintegration of Hindu society.

  1. Hindrance in National Unity:

The caste system has been an obstacle to the growth of national unity in the country. It is because man has his first loyalty to his caste than to any other group. The caste system is the antithesis of democracy. Casteism has been the main root of malfunctioning of democratic institutions.

 

  1. Obstacle to Social Progress:

Caste system does not allow changes to be introduced in society. Under the caste system people are very conservative and traditional. They believe in customs and traditions and they do not accept changes needed for social progress,

  1. Undemocratic:

The caste system is undemocratic because it denies equal rights to all irrespective of their caste, creed or colour. Social barriers are erected specially in the way of lower caste individuals who are not given opportunity for mental and physical development. Thus, caste system has been undemocratic and created inequality among the Hindus.

The caste system should not be confused with the varna system

The varna system is a form of an ancient social classification based on professions.

Brahmana – the intellectual class; professions like teaching, priesthood, medicine, philosophy came under this.

Kshatriya – the warrior class; usually professional soldiers with high posts in the army.

The above two were the top varnas. They two often competed for the highest position in society, and for the status of the ruling class. There were both brahman and kshatriya kings. The wars between the Janapadas(Kshatriya dominated society) and early Indian kingdoms(Brahmana dominated society) reflect this. In the end, it was the Brahmanas who attained the reputation of being the highest class as they were the priestly class, and controlled important religious matters. For example, for someone to be deemed a king, they had to perform the ‘ashmedha’, and thus, only the Brahmans could authenticate a king’s rule.

Vaishyas – the ‘white-collar’ working class; they were the traders, shopkeepers, entrepreneurs, land-owning farmers etc

The reputation of each vaishya community was different, and was either high or low depending on their financial status. Ancient India usually had a very powerful merchant class which had powerful lobbies in a king’s court, and thus could influence state matters to a certain degree.

Shudras – the ‘blue-collar’ working class; they were the laborers, toiling for the benefit of the higher castes… servants working in the houses of the upper 3 castes, landless farmhands etc

Out-castes – the ‘untouchables’ – these were the out-castes, communities which couldn’t be assimilated into the mainstream Indians society(tribals, called adivasis) or communities whose professions were considered unclean.

Over the years, this system was codified and was made extremely rigid by the upper castes and bullied and exploited the bottom castes for thousands of years.

The caste system was initially a totally different thing from the varna system, but later got so intertwined with the varna system that people today sometimes can’t distinguish the two.

The caste system is a “race” system, a system to keep track of the millions of clans and ethnic groups across the Indian subcontinent.

The caste system served as an important factor in India’s past to determine a community’s background, its clan lineages, culture, faith, their place of origin, their language, financial status and most importantly their professions. And a caste was inducted into any of the 4 varnas depending on its profession, and thus its social hierarchy was determined.

Thus, a family traced its lineage to a clan, a clan traced its lineage to a larger community(it’s caste) and the caste in turn was given its place in society(the varna it belonged to) depending on the community’s profession.

Thus an individual’s place in society was determined by his caste, he could not rise or sink, even if he changed his profession. But a caste’s place in society could rise or sink, if the whole community changed their profession. Thus the collective reputation of a community was important, and was aggressively protected.

And a caste is not always classified in the same varna, as sometimes, their members can belong to 2 different varnas depending on their clan within the caste.

Class System

Social class refers to a group of people with similar levels of wealth, influence, and status. It is a system of stratification on the basis of education, etc,

Karl Max– ‘Man is a class animal’ i.e. his status age, education etc are not same in the society property – capitalist & the poor – the haves & the have notes.

Education Illiterate & literate

Business or occupation-farmers,clerk officers, industrialists etc.

In general, class consciousness is a must in the class system. There must be the we feeling. The charade of in group given by summer is found in the class system summer .Identifying oneself in a particular group or family. The behavior of a person is fixed due to their class consciousness.

Trade union is a result of class consciousness. These are feeling of superiority & inferiority in class syst. The higher has the feeling superiority & the lower class feels inferior.

Definition of Class

P.Gisbert – “A social class is a category or group of persons having a definite status in society which permanently determines their relation to other group – feeling of superiority & inferiorities. The relative position of the class in the social scale arises from the degree of prestige attached to the status.

Mac Iver& Page – “A social class is any portion of community marked off from the rest by social status ‘Ongburn&Nimk off. A social class is the aggregate of persons having essentially the same social status in a given society.” i.e. a class consciousness.

Max weber – held that “classes are aggregate of individuals who have the same opportunities of acquiring goods. The same exhibited standard of lining.

Hoebal defines “A social class is a group within a society, whose members hold a no. of distinctive status in common & who trough the operation of roles associated with these status, develop are awareness of the life interest as against the unlike trait & interest of other groups.”

In general “A social class consists of group of individuals who are ranked by the members of the community in socially superior inferior position.”

Characteristics of class system:

  1. Class system is based on occupation, wealth, education, age, sex
  2. Hierarchy of status group. In general there are 3 class – upper middle & tower. Status, prestige & role is attached. Upper class are less in no in comparison to the other two whereas their status & prestige is most. This is like a pyramid. Karl max (Rich & poor) preliterate &
  3. Feeling of superiority & inferiority. In these 3 classes there are such feelings the upper class people feel they are superior to the other two whereas the lower class feels it is inferior to the upper class.
  4. Class consciousness – wherever a class is formed this feeling a consciousness is a must. There should be feeling of in group i.e. I belong class conflict is due to this the people of the preliterate class feel the upper class exploits them their they unite revolt. The behavior action is determined by this class consciousness.
  5. Sub-classes, class is divided into different groups. Similar to caste system, the class system is divided.
  6. Class system is an open system.
  7. There’s social restriction in this too. In general there is endogamy in a class. To maintain their status & position they mix among themselves & it is seldom that marriage between upper & lower class is wished.

 Distinction between Caste & Class.

  1. They are the two phenomena of social stratification (Stratification is division of society on the basis of birth).
  2. Caste is based on birth and class is based on birth, education, wealth etc.
  3. In general there are 3000 castes & sub-castes in India. Whereas class has subclasses (based on different things).
  4. Caste is a closed group whereas Class is an open system. Even Sanskritisation is unable to change caste whereas class can be changed quiet easily.
  5. Caste is hereditary but there is no such thing in class. A child of Brahmin will always be a Brahmin but not so in class.
    6. Status is inborn and ascribed in Caste System whereas in class system, it is acquired & achieved.

TYPES OF CLASS

The lower class

This class is typified by poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. People of this class, few of whom have finished high school, suffer from lack of medical care, adequate housing and food, decent clothing, safety, and vocational training. The media often stigmatize the lower class as “the underclass,” inaccurately characterizing poor people as welfare mothers who abuse the system by having more and more babies, welfare fathers who are able to work but do not, drug abusers, criminals, and societal “trash.”

The working class

The working class is those minimally educated people who engage in “manual labor” with little or no prestige. Unskilled workers in the class—dishwashers, cashiers, maids, and waitresses—usually are underpaid and have no opportunity for career advancement. They are often called the working poor. Skilled workers in this class—carpenters, plumbers, and electricians—are often called blue collar workers. They may make more money than workers in the middle class—secretaries, teachers, and computer technicians; however, their jobs are usually more physically taxing, and in some cases quite dangerous.

The middle class

The middle class are the “sandwich” class. These white collar workershave more money than those below them on the “social ladder,” but less than those above them. They divide into two levels according to wealth, education, and prestige. The lower middle class is often made up of less educated people with lower incomes, such as managers, small business owners, teachers, and secretaries. The upper middle class is often made up of highly educated business and professional people with high incomes, such as doctors, lawyers, stockbrokers, and CEOs.

The upper class

Comprising only 1 to 3 percent of population, the upper class holds more than 25 percent of the nation’s wealth. This class divides into two groups: lowerupper and upperupper. The lowerupper class includes those with “new money,” or money made from investments, business ventures, and so forth. The upperupper class includes those aristocratic and “high‐society” families with “old money” who have been rich for generations. These extremely wealthy people live off the income from their inherited riches. The upper‐upper class is more prestigious than the lower‐upper class.

Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes and their Place in Indian Society.

Scheduled Castes (SCs) are those castes which were placed at the bottom in the traditional caste system. Usually they used to perform unclean occupations. So they were treated as polluted and impure. The concept of polluted and impure made them untouchables. Various names appears for them in literature dealing with schedule caste e.g.,shudras, das, chaandal, malechha, untouchables and harijans.

PROBLEMS FACED BY THE SCHEDULE CASTES.

  1. Problem of untouchability(polluted), they used to perform unclean occupations like carrying dead animals, cleaning urinals and animal shed, washing clothes.
  2. No physical contact.
  3. Ban use of common wells and tanks
  4. Prohibitions from entering into temples
  5. Did not receive service from other occupational castes.
  6. Non acceptance of cooked food.
  7. Problem of poverty
  8. Material deprivation
  9. Landlessness
  10. Educational backwardness
  11. Indebtedness and bonded labour
  12. Problem of Health and nutrition
  13. Atrocities

Schedule tribes are those communities who are outside the caste system of our society. They live in hills, forests, coastal and desert areas and even on islands. They have their own culture and civilization. e.g., khasis, toda, garo, jaintia.

PROBLEMS FACED BY SCHEDULE TRIBES

  1. Problem related to forests
  2. Indebtedness and bonded labours
  3. Land alienation
  4. Problem of health and nutrition
  5. Problem of agriculture
  6. Lack of communication
  7. Lack of education
  8. Migration and its effects
  9. Displacements of tribes
  10. Problem of identity

 

PROVISIONS RELATING TO SCHEDULE CASTES AND SCHDULE TRIBES

Article 17 of Indian Constitution seeks to abolish ‘untouchability’ and to forbid all such practices. It is basically a “statement of principle” that needs to be made operational with the ostensible objective to remove humiliation and multifaceted harassments meted to the Dalits and to ensure their fundamental and socio-economic, political, and cultural rights.

This is to free Indian society from blind and irrational adherence to traditional beliefs and to establish a bias free society. For that, Untouchability (Offences) Act 1955 was enacted. However, lacunae and loopholes impelled the government to project a major overhaul of this legal instrument. From 1976 onwards the Act was revamped as the Protection of Civil Rights Act.

Despite various measures adopted to improve the socio-economic conditions of the SCs and STs they remain vulnerable and are subject to various offences, indignities and humiliations and harassment. When they assert their rights and against the practice of Untouchability against them the vested interest try to cow them down and terrorize them. Atrocities against the SCs and STs, still continued.

The normal provisions of the existing laws like, the Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955 and Indian Penal Code have been found inadequate to check these atrocities continuing the gross indignities and offences against Scheduled Castes and Tribes.

Recognizing these, the Parliament passed ‘Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act’, 1989 & Rules, 1995. 1. The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to prevent atrocities against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The Act is popularly known as POA, the SC/ST Act, the Prevention of Atrocities Act, or simply the Atrocities Act.

The statement of objects and reasons appended to the Bill while moving the same in the Parliament, reads

“Despite various measures to improve the socioeconomic conditions of SCs & STs, they remain vulnerable. They are denied a number of civil rights; they are subjected to various offences, indignities, humiliations and harassment. They have, in several brutal incidents, been deprived of their life and property. Serious atrocities are committed against them for various historical, social and economic reasons.”

The preamble of the Act also states that the Act is

“to prevent the commission of offences of atrocities against the members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, to provide for Special Courts for the trial of such offences and for the relief and rehabilitation of the victims of such offenses and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”

Thus objectives of the Act clearly emphasize the intention of the Government to deliver justice to these communities through proactive efforts to enable them to live in society with dignity and self-esteem and without fear or violence or suppression from the dominant castes. The practice of untouchability, in its overt and covert form was made a cognizable and non compoundable offence, and strict punishment is provided for any such offence.

The SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 with stringent provisions (which extends to whole of India except the State of Jammu &Kasmhir) was enacted on 9 September 1989.

Section 23(1) of the Act authorises the Central Government to frame rules for carrying out the purpose of the Act. The purpose of the Act was to help the social inclusion of Dalits into Indian society, but the Act has failed to live up to its expectations admitted by the Union Minister for Home Affairs.

 

Important constitutional provisions

 

Several provisions have been incorporated in the Constitution for safeguarding and promoting the interests and rights of the Scheduled Tribes in various spheres so as to enable them to join the national mainstream. An overview of the provisions is as follows.

 

I.A-Definition and Specification of STs
Art. Title
Preamble
342 Scheduled Tribes
366 Definitions
II.B – Educational, Economic and Public Employment-related Safeguards
15 Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth
16 Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment
19 Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech, etc
46 Promotion of Educational and Economic interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections
335 Claims of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to services and posts
II.C- Political Safeguards
330 Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People
332 Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assemblies of the States
334 Reservation of seats and special representation to cease after sixty years
243D Reservation of seats (in Panchayats)
243T Reservation of seats
II.D- Agency for monitoring safeguards
338A National Commission for Scheduled Tribe

 

Article 46 of the Constitution provides that the State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the society and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.

Reservation in educational institution has been provided in Article 15(4) while reservation in posts and services has been provided in Article 16(4), 16(4A) and 16(4B) of the Constitution.

 

Article 23 which prohibits traffic in human beings and beggar and other similar forms of forced labour has a special significance for Scheduled Tribes. In pursuance of this Article, Parliament has enacted the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976.

 

Article 24 which prohibits employment of Children below the age of 14 years in any factory or mine or in any other hazards activity is also significant for Scheduled Tribes as a substantial portion of child labour engaged in these jobs belong to Scheduled Tribes.

Article 243D provides reservation of Seats for Scheduled Tribes in Panchayats.

Article 330 provides reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People.

Article 332 provides reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes in Legislative Assemblies of the States.

Article 334 provides that reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the LokSabha and the State VidhanSabhas (and the representation of the Anglo-Indian Community in the LokSabha and the State VidhanSabhas by nomination) would continue up to January, 2020.

Other specific safeguards have been provided in Article 244 read with the provisions contained in Fifth and Sixth Schedule to the Constitution.

 

Other provisions applicable in specific states

  • Article 164(1) provides that in the States of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha there shall be a Minister in charge of tribal welfare who may in addition be in charge of the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and backward classes or any other work.
  • Article 371A has special provisions with respect to the State of Nagaland.
  • Article 371B has special provisions with respect to the State of Assam.
  • Article 371C has special provisions with respect to the State of Manipur.
  • Article 371F has special provisions with respect to Sikkim.

 

 

Unit 2

LAW AND SOCIETY

(a)     Customs and law

(b)     Basis of Legitimacy

(c)      Evolution of legal System

(d)     Significance of Law in Indian Society

(e)      Law in Relation of Social Order

 Law and Society

Law and society are related to each other. Nothing can be explained without any of them. Society becomes the jungle without the law. Law also needs to be changed according to the changes the society faces, because without the necessary changes law cannot keep pace with society. Without the control of the law, the society became the jungle or at least barbaric. So, to keep the society peaceful, we need to create a harmonious relationship between law and society.

We can take an example of our country, where every day we watch so many crimes. But due to lack of evidence the criminal is set free or there are too little penalty, that law breakers did not care about it. Just the example we can see few cases of eve teasing.

In early January this year, police found 13-year-old NashfiaAkand Pinky, a class nine student, hanging from a ceiling fan in the city’s West Agargaon area. According to her parents, 35-year-old Murad, a driver by profession, would harass Pinky on a regular basis in the streets. Fifteen days before Pinky killed herself, Murad’s mother along with his grandmother had gone to Pinky’s house with a marriage proposal on Murad’s behalf. Pinky’s parents had, obviously, declined the proposal. Murad and his family are currently absconding.

Eighteen-year-old ReshmaKhatun, a class 12 student of Salpa Technical School, took pesticides and killed herself on March 7, 2010 in Shanti Nagar village at the Sherpurupazila. She would be harassed on her way to school by her neighbour 24-year-old Munaf and his friend Robin. For a long time, Reshma had to stay silent while enduring the mental torture every day before she decided to end her life. The perpetrator in this case is also absconding.

What is Law?

Law is the command of the Sovereign. Law must flow from a determinate person or group of persons with the threat of displeasure, if it is not obeyed. As we know, Sovereignty is an only part of the state. So, we can say that Law is used to denote rules of conduct emanated from and enforced by the state.

According to Holland, Law is “a rule of external human action enforced by the sovereign political authority.”

According to Salmond, “Law is the body of principles recognized and applied by the State in the administration of justice”

According to Woodrow Wilson,”Law is that portion of the established habit and thought of mankind which has gained distinct and formal recognition in the shape of uniform rules backed by the authority and power of the government.”

According to Anson,” The objects of Law is Order, and the result of Order is that men are enables to look ahead with some sort of security as to the future. Although human action cannot be reduced to the uniformities of nature, men endeavored to reproduce by Law something approaching to this uniformity.”

So we can say that law must have three characteristics which are given below:

Law has its sovereign authority,

Law is accompanied by sanctions,

The command of law should compel a course of conduct. Being a command the law must flow from a determinate person or group of persons with the threat of displeasure, if it is not obeyed.

What is Society?

A community or a group of persons, living in any region, who are united by some common bond, is known as society.  A society is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations such as social status, roles and social networks. They also share the same geographical territory and subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Common bond is some kind of uniformity of factors like nature of the people, habit, custom, beliefs, culture, etc.

This common bond helps the members of the society to form the rules of social behavior. The punishment of disobeying the social rules is come from in the form of social disapproval. The punishments are generally excommunication or ostracism.

Relationship between Law and Society:

Theorists have traditionally maintained that there are certain broad on the substantive criminal law. One set of such constraints concerns the sorts of behavior that may legitimately be prohibited. Is it proper, for example, to criminalize a certain kind of action on the grounds that most people in one’s society regard it as immoral? The other set of constraints which concern what is needed in order to establish criminal responsibility that is liability, independently of the content of the particular statute whose violation is in question.

Legal system reflects all the energy of life within in any society. Law has the complex vitality of a living organism. We can say that law is a social science characterized by movement and adaptation. Rules are neither created nor applied in a vacuum, on the other hand they created and used time and again for a purpose. Rules are intended to move us in a certain direction that we assume is good, or prohibit movement in direction that we believe is bad.

The social rules are made by the members of the society. Disobedience of the social rules is followed by punishment of social disapproval. There is no positive penalty associated with the violation of rules except excommunication or ostracism. On the other hand, Law is enforced by the state. The objective of law is to bring order in the society so the members of society can progress and develop with some sort of security regarding the future.

The state makes laws. Disobedience of state laws cause penalty, which is enforced by the Government by the power of the state. Which is not enforceable is not Law.

 

Conclusion:

Legal system reflects all the energy of life within in any society. Law has the complex vitality of a living organism. We can say that law is a social science characterized by movement and adaptation. Rules are neither created nor applied in a vacuum, on the other hand they created and used time and again for a purpose. Rules are intended to move us in a certain direction that we assume is good, or prohibit movement in direction that we believe is bad.  So, we can say that rules had to be change according to the roles of the society. Law also reflects the society.

Customs and law

Once a habit is established, it becomes a role or norm of action. Customs often involve binding reciprocal obligations. Also, custom supports law, without which it becomes meaningless.

In the words of Maclver and Page, custom establishes a social order of its own so that conflict arising between custom and law is not a conflict between law and lawlessness, but between the orders of reflection (law) and the order of spontaneity (custom).

In general, customs regulate the whole social life of man. Law itself cannot cover the whole gamut of social behavior. It is the customary practices that contribute to the harmonious social interactions in a society which normal times of peace and tranquility. The influence of custom, at times, extends beyond one’s own community. In certain communities custom determines the relations between two communities at war..

Some of the customs do not play any role in social control. They just exist because of their ancient nature just as all people bathing in an unhygienic tank or a lake just because of an established religious custom. Even the custom of performing Shradha in India has no meaning if people do not know how to respect what the past has given us as well as accept our moral obligation to the future generations. However, in most of the traditional societies the customary practices are all emptied of their meaning.

In brief, although custom is regarded as one of the less formal types of control like public opinion, its influence on social life is very significant as it alone contributes to the textual part of social behavior.

We all know that law is very important in the society.

It is a must in order for a society to be peaceful and problem-free. Law is a man-made therefore it is in you if you will follow it or not.

If you do not follow the law, it doesn’t mean you will die, so nature has nothing to do on the laws of man.

The law is something that the human has created to modulate the society by introducing justice, fairness and equality that is set by courts and governments and is applied to everyone within their jurisdiction.

The law can give protection to the victims and will punish those who have done unlawful actions. You don’t have any option where you can choose from, if you disobey, then, you have to face the consequences.

If a society won’t have a system of law on it that will control how the people operates their lives, then there would not be a society to live in. people will be able to make decisions that will solely be based on their principles, then they would be able to do crimes if they want to, steal, murder, damage, bully, rape, trespass, and even terrorize what and whom when they wanted want to, and nothing would be done about it at all.

Therefore, it will be a disaster if not possible if people in a society will do actions that are solely base on their principles. If there won’t be law, nothing will stop the people on doing things that they want, with that, they will be free to do revenge and it will be vice-versa for they know that they could totally get away unto anything they do, even if it is bad and unlawful.

Eventually, the society will be full of crimes, murders and illegal actions. If there won’t be any rules in a society, then even a simple waste disposal will be a big problem that could affect the whole world. If not done properly, it may lead to diseases that can kill the human race. The supply of water could also be affected if there were no rules. No one will work to maintain the cleanliness of it for they may turn unto doing things that may give money more easily even though it is not right at all. No one will cure us when we were ill and help us in times of trouble. In the end, each of the people will find their own ways to live and survive; it’ll be like a war zone.

This merely shows how important it is to have a system of law in a society to regulate a good relationship with each other, even for those with conflicting interest. This is the only procedure that could ensure that the human rights are respected. If we won’t have laws, our society would not be able to function effectively. Crimes will become everyday occurrences that children will grow up and will then find it normal, which is not desirable to happen in our future generations, which are why law is very important, it ensures the safety of our future generations.

A custom is a cultural idea that describes a regular, patterned way of behaving that is considered characteristic of life in a social system. Shaking hands, bowing and kissing are all customs. They’re ways of greeting people that help to distinguish one society from another.

HOW CUSTOMS BEGIN

Societal customs often start out of habit. A man clasps the hand of another upon first greeting him. The other man — and perhaps still others who are watching — take note.

When they later meet someone on the street, they extend a hand. After a while, the handshaking action becomes habit and takes on a life of its own. It becomes the norm.

Customs exist among all types of societies, from primitive to advance. Interestingly, their nature doesn’t change based on literacy, industrialization or other external factors. They are what they are, and they can impact the society they are a part of. They tend to be more powerful in primitive societies, however.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMS 

After handshaking becomes a norm, an individual who declines to offer his hand upon meeting another may be looked down upon and perceived negatively. Over time, customs become the law of social life. They create and maintain harmony in a society.

Consider what might happen if a whole segment of a population suddenly decided to stop shaking hands, assuming that handshaking was a very important custom among the people.

Animosity might grow between the handshake’s and the non-shakers, spreading into other areas. If they won’t shake hands, maybe it’s because they’re unwashed or dirty. Or maybe they feel that they’re superior and don’t want to sully themselves by touching the hands of an inferior person. The breaking of a custom could theoretically result in an upheaval that has little or nothing to do with the custom itself, particularly when the reasons perceived for breaking it have no bearing in fact.

 

Customs are often followed without any real understanding of why they exist or how they got started.

WHEN CUSTOM MEETS LAW 

Sometimes it happens that governing bodies seize hold of a custom and, for one reason or another, incorporate it into a society as law. Consider the Prohibition, a time in U.S. history when a law was enacted to declare that the consumption of alcohol was unconstitutional. Drunkenness was particularly frowned upon in the 1920s, while temperance was applauded.

Temperance became a popular concept, although it was never firmly grasped as a custom by American society as a whole. Nonetheless, Congress passed the prohibition against manufacturing, transporting or selling alcohol as the 18th Amendment to the Constitution in January 1919. The law was enacted a year later.

The Prohibition failed, in part because the “custom” of temperance was not universal, not much of a custom to begin with. Plenty of citizens continued to find ways to purchase alcohol despite the law, and drinking alcohol was never declared illegal or unconstitutional. When customs match law, the law is more likely to be successful. When laws are not backed by custom and acceptance, they’re more likely to fail.

Significance of law in Indian society

Society is a ‘web-relationship’ and social change obviously means a change in the system of social relationship where a social relationship is understood in terms of social processes and social interactions and social organizations. Thus, the term, ‘social change’ is used to indicate desirable variations in social institution, social processes and social organization. It includes alterations in the structure and functions of the society. Closer analysis of the role of law vis-à-vis social change leads us to distinguish between the direct and the indirect aspects of the role of law.

  1. Law plays an important indirect role in regard to social change by shaping a direct impact on society. For example: A law setting up a compulsory educational system.
  2. On the other hand, law interacts in many cases indirectly with basic social institutions in a manner constituting a direct relationship between law and social change. For example, a law designed to prohibit polygamy.
  3. Law plays an agent of modernization and social change. It is also an indicator of the nature of societal complexity and its attendant problems of integration. Further, the reinforcement of our belief in the age-old panchayat system, the abolition of the practices of untouchability, child marriage, sati, dowry etc are typical illustrations of social change being brought about in the country trough laws.
  4. Law is an effective medium or agency, instrumental in bringing about social change in the country or in any region in particular. Therefore, we rejuvenate our belief that law has been pivotal in introducing changes in the societal structure and relationships and continue to be so.
  5. Law certainly has acted as a catalyst in the process of social transformation of people wherein the dilution of caste inequalities, protective measures for the weak and vulnerable sections, providing for the dignified existence of those living under unwholesome conditions etc. are the illustrious examples in this regard. Social change involves an alteration of society; its economic structure, values and beliefs, and its economic, political and social dimensions also undergo modification. However, social change does not affect all aspects of society in the same manner.

While much of social change is brought about by material changes such as technology, new patterns of production, etc., other conditions are also necessary. For example, as we have discussed it before, legal prohibition of untouchability in free India has not succeeded because of inadequate social support.

Nonetheless, when law cannot bring about change without social support, it still can create certain preconditions for social change. Moreover, after independence, the Constitution of India provided far-reaching guidelines for change. Its directive principle suggested a blueprint for a new nation. The derecognition of the caste system, equality before the law and equal opportunities for all in economic, political and social spheres were some of the high points of the Indian Constitution.

 The Relationship between Law and Society

Theorists have traditionally maintained that there are certain broad views on the substantive criminal law. One set of such constraints concerns the sorts of behaviour that may legitimately be prohibited. Is it proper, for example, to criminalize a certain kind of action on the grounds that most people in one’s society regard it as immoral? The other set of constraints which concern what is needed in order to establish criminal responsibility that is liability, independently of the content of the particular statute whose violation is in question.

 

Legal system reflects all the energy of life within in any society. Law has the complex vitality of a living organism. We can say that law is a social science characterized by movement and adaptation.

Rules are neither created nor applied in a vacuum, on the other hand they created and used time and again for a purpose. Rules are intended to move us in a certain direction that we assume is good, or prohibit movement in direction that we believe is bad.

The social rules are made by the members of the society. Disobedience of the social rules is followed by punishment of social disapproval. On the other hand, law is enforced by the state. The objective of law is to bring order in the society so the members of society can progress and develop with some sort of security regarding the future. The state makes laws. Disobedience of state laws invites penalty, which is enforced by the government by the power of the state. What is not enforceable is not Law.

Legitimacy

Legitimacy is commonly defined in sociology as the belief that a rule, institution, or leader has the right to govern. It is a judgment by an individual about the rightfulness of a hierarchy between rule or ruler and its subject and about the subordinate’s obligations toward the rule or ruler.

When shared by many individuals, legitimacy produces distinctive collective effects in society, including making collective social order more efficient, more consensual, and perhaps more just.

Tom Tyler says that if authorities “are not viewed as legitimate, social regulation is more difficult and costly” (Tyler 2001, 416). This accounts for the interest ruler’s show in legitimating their rule.

Legitimation is the process by which actors strive to create legitimacy for a rule or ruler. Where legitimacy as a belief is a subjective and an individualistic quality, legitimation is a process that is inherently social and political. Actors and institutions constantly work to legitimize their power, and challengers work to delegitimate it. Legitimation is often done by justifying the existence of rulers or their rules in terms of important normative principles of the society. However, legitimation may also be attempted through payoffs and inducements to subordinates. Material incentives and normative appeals are different strategies for legitimation and their success depends on how the audience responds to them. It is not possible to make a general statement about the efficacy of one or the other as a generic legitimating strategy, nor is it possible to say that legitimacy can only arise by following one or the other.

By contrast, legitimacy itself is a fundamentally subjective and normative concept: it exists only in the beliefs of an individual about the rightfulness of rule.

It is distinct from legality, in that not all legal acts are necessarily legitimate and not all legitimate acts are necessarily legal. One would hope for a close coincidence between the two, but it is conceptually necessary to keep the two separate. The possibility always exists that rulers might impose laws which the followers find illegitimate, and this possibility ensures that the two concepts cannot be reduced to one. Moreover, to define what is legal as the same as what is legitimate means that the government would have the power to control the categories of legitimate and illegitimate. This would make legitimacy inherently conservative since it could only buttress existing power relations. In practice, we see many instances in which citizens come be believe that their governments are illegitimate and this creates a serious crisis in governance.

Evolution of legal system

Indian Law is a unique blend of English, Hindu, Islamic and other influences upon a culture which has a long history of 3000 years.

INDIAN LEGAL SYSTEM Indian history can be divided Into approximately four periods:

  • AnclentIndla;
  • The Musllm Period;
  • The Britlsh Period; and
  • India Today.

 ANCIENT INDIA

The Indian subcontinent is the cradle of one of the world’s oldest civilizations – the Indus civilization or Harappa Culture which flourished from 2700 to 1500 B.C. In the succeeding centuries, roughly between 1500 to 500 B.C. the Harappa culture declined and during this period Aryans invaded the subcontinent from Central Asia. When the Aryans settled in India, they themselves formed into three classe.6: the priests; the common people and the warriors. The Dasas or indigenous people are considered inferior and treated by Aryans as slaves.  This distinction evolved into the caste groupings which are found In India today. Sanskrit, the language of Aryan invaders became the language of the educated upper castes. From about 500 B.C, till the Muslim invaded India in the twelfth century, a series of Hindu Kings ruled India and Hindu civilization prevailed.

A distinctive Feature of the Hindu civilization was that it strictly adhered to the principle of ‘Varna Ashrama Dharma’, according to which the spiritual salvation of an individual or harmony and stability of the society lay in the pursuit of righteousness by all members of the community but in diverse ways appropriate to their ages and stages of life. The Hindu society relied on the Dharma and viewed the legal, moral and religious duties as different aspects of Dharma. Thehindu law, one of the oldest system of the world, has its origin in the Vedas and Manu’s ManavaDharmashastra. Manu, during the first two centuries A.D. compiled a series of religious legal and moral pronouncements in his Dharmashastra. In the succeeding centuries, many legal texts are developed based on Manu’s Dharmashastra.

The two main schools of law thus developed are Mitakshara and Dayabhaga, The Dayobhagaschool prevailed in Bengali speaking areas of Bengal and Assam: and Mitashara prevailed in the rest of India. The two schools mainly differed in their laws of inheritance and certain aspects of Hindu joint families. In the ancient Hindu society, the disputes are mainly between groups of people but not amongst the individuals. Mediation and conciliation are mainly used to resolve the disputes and to cause justice. Thus, conciliation, consensus and nonviolence are the traditional foundations of Indian Justice.

THE MUSLIM PERIOD The twelfth century marked the beginning of a long period of Muslim dominance, first in northern India, and later, under the Mughals, in almost all parts of the subcontinent. The Islamic Law has become a part of the country’s legal and social heritage. The Islamic Law is derived from two main sources: the Qur’an and the Sunnaof the Prophet Mohammad. Islamic Law is based on the five doctrines which are collectively called Imam, meaning Faith. The first doctrine is faith in the absolute unity and oneness of God. The second doctrine is the belief in angels and their work as messengers and helpers of God. Third doctrine concerns Prophetic messengers. The fourth belief is in a final judgment, or doctrine of the last things. The fifth fundamental Islamic belief is in ‘divine decree end predestination’. Thus, the Islamic Law is based on the religious beliefs as the Hindu Law. There are many similarities between the Muslim and the Hindu legal systems. Both legal cultures used Consensus and stressed the importance of maintaining harmony. For both cultures, there are no individually based rights. Instead, people had duties and religion and law are treated in the same way in both the legal systems.

THE BRITISH PERIOD In search of trade and conquest, European warriors and traders visited India at an early period. Of the many European invaders, the British had exerted the greatest Impact upon the country through their East India Company, a commercial venture founded by the private businessmen in London. The East India Company was established in England with the object of furthering the British commercial interests in overseas countries. The company’s representatives set their foot in India to carry on trade effectively during the reign of Jehangir.

They established a few factories and slowly these have became the bases for the establishment of British rule in India, The Englishmen realizing the importance of a sound judicial system in India, undertook the task of evolving a judicial system at the very outset of threw administrative career.

An elementary judicial system was founded primarily in the three Presidency Towns – Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. Later, the Supreme Court is established at Calcutta in the year 1774. It is a court of English Law. In course of time similar courts are established at Madras in. 1801 and at Bombay in 1823. A notable feature of the Indian judicial system before 1862 is the existence of two parallel systems of courts – the Supreme Courts in the Presidency Towns and the adalats in the territory, known as the ‘Mofussil Courts’ outside the Presidency towns. The judicial system in the Presidency towns was developed primarily to cater to the needs of the Englishmen residing there and therefore, it was a replica of the English judicial system. On the other hand, the British administrators, realizing the fact that an alien judicial system could not work effectively in the Indian populated regions, promoted the establishment and working of the adalat system which mainly administered the Hindu and the Muslim laws. In 1862, the judicial systems existing in the Presidency Towns and the Mofuaails are unified by establishing the High Court which are the precursors of the modern system of law and justice in India.

Another notable development in the evolution of the judiciary is the emergence of the Privy Council as the ultimate court of appeal for India. The Privy Council played a vital and creative role in the development of Indian Legal System.

LEGAL SYSTEM IN MODERN INDIA The independence of India resulted in certain inevitable changes in the structure of the judiciary, the most significant of which was the substitution of the Supreme Court in the place of Privy Council as an ultimate court of appeal. The present judicial system in India consists of a hierarchical network of courts. Liberal provisions exist for taking appeals from the lower to the higher courts. The Supreme Court, the highest court of the land, enforces a high standard of justice and promotes a common approach to the law throughout the country.

 GROWTH OF LEGAL PROFESSION IN INDIA The legal profession constitutes an important part of the society for administration of justice. To quote the Law Commission Report (1958) “A well-organized system of judicial administration postulates a properly equipped and efficient Bar”. Therefore, without a well organized profession of law, the courts would not be in a position to administer justice effectively. The advocates of the Mayors courts in 1726 in the Presidency towns are not regulated by any authorized frame of rules and no specific provision existed for laying down qualifications for them. Therefore, those who practiced law at that time arc devoid of any legal training or the knowledge of law.

The first step in the organization of legal profession in India is the establishment of the Supreme Court at Calcutta in 1774. The Supreme Court is empowered to admit and enroll the advocates and attorneys-at law. The term advocate at that time referred to the English and Irish Barristers and advocates in Scotland. The expression ‘Attorney’ then meant only the British attorneys or Solicitors. The Supreme Court, thus, was exclusively meant for the British legal system and the indigenous Indian legal practitioner had no entry into this court. Similar situation persisted in the Supreme Courts of Bombay and Madras. In 1861, legislation is passed to establish High Courts at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. The High courts were empowered to admit and enroll advocates, Vakils and attorneys to appear for the suits in High Court.

In 1879, the Legal Practitioners Act was enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to legal practitioners. This Act empowered the High Court to make rules, regarding the qualifications and admission of proper persons to be pleaders and mukhtars of the High Court.

 According to the rules framed by the Chartered High courts, there are basically three classes of lawyers namely attorneys, advocates and Vakils. Vakils are the persons who had taken their LLB degree from an Indian University and had the same standing as those of attorneys. In the non-chartered High courts, there used to be advocates, pleaders and mukhtars. Pleaders were enrolled to practise before the subordinate courts after passing the pleadershipexamrnation conducted by the High courts. After certain years of practice, they enrolled themselves as High Court Vaklls. Besides the pleaders, there are mukhtars, who after completion of Matriculation passed the mukhtarship examination held by the High court’s and mainly pleaded before the criminal courts. Thus the legal profession in India had a chaotic scene of several categories of legal professionals.

The Government of India appointed the Indian Bar Committee popularly known as Chamier Committee in 1923 to report on the proposal of the legal professionals to constitute an Indian Bar. The committee recommended for the unification of different categories of legal practitioners and for the establishment of a Bar Council for each High court. In tune with the recommendations of theChamiercommittee to establish bar councils, the Central legislature enacted the Indian Bar Councils Act in 1926. This Act had left out the pleaders and the mukhtarspracticing in the mofussil courts entirely of its scope and did not bring about a unified Indian Bar.

The Indian Legal profession, not satisfied with the provisions under the 1926 Act, continued their effort to establish a unified all-India Bar. The establishment of the Supreme Court of India in 1950 gave a new stimulus to the demands of the Indian legal profession. As a result, the All India Bar Committee is constituted in 1951 which submitted its report in 1953 with We recommendations to create a unified national Bar. The Committee also recommended for the creation of all India Bar Council and State Bar councils. It also emphasized the principle of autonomy of the Bar consisting wholly of the members of the profession.

In 1961, the Parliament enacted the Advocates Act to amend and consolidate the law relating to legal practitioners and to provide Tor the constitution of the Bar Councils and an All India Bar. The Act establishes an All India Bar Council and a common roll of advocates, an advocate on the common rolls has a right to practice in any part of India and in any court, including the Supreme Court. The Bar has been integrated into a single class of legal practitioners known as advocates.

The Act creates a State Bar Council in each State and a Bar Council of India at the Centre. The State Bar Council is empowered:

  • To admit persons as advocates on its rolls,
  • To entertain and determine cases of misconduct against advocates on its rolls; and
  • To safeguard the rights, privileges and interests of advocates on its rolls. The Bar Council of India prepares and maintains a common roll of advocates, lays down standards of Professional conduct and legal education.

Law in relation of social control

Social control entails rules of behavior that should be followed by the members of a society.  Some of the rules of conduct fall into the realm of good manners as the culture define them.  As such they describe behavior that is socially desirable but not necessarily compulsory.   Other rules of conduct are not optional and are enforced by laws.  In complex, large-scale societies, laws are usually written down formally so that they can be known clearly to everyone.  Their laws commonly are much more informal, being rarely written down.  Since they are part of the evolving oral tradition that is familiar to members of these societies, there is no need to explain them to anyone.  However, people visiting from other societies are not likely to know what the laws are until there is a dispute.

How laws come about varies.  In small-scale societies, they usually evolve over time and are part of the cultural tradition.  These are referred to as common laws.  In large-scale societies, many laws derive from old common laws that are now formalized by being written down in penal codes.  Other laws in these complex societies do not evolve organically but are created by enactment in legislatures or by rulers.  These may or may not be codifications of existing social norms.  Those laws that parallel the existing norms usually are more likely to be accepted and followed without coercion.

It is not uncommon for some laws to be confusing because they are inconsistent or open to interpretation in different situations.  Crimes and disputes are rarely simple matters in any society.  Laws may be open to interpretation, and there often is a difference of opinion about the evidence.  Even when guilt is established, there can be a difference of opinion about the appropriate punishment or terms of settlement.  Because these issues are open to differing conclusions, most societies settle legal cases by the agreement of the entire community or a representative sample of it.  Jury systems around the world usually are based on this idea.  The assumption is made that jurors will come to an understanding that would be acceptable to a “reasonable man.”  In most societies in the past, the “reasonable man” was thought to be just that, a man.  Women and children were not thought to be reasonable, nor were uneducated poor men.  Subsequently, they were excluded from being jurors and judges.  This is still the situation in some of the more traditional societies of the Middle East and some other regions.

Law is by no means the only method for controlling the behavior of deviant individuals.  People who violate norms can be subjected to gossip, public ridicule, social ostracism, insults, and even threats of physical harm by other members of their community.  These kinds of informal negative sanctions are very effective in small-scale societies.  In larger societies, this method also works effectively in small towns and sub-groups of cities, such as a family, work group, church, or club.

In some societies, social control involves the threat of supernatural punishment from the gods or ancestral spirits for deviation from the norm.  Since it is assumed that crimes against other people in these societies are likely to be punished whether they are publicly known or not, this belief in divine retribution provides a powerful tool for getting people to behave properly.  The possibility that others could use witchcraft against deviant individuals also is a common effective coercive mechanism for bringing people into line, especially in small-scale non-western societies.

Some societies emphasize the use of positive sanctions to reward appropriate behavior rather than negative ones to punish those who do not conform to the social norms.  Common positive sanctions include praise and granting honors or awards.  Simply receiving the esteem of one’s peers is often sufficient motivation for people to be model citizens.  Examples of effective positive sanctions in the United States include such things as military promotions, ticker-tape parades, and receiving good grades in school.  In order to be effective, a positive sanction does not need to offer an immediate reward.  It can be a supernatural reward following death.  The Judeo-Christian and Moslem belief that entry into heaven must be earned by a life of good behavior is an example.  Similarly, the Hindu and Buddhist belief that a good life results in being reborn at a higher level of existence is a promise of a future supernatural reward.

Some norms in every society usually can be ignored without fear of punishment.  Being a loner or dressing oddly is examples of such minor deviations from the norms in North America today.  Individuals who do these things may be labeled strange, eccentric, or independent but rarely criminal.  Which of these alternative labels is applied may depend on who the deviant individual happens to be.  One’s gender, ethnicity, age, wealth, and social class are likely to be important factors.  Strange behavior by rich, well dressed people is likely to be considered eccentric, while the same behavior by poor people living on the street is more likely to be defined as criminal.  This is especially true if the deviant individuals are strangers and members of a subculture that is stereotyped as being “trouble makers.”  Consistently odd behavior by a homeless woman on the street is likely to cause others to question her mental health and seek assistance for her, while the same behavior by a homeless man may be seen as a potential danger to society and get him arrested for creating a public disturbance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unit -3

OCCUPATION AND PROFESSION

 

(a).    Meaning: Distinction between Work and Leisure

(b).    Division of Labour and Jajmani System

(c).     Legal Profession in India- An Introduction

Occupation is an activity undertaken by the person to earn his livelihood. It can be business, profession or employment that a person undertakes to make money. Many think that occupation and profession are synonyms, but the fact is they are different.

Profession is an activity that requires specialised training, knowledge, qualification and skills. It implies membership of a professional body, and certificate of practice. The individuals who undertake professions of rendering personalised services are called professionals, who are guided by a certain code of conduct, set up by the respective body.

The line of demarcation between occupation and profession is thin and blurred. When a professional is paid for his skill or talent, it is known as occupation. Check out the article to know some more differences.

Definition of Occupation

Occupation refers to the kind of economic activity endeavored by a person regularly for earning money. When someone engages or occupies himself, most of the time, in any economic activity, that activity is known as their occupation.

Example: Drivers, shopkeepers, a government servant, clerks, accountants, etc.

An occupation does not necessarily require specialised schooling in a particular stream. Physical or mental both kinds of jobs are included in an occupation. It is divided into the following categories:

  • Business: When a person in engaged in any trade, commerce or manufacturing activities, he is said to be doing business.
  • Employment: The occupation in which a person works for others and gets a fixed and regular income is employment.
  • Profession: The occupation in which a person renders services to others, by applying his knowledge and skills is a profession.

Definition of Profession

A profession is an occupation, for which a person has to undergo specialised training or internship, for getting a high degree of education and expertise in the concerned area. The main objective of the profession is to render services to those who need them.

The profession is governed by a professional body or statute. To be called as a professional, a person has to pursue higher studies and qualify the exam conducted by the governing body. Normally, a professional is said to be an expert in his field. Ethical codes are developed by the professional body which must be followed by the professionals, to ensure uniformity in their work.

Example: Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, Chartered Accountant etc.

Key Differences between Occupation and Profession

The major differences between occupation and profession are discussed as under:

  1. An activity performed by a person normally for monetary compensation is known as the Occupation. Profession refers to vocation, in which high degree of education or skills is required.
  2. Unlike occupation, the profession has a code of conduct.
  3. Occupation does not require any sort of training in a particular field, but the profession requires specialisation in a specific area, and that is why training is a must.
  4. In general, the profession is regulated by a particular or professional body statute while an occupation is not.
  5. A person doing occupation get paid for what he produces, whereas a profession gets paid according to his knowledge and expertise.
  6. The profession is also an occupation when the person is paid for utilising his skills and expertise.
  7. A professional is independent, i.e. his work is not influenced by any external force. Conversely, there is a lack of independence in the profession because the person performing the occupation has to follow the commands of his supervisors.
  8. There are some responsibilities which are associated with the profession. However an occupation is not backed with such responsibilities.
  9. The basic pay in the profession is normally higher than in occupation.
  10. The professionals are respected by people and have a high status in the society as compared to the occupation.

Conclusion

After the above discussion, it can be said that the occupation is a broader term, and it includes profession. While occupation also includes those jobs that are ordinary and hence they don’t get high recognition from the society, Professionals are mainly known by their jobs, and that is why they receive a high level of respect and recognition from the society.

Work and leisure

  • Work: What we do because we have to (usually for money)
  • Leisure: What we choose to do in our free time
  • Non-Work: Activities we do that are neither work nor leisure
  • The problem is what is work for some, might be leisure for others (eg Cooking, Childcare etc)

 

Where do we work?

  • There are two very different economies that exist:
    • The formal economy includes all employment that is legal and taxed.
    • The informal economy has two elements:
      • Hidden economy – this is non-taxed work and sometimes illegal.

Domestic/Voluntary (or community) economy – work is done for love or duty and is unpaid

Sectors of work

  • The Primary sector is involved with the collection of raw materials: farming, mining and fishing.
  • The Secondary sector is involved with making things: factories and workshops.
  • The Tertiary or Servicesector is concerned with providing a service: eg salespeople, teachers, lawyers, nurses, shop workers, office workers.
  • In recent years mining and manufacture have declined, whilst there has been a huge increase in service sector jobs

Changes in work

  • In the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries a process of industrialisation took place and Britain became known as “The Workshop of the World”
  • Britain was once important for primary industry: mining, steel and docks.
  • This work has died away and now people are involved in service work: call centres, supermarkets and fast food outlets.

 

 

Changing Technology

  • As technology has improved, machines have been used more and more in manufacture and industry
  • The machines began to replace the workers and goods were produced quicker and cheaper.
  • As the machines improved massproduction became possible – producing large quantities of a product in a factory using assembly lines

 

Jajmani System in India: Meaning, Definition, Advantages and Disadvantages

 

Meaning of Jajmani System:

Jajmani system is considered as the backbone of rural economy and social order.

It is a system of traditional occupational obligations. In rural India Jajmani system is very much linked with caste system.

It has become a part and parcel of social and economic system.

Etymologically, the term Jajman has been derived from the Sanskrit word Yajman, which means a person who performs a yajna. Thus if some yajna is to be performed for that the services of some Brahmins are essentially needed. It was gradually that its use was made common to everyone who hired services or to whom the services were given.

It could be said that the Jajmani system is a system of distribution whereby high caste land owning families are provided services and products of various lower castes such as Khati (Carpenter), Nai (Barber), Kumhars (Potters), Lobars (Blacksmiths), Dhobi (Washer man), Sweeper (Chuhra) etc.

The servicing castes are called Kamins while the castes served are called Jajmans. For services rendered the servicing castes are paid in cash or in kind (grains, fodder, clothes, animal products like milk, butter etc.) Kamin means who works for some body or services him.

In villages, durable relations obtain mainly between food-producing families and the families that supply them with goods and services.

William H. Wiser’s study of a village in uttar Pradesh reveals that these relations are called Jajmani in Hindi. In Maharashtra, they are known as “Balutdarl”.

In Jajmani system, at the centre is the family of agriculturists, the zamindars. They receive services from the families of occupational castes. One who receives services is known as Jajman, the patron. The families that provide services are known as Kamin, KamKarneywaley or Kamgars (workers). In other parts of India, terms such as Parjan, Pardhan, Balutedar etc. are also used for the providers of goods and services.

All these words literally refer to the same people, i.e. those who ‘work’ for others and one may call them clients. The castes, which happen to provide services to the agriculturists, vary from one village to another. Every caste in the village does not happen to be a part of Jajmani system. So Jajmani system can be defined as a patron-client relationship.

Yogendra Singh describes Jajmani system as a system governed by relationship based on reciprocity in inter-caste relations in villages.

Ishwaran has said that it is a system in which each caste has a role to play in a community life as a whole. This role consists of economic, social and moral functions.

Definition of Jajmani System::

The Jajmani system is a peculiarity of Indian villages.

“A person by whom a Brahmin is hired to perform religious services, hence a patron, a client”. —Webster’s Dictionary

“The service relations which are governed by a hereditary tenure are called Jajman-Praja relations”. —N.S. Reddy

Kamins are also known as Praja.

“Under this system each caste group within a village is expected to give certain standardised services to the families of other castes. Each one works for certain family or group of families with whom he is hereditary linked.” —Oscar Lewis

Harold Gould has described the Jajmani system as inter-familial inter-caste relationship pertaining to the patterning of super- ordinate-subordinate relations between patrons and suppliers of services. The patrons are the families of clean castes while the suppers of services are the families of lower and unclean caste.

The first detailed study of Jajmani tradition in India was made by William H. Wiser. Both Kamin and Jajman are Integral part of the jajmani system and thus complementary to each other. The Jajmani system is called “Aya” in Mysore of South India, according to Ishwaran (1966).

Henty Orenstein has held that the families of village officials or village servants (for example the watchman) maintain jajmani relations with the whole village rather than with particular families.

Edmund R. Leach (1960) said, “Jajmani system maintains and regulates the division of labour and economic interdependence of caste.” William H. Wiser (1967) said, “Jajmani system serves to maintain the Indian village as a self-sufficient community.” Harold Gould (1987) said, “Jajmani system distributes agricultural produce In exchange for menial and craft services.”

A number of studies have been conducted on jajmani system in India. The important studies code N.S. Reddy’s study on North India in 1955, W.H. Wiser’s study in 1936, Prof. S.C. Dubey’s study in Hyderabad; D.N. Majumdar’s study (1958) in Lucknow of U.P., Katheline Cough’s (1955) study in Tanjore, Darling’s study (1934) In Punjab etc.

Although the Jajmani relationship seems to be between castes, in reality, it is between particular families belonging to particular castes. It is the relationship between families that continue to exist over time.

 

Advantages of Jajmani System:

  1. Security of Occupation:

Security of occupation is guaranteed in case of jajmani system. Since this system is hereditary, the kamin is assured of his occupation. He knows that if he breaks his family occupation he shall not be able to earn his livelihood.

  1. Economic Security:

It provides economic security to kamins as the jajman looks after all of their needs. The kamins are assured of their economic security. In every monetary crisis the jajman helps the kamins. They extend all possible help to the kamins. So there is economic security in the jajmani system.

  1. Close and Intimate Relationship:

There is close and intimate relationship between the jajman and kamin. This relationship is not purely economical but it is sentimental and internal. A spirit of fellow feeling and brotherhood develops under this system. Both jajman and kamin know full well each other’s limitations as well as plus points.

So, they try to adjust each other. Jajmani system is hereditary and permanent, that is why both jajman and kamin sympathies for each other. This system creates an atmosphere conducive to peaceful living and co-operation.

  1. Peaceful Living:

The cut-throat-competition for work or employment is almost absent in jajmani system. No jajman goes without service nor any kamin goes without food. So this system creates an atmosphere of peaceful living by creating the spirit of fellow-feeling and co-operation.

 

 

Disadvantages of Jajmani System:

  1. Source of Exploitation:

Jajmani system is exploitative. The agricultural castes, which are invariably upper castes, seek the services of the occupational castes, which Eire generally lower castes. The exploitation of lower castes continues under the garb of paternal ties.

Like the caste system, this system has become a source of suppression, exploitation and discrimination. Oscar Lewis has pointed out in his study of Jajmani system in Rampur village, whereas in the past it was based on personal relationship, it has now become an instrument of exploitation of kamins by jajmans.

  1. Feeling of Superiority and Inferiority:

In this system, the kamins are considered low whereas the jajmems are placed high. This has resulted in social inequality and feeling of superiority and inferiority in the minds of both Jajman and kamin. Because this system is based on heredity, the kamin cannot take other Job or occupation and the advantage of latest scientific developments to improve his economic condition.

This system has resulted in lowering the economic standard of the kamins. They are treated as inferior. They are sometimes exploited and abused by the JaJmans. They become helpless before the money power of their Jajmans. This is a system which is based on the sense of high and low.

  1. Impediment to Occupational and Social Mobility:

Jajmani system has stood on the way of occupational mobility and resulted in lowering economic standard of the kamins. This system is hereditary, so there is no possibility of changing the occupation. In this way the system has checked social mobility. The conditions of the kamins remain miserable because of their economic weaknesses

  1. Supported by Caste System:

Caste system is the basis of jajmani system. So this system suffers from all the evils of caste system. Dr. Majumdar found in his study that the conditions of kamins are miserable and the upper castes subject them to great harassment and trouble

They are ill-treated by the Jajmans. This system leads to widespread discrimination. There is exploitation and coercion. Dumont has pointed out that this system has to satisfy all those who enter into jajmani relationships.

  1. Effect of Transport and Communication:

Due to rapid expansion of transport and communication, the system is in a decline. Because it has made easy for the kamins to seek job or other occupation outside their village. Now the kamins are no longer compelled to do the Job of Jajmans.

  1. Impact of Social Reform Movement:

Due to the impact of social reform movements, the suppressed castes get benefits. They try to rise up in the social ladder. Various religious reform movements, like Arya Samaj have produced one of the greatest setback to the Jajmani system.

The Division of Labour

The Division of Labour in Society is a book written, originally in French, by Emile Durkheim in 1893. It was Durkheim’s first major published work and the one in which he introduced the concept of anomie, or the breakdown of the influence of social norms on individuals within a society. At that time, The Division of Labor in Societywas influential in advancing sociological theories and thought.

In The Division of Labor in Society, Durkheim discusses how the division of labor is beneficial for society because it increases the reproductive capacity, the skill of the workman, and it creates a feeling of solidarity between people.

The division of labor goes beyond economic interests; it also establishes social and moral order within a society.

There are two kinds of social solidarity, according to Durkheim: mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity. Mechanical solidarity connects the individual to society without any intermediary. That is, society is organized collectively and all members of the group share the same beliefs. The bond that binds the individual to society is this collective conscious, this shared belief system.

With organic solidarity, on the other hand, society is a system of different functions that are united by definite relationships. Each individual must have a distinct job or action and a personality that is his or her own. Individuality grows as parts of society grow. Thus, society becomes more efficient at moving in sync, yet at the same time, each of its parts has more movements that are distinctly its own.

According to Durkheim, the more primitive a society is, the more it is characterized by mechanical solidarity. The members of that society are more likely to resemble each other and share the same beliefs and morals. As societies becomes more advanced and civilized, the individual members of those societies start to become more unique and distinguishable from each other.

Solidarity becomes more organic as these societies develop their divisions of labor.

Durkheim also discusses law extensively in this book. To him, law is the most visible symbol of social solidarity and the organization of social life in its most precise and stable form. Law plays a part in society that is analogous to the nervous system in organisms, according to Durkheim. The nervous system regulates various body functions so they work together in harmony. Likewise, the legal system regulates all the parts of society so that they work together in agreement.

Two types of law exist and each corresponds to a type of social solidarity. The first type of law, repressive law, imposes some type of punishment on the perpetrator. Repressive law corresponds to the ‘center of common consciousnesses and tends to stay diffused throughout society. Repressive law corresponds to the mechanical state of society.

The second type of law is restitutive law, which does not necessarily imply any suffering on the part of the perpetrator, but rather tries to restore the relationships that were disturbed from their normal form by the crime that occurred. Restitutive law corresponds to the organic state of society and works through the more specialized bodies of society, such as the courts and lawyers.

This also means that repressive law and restitutory law vary directly with the degree of a society’s development. Repressive law is common in primitive, or mechanical, societies where sanctions for crimes are typically made across the whole community. In these lower societies, crimes against the individual are common, yet placed on the lower end of the penal ladder. Crimes against the community take priority because the evolution of the collective conscious is widespread and strong while the division of labor has not yet happened. The more a society becomes civilized and the division of labor is introduced, the more restitutory law takes place.

Durkheim bases his discussion of organic solidarity on a dispute with HerberSpencer,who claimed that industrial solidarity is spontaneous and that there is no need for a coercive body to create or maintain it.

Spencer believed that social harmony is simply established by itself and Durkheim disagrees. Much of this book, then, is Durkheim arguing with Spencer’s stance and pleading his own views on the topic.

Durkheim also spends some time discussing division of labor and how it is caused. To him, the division of labor is in direct proportion to the moral density of the society. This increase can happen in three ways: through an increase of the concentration of people spatially, through the growth of towns, or through an increase in the number and efficacy of the means of communication. When one or more of these things happen, labor starts to become divided because the struggle for existence becomes more strenuous.

 

What is Profession?

In society, people occupy different occupations for their livelihood or for their satisfaction. The occupations may be broadly divided as productive occupation and service occupations. The occupations which require advanced education and special training are called professions. LAW, teaching, architecture, medicine, etc are related to professions. They are intended to serve mankind.

 

 

 

What is the legal profession?

The profession of law is one of the oldest and noblest professions. The person in the legal profession is called an advocate or lawyer. An advocate is an officer of justice and a friend of the court. He has to accept a brief for any man who comes before the courts and do what one can do honorably on behalf of his client. He has to collect legal material relating to the case of his client had argue in the courts to help the judges to deliver judgments. The central function that the legal profession must perform is nothing less than the administration of Justice.

 

  • An advocate also serves the public by giving legal advice by explaining the complicated and confusing provisions of different Acts and Rules to citizens who seek his service.
  • An advocate assists the parties in drafting the economic transactions like contracts, agreements, deeds, wills etc.
  • An advocate also provides professional services regarding taxation and trade performance.
  • An advocate should provide free Legal Aid to the poor and deserving people on compassionate grounds.
  • An advocate has to protect the fundamental and Human Rights in addition to propagating them among citizens.
  • An advocate is the foreigner of the society. He has to fight for law reforms and social change and at the same time extend his services to maintain law and order.

 

Development of legal profession in India – Development of legal profession in India can be divided into three phases are as follows –

1) Legal profession in ancient India

2) Legal profession in medieval India

3) Legal profession in British India

4) Legal profession in India after independence

1) Legal profession in ancient India –  In India during the earlier period, people live in small groups. The heads of these groups or tribes delivered justice under open sky before all the members. Open arguments were made. There was no specialist like a lawyer during those days. When Kingships was established in the society, Kings delivered justice. In King’s Court, the king was advised by his councilors. The law of those days was a rooted in Hindu religion and custom. Dharma was protected by the king. Though there was no Institution of a lawyer, some intellectual people served justice. From the stories of Maryada Ramayana and Vikramaditya, we are well aware of the wise man that solved the critical cases of those days. During those days the legal profession was administered by the administrators. For sometime religious heads dominated the society in administering the justice. During those days, the sufferer presented complaint before the king in his court and thereafter the court summoned the defendant to submit his reply. The Court then investigated the matter on the evidence. The King took the advice of the religious heads and wise courtier and then delivered the judgment. The same procedure was followed in all cases.

 

2) Legal profession in medieval India – During the Muslim period, there was no Institution of the legal profession. But both the parties of the litigation appoint their Vakils. This body decides the case and they were paid a percentage of the amount in the suit. The Court has the power to decide who should be allowed to appear as Vakils. They act as agent for principals but not as lawyers. The same system was continued in North India even under the rule of East India Company.

 

3) Legal profession in British India – During the British period, the model legal system was developed in India. Before 1726, the courts derived their power not from the British crown but from the East India Company. The charter of 1661 has already described the English law.

 

 

 

  1. i) Charter of 1726 :

In 1726 the crown issued the charter of 1726, and the Mayor’s Court was established in the presiding towns of Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras. They where the royal Courts. They followed the procedure based on English law. But there were no facilities to get the legal training.  Many persons who have no knowledge of law were used to practice before the said Courts. The Mayor’s Court has no jurisdiction in criminal cases. The criminal jurisdiction was conferred on the Governor.

 

  1. ii) Charter of 1753 –

In 1753, another charter was issued to modify the charter of 1726. This charger also ignored significant provision for legal training and education relating to legal practitioner. Even after the charter of 1753, the legal profession was not organized.

 

iii) Charter of 1774

The Regulating Act, 1773 empowered the British Crown to establish a Supreme Court at Calcutta by issuing a Charter. Accordingly, a supreme court at Calcutta was established by is sung the charter of 1774.

 

Clause II of the Charter of 1774 empowered the said Supreme Court of Judicature Calcutta to approve and enroll advocates and Attorneys- in-law. They were to be Attorneys of record.  They were authorized to appear and act in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had the power to remove any advocate for Attorney on reasonable cause. Indian legal practitioners were not allowed to enter the Supreme Court. At that time ‘Advocate’ means the British and Irish Barristers and member of the faculty of advocates in Scotland. The term ’Attorney’ applied to the British attorneys or solicitor.

  1. iv) The Bengal Regulation Act of 1793 The  Bengal Regulation Act VII Of 1973 permitted qualified Hindu and Muslim persons only to enroll as pleaders and the Bengal Regulation XII of 1833 allowed all the qualified persons of any nationality or religion to enroll as a pleader of the SardarDiwaniAdalat.
  2. v) The Legal Practitioners Act, 1846 –

The legal practitioners Act 1846 allowed at the people of any nationality or religion to act as leaders. It also allowed attorneys and barristers enrolled in any of Her Majesty’s courts in India to plead in the company’s  SardarAdalat.

The Legal Practitioners Act, 1853 – This Act authorized the barristers and Attorneys of the Supreme Court to plead in any of the companies courts subordinate  to Sadar court subject to rules in force in the said subordinate courts as regards language or otherwise.

  1. vi) Indian High Court Act, 1861 –

The Indian High Court Act, 1861 empowered the government to establish High Court in Presidency towns. After the establishment of the High Courts, the Civil Courts were organized at different towns. The criminal courts were organized by the Criminal Procedure Code 1898.

vii) Legal Practitioners Act 1879 –  Under the Legal Practitioners Act 1879 the term ‘legal practitioner’ means Advocate, Vakil or attorney of a High Court and pleader, Mukhtar or revenue agent,  who were non-graduates and matriculates only. All these were brought under the jurisdiction of the high court. Vakils were the persons who had taken the law degree from Indian Universities. Pleaders and mukhtarsWere the Indian lawyers but advocate were to be the barristers.

Section 5 of the Act says that every person entered as an attorney on the role of any High Court would be entitled to practice in all the courts subordinate To Such High Courts and in all revenue offices

Section 6 of the Act Empowered the High Court to make rules consistent with the Act as to Suspension and dismissal of pleaders and Mukhtars.

Section 8 empowered the pleader to practice in courts and revenue offices after enrollment.

Section 9 empowered the Mukhtar to practice in the courts after enrollment.

According to Section 12, the High Court can Suspend or dismiss any pleader or Mukhtar if he was convicted of any criminal offense and according to Section 13, the high court can suspend or dismiss pleader or Mukhtar guilty of professional misconduct.

Section 14 of the Act made provisions in respect of the procedure when the charge of professional misconduct was brought in subordinate Court or revenue office.

Section 17 of the Act deals with the power of chief controlling revenue authority to make rules consistent with this act as to qualification, suspension, dismissal etc. of the revenue agent.

viii) Indian bar committee 1923 –  A committee called Indian bar committee under the chairmanship of Sir Edward Chaminer was constituted in 1923 to consider the issue of the organisation of the bar on all India basis. The committee did not favor the establishment of All India Bar Council. It was of the view that bar council should be constituted for each High Court.

Indian Bar Council Act 1926 – In 1926, the Indian bar council of India Act was enacted to provide a bar council for each High Court. The Bombay High Court and Calcutta High Court allowed non-barrister advocates to practice. Thus the distinction between Barristers and advocates was abolished. The pleaders and Mukhtars practicing in Mufusil Courts were not within the scope of the Indian bar council act 1926.

Even after the enactment of the Bar Council Act 1926, the High Court has the power of enrollment of advocates and the functions of the bar council was the adversary in nature and the rules made by the bar council were to be effective only on the approval of the high court. Section 10 of the Indian Bar Council Act 1926 empowered the high court to reprimand, suspend or remove from practice any advocate of the high court if he was found guilty of professional misconduct or other misconduct.

 

 

4) Legal profession in India after independence –

All India Bar Committee, 1951-

In 1951, the All India Bar committee was constituted under the chairmanship of justice S.R.Das. The committee in its report recommended the establishment of an All India Bar Councils and State Bar Councils. It recommended the powers of enrollment, suspension or the removal of advocates to the Bar Council. It recommended the common role of advocates should be maintained and they should be authorized to practice in all courts in the country. It further recommended that there should be no further recruitment of non-graduated pleaders or mukhtars.  The similar recommendations were made by the fifth Law Commission of India in its fourteenth report.

Advocate Act 1961 -As a result of the report of the “All India Bar Committee Act, 1961 ” .the central government enacted the Advocate Act 1961.This Act has been in Force In entire India. It brought Revolutionary changes in the legal profession in India. It was set out to achieve the utility and dignity of the profession of law on an all India basis.  The Preamble of The says that the Act amends as well as consolidates the law relating to legal practitioners.

The Advocate Act,1961 contains 60 Sections set out in 7 chapters.

Chapter I – deals with primary issues such as short title, extent and commencement  and definitions.

Chapter – II Section 3 to15 deals with the bar councils.

Chapter III Section 16 to 28 deals with admission and enrolment of advocates.

Chapter IV  deals with the right to practice chapter.

Chapter V Section 35 To 44 deals with the conduct of advocate.

Chapter VI Miscellaneous issues.

Chapter VII deals with the temporary and transitional provisions.

 

The Advocate Act 1961 repeals the Indian Bar Council Act,1926 and all other laws on the subject.

The Advocate Act,1961 provides for an autonomous bar council in each state and All India Bar Council consisting mainly of the representatives of the state bar councils. Under the act, a state bar council is to enroll the qualified person as advocates and a prepare a roll of advocates practicing in the state and thereafter a comment roll of advocates for the whole of India is to be prepared by the bar council of India.

The Advocates whose Names are entered in the common roll would be entitled as of right to practice in all courts in India including the Supreme Court.

Advocate Act 1961 amended many times to bring changes with the changing times and to solve the practical problems.

Legal Profession in India

The Legal Profession has always been an important limb for administration of justice. Without, profession of law, the courts would not be in a position to administer and provide justice efficiently as the evidence in support or against the parties to a suit cannot be legitimately marshaled, facts cannot be properly articulated and the appropriate legal arguments in favour or against the case of the parties cannot be put forth before the court. “A well-organized system of judicial administration proposes a properly equipped and proficient Bar.”

The modern legal profession in India has frontier roots, emerging with the advent of Mayor’s Courts in Madras and Calcutta in 1726. However, it was not until 1846, through the Legal Practitioner’s Act, that the doors of profession were thrown open to all those duly qualified, certified and of good character, irrespective of nationality or religion. Women were still excluded from the profession at this stage, to be thereafter admitted through the Legal Practitioner’s (Women) Act, III of 1923. The legal profession in India, which includes both the practice of law as well as professional legal education, is regulated by the Advocates Act, 1961.The Bar Council of India (BCI) is envisaged under the Advocates Act as a body for regulating the minimum standards to be maintained by institutions imparting legal education in India. The reformation of legal education in India undertaken since the late 1980s at the initiative of the BCI, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Law Commission of India and various state governments has led to the establishment of various national law schools in India in the last two decades. India has the second largest population of lawyers in the world, second only to the United States. Many persons admitted that practice law in India has gradually increased from about 70,000 at time of Independence in 1947 to some 1.25 million in 2014.
India has a recorded legitimate history beginning from the Vedic ages and some kind of common law framework might have been set up amid the Bronze Age and the Indus Valley civilization. Notwithstanding this, the advancement of “law” as a calling is just a late wonder. The Indian legitimate calling is one of the biggest on the planet and assumes a fundamental part on the planet’s biggest vote based system. While the bases of this calling lie before Independence, from that point forward the calling has developed enormously and as of now faces different difficulties; the most imperative being to give access over the calling, guarantee moral establishments and modernize the practice no matter how you look at it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unit 4

SOCIAL CHANGE

Change means differentiation in anything observation over sometime. If we feel that there’s come alteration we call it changes. It this change is in contest to social structure, institution etc, i.e. social context then it is social change.Change is the internal law. History and science bear ample testimony to the fact that change is the law of life. Stagnation is death. They tell us stories of man’s rise and growth from the Paleolithic age to the Neolithic age, then to the Stone Age and next to the copper age etc. On the stage of the world, scenes follow scenes, acts follow acts, and drama follows drama. Nothing stands still.

According Fictor “Change means variations from previous state or mode of existence”.

Change is a universal phenomena i.e. it is a law of native. There’s always a change in nature. Society is a part of nature & so society also changes & static society is unthinkable. Society is on the wheel of change, which may occur due to various factors (like demography, ideas etc. If there is any change in Technology etc there’s change in society) out the change varies in speed & farm.

In some places the change is rapid whereas in other places it may be slow. These days due to industrialization & urbanization the change is rapid as compared to earlier times. The form may be economic, political, social, religious change in any part of society affects all the other parts of society. E.g. an individual is the fundamental unit of society & there’s change in the life of the individual which is called evolutionary process of social change (birth to death). This is a slow process.

Definition of Social Change

Ginsberg (By social change I understand a change in the social structure).

Kingsley Doris “By social change is meant only such alternations as occur in social organization i.e. the structure & functions of society”.

Merril& Elbridge “Social change means, that large no. of persons are engaging in activities that differ from those which they or their immediate fore-fathers engaged in some time before.”

Gillin&Gillin “Social changes are variations from the accepted mode of life, whether due to alteration in geographical condition, in cultural equipment, composition of the population. Or ideologies & whether brought about by diffusion or inventions within the group.”

Jones‘ “Social change is a term used to describe variations in or modification of any aspect of social process, social patterns, social interaction or social organization.”

M.D.Jenson – Describes –Social change as “modification in ways of doing & thinking of people.”

Characteristics of Social change

  1. Social change is universal or it is an essential law.
  2. Change with diff. in speed & form simple society … change was slower.
  3. Change is unpredictable in general Revolt is a process of social change. What speed & in what form the change takes place is not easily predictable.
  4. Social change is change in community
  5. Social change generally changes in direction. There are 3 patterns of social change.
    1. linear failure change generally leads to progress (change for good) can’t cycle –car – train –plain
    2. Fluctuating change – the change may be upward & downward. The demographic change is such also economic change,
  • Cyclical change – the change is in a cycle. Fashion, sometimes also in economical aspect (Karl max gave this idea. He says earlier there was no private property & we may go back to it).

 

Sanskritization

The concept ‘Sanskritization’ was first introduced by Prof. M.N. Srinivas the famous Indian sociologist. He explained the concept of sanskritization in his book “Religion and society among the coorgs of South India” to describe the cultural mobility in the traditional caste structure of Indian society. In his study of the coorgs of Mysore, he came to know that the lower castes were trying to raise their status in their caste hierarchy by adopting some cultural ideals of the Brahmins. As a result they left some of their ideals which are considered to be impure by the Brahmins. To explain this process of mobility, Srinivas used the term ‘Brahminization’. Later on he called it ‘Sanskritization’ in a broad sense.

Defining SanskritizationSrinivas writes, “Sanskritization is a process by which a lower caste or tribe or any other group changes its customs, rituals, ideology and way of life in the direction of a higher or more often twice-born caste.”

Characteristics of Sanskritization:

  1. Sanskritization is a process of imitation in Indian society, the social status of an individual is fixed on the basis of caste hierarchy. There are many lower castes who suffer from economic, religious or social disabilities. So in order to improve the status, the lower castes people imitate the life style of the upper caste people.
  2. Sanskritization is a process of cultural change towards twice-born castes.Sanskritization is a process in which the lower castes adopt the cultural patterns of the higher castes, to raise their status in the caste hierarchical order. In some societies the lower caste people followed not only the customs of the Brahmins but also the customs of the locally dominant castes like Kshatriyas and Vaisyas to raise their status.
  3. Sanskritization is helpful in the social mobility of lower caste:

In this process a caste is only trying to change the status and not the social structure.

  1. Sanskritization process also followed by the tribals.

Sanskritization process is not only confined to the caste people of Hindu society, it is also found among the tribal society.

  1. The concept of Sanskritization has also given rise to De-sanskritization. There are some instances in modern times, some of the higher castes are imitating the behaviour pattern of lower caste, and for example Brahmins have started taking meat and liquor. This process is called De-sanskritization.

Effects of Sanskritization:

  1. Sanskritization in social field:

The social aspect of sanskritization is much more important from the view point of change. The low caste individuals are inclined towards sanskritization because in that way they can elevate their social status and get higher status in caste hierarchy.

  1. Sanskritization in economic field:

Economic betterment and sanskritization is another related issue. The lower caste people have given up un-cleaned occupation to raise their economic status because clean trades are a symbol of social light.

  1. Sanskritization in religious field:

Sanskritization also can be observed in the religious field. Like Brahmins many of the lower castes people put on sacred thread. They also go to their temple regularly and perform Arti and Bhajan. They have left prohibited food and un-cleaned occupation. Even they have specialised in performing ceremonies like Brahmins.

  1. Sanskritization in living patterns:

The living patterns of lower castes have also Sanskritized. Like higher caste they also get Pucca houses built for them. Now they sit along with the higher caste on the cots without any fear or hesitation. They also keep their houses clean and put on dresses like higher castes.

Westernization

The role’ Westernization‘has been very significant in understanding the socio-cultural changes of modern India. British rule produced radical and lasting changes in the Indian society and culture.

The British brought with them, (unlike the previous invaders) new technology, institutions, knowledge, beliefs, and values. These have become the main source of social mobility for individuals as well as groups.

It is in this context, M.N. Srinivas, a renowned sociologist of India, ‘introduced the term’ ‘ Westernisation’ mainly to explain the changes that have taken place in the Indian society and culture due to the Western contact through the British rule.

Definition of the Term “Westernisation”:

According to M.N. Srinivas,’ ‘Westernisation” refers to ‘ ‘the changes brought about in Indian society and culture as a result of over 150 years of British rule and the term subsumes changes occurring at different levels – technology, institutions, ideology, values.

M.N. Srinivascriticises Lerner’s concept of ‘modernisation’ on the ground that it is a value- loaded term. According to him, “Modernisation” is normally used in the sense that it is good. He, therefore, prefers to use the term’ Westernisation’.

He describes the technological changes, establish­ment of educational institutions, rise of nationalism and new political culture, etc. as almost the bye- products of Westernisation or the British rule of two hundred years in India. Thus, by Westernisation, Srinivas primarily meant the British impact.

”During the 19th century the British slowly laid the foundations of a modern state by surveying land, settling the revenue, creating a modern bureaucracy, army and police, instituting law courts, codifying the law, developing communications — railways, post and telegraph, roads and canals— establishing schools and colleges, and so on…” (Srinivas).

The British brought with them the printing press which led to many-sided changes. Books and journals made possible the transmission of modem as well as traditional knowledge to large number of Indians. Newspapers helped the people living in the remote corners of the country to realise their common bonds and to understand the events happening in the world outside.

More than any other thing the Western education had an impact on the style of living of the people. They gave up their inhibition towards meat-eating and consumption of alcohol. They also adopted Western style of dressing and dining.

As Gandhiji wrote in his “Autobiography”, educated Indians undertook the task of ”becoming English gentlemen in their dress, manners, habits, choices, preferences, etc.” It included even learning to appreciate Western music and participating in ball dancing. Western education resulted in a big change in the outlook of those educated.

M.N. Srinivas says that it is necessary “to distinguish conceptually between Westernisation and two other processes usually concouilait with it. — Industrialisation and Urbanisation.”. He gives two reasons for this: (i) Urbanisation is not a simple function of’ ‘industrialisation” and there were cities in Pre-industrial world” also.’ ‘(ii) There are cases of rural people who are more urbanised than urban people”.

Main Features of Westernisation:

  1. In comparison with Sanskritisation, Westernisation is a simpler concept. As it is already made clear, it explains the impact of Western contact (particularly of British rule) on the Indian society and culture.

M.N. Srinivas defends the uses of the term when he says that there is “need for such a term when analysing the changes that a non-Western country undergoes as a result of prolonged contact with a Western one”.

  1. Westernisation “implies, according to Srinivas, “certain value preferences”. The most important value, which in turn subsumes several other values, is “humanitarianism”.

It implies “an active concern for the welfare of all human beings irrespective of caste, economic position, religion, age and sex”. He further observes that equalitarianism and secularisation are both included in humanitarianism. Humanitarianism underlay many of the reforms introduced by the British in the first half of the 19th century. As British rule progressed “rationality and humanitarianism became broader, deeper and more powerful…”

The humanitarian outlook among the Westernised elite led first to social reform movement and later on to the independence movement. They were actually aware of existing social evils like child marriage, tabooes against widow remarriage, seclusion of women, hostility to women’s education, tabooes against intercaste marriages, intercaste dining, untouchability etc.

Social reform movements started with the efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy who founded the “BrahmoSamaj”. Arya Samaj, PrarthanaSamaj, Sri Ramakrishna Mission and such other movements that followed later, too had imbibed in them the humanitarian values.

  1. Westernisation not only includes the introduction of new institutions (for example, newspa­pers, elections, Christian missionaries) but also fundamental changes in old institutions.

For example, India had schools long before the arrival of the British. But they were different from the British- introduced schools in that they had been restricted to upper caste children and transmitted mostly traditional knowledge. Other institutions such as the army, civil service and law courts were also similarly affected.

  1. The form and pace of Westernisation of India varied from region to region and from one section of population to another. (Srinivas 1985). For example, one group of people became Westernised in their dress, diet, manners, speech, sports and in the gadgets they used. While another absorbed Western science, knowledge and literature, remaining relatively free from certain other aspects Westernisation.

For example, Brahmins accepted the Western dress habits and educational systems and also used gadgets such as radio, television, car, telephone etc. But they did not accept the British diet, dancing, hunting and such other habits. This distinction is, however, only relative and not absolute.

  1. According to Srinivas, Westernisation pervades political and cultural fields also. He writes: “In the political and cultural fields, Westernistion has given birth not only to nationalism but also to revivalism communalism, ‘casteism’, heightened linguistic consciousness, and regionalism.

To make matters even more bewildering, revivalist movements have used Western type schools and colleges, and books, pamphlets and journals to propagate their ideas”— (Pages 55-56).

  1. As M.N. Srinivas claims, “The term Westernisation unlike ‘Modernisation’ is ethically neutral. Its use does not carry the implication that it is good or bad, whereas modernisation is normally used in the sense that it is good.”
  2. According to Srinivas, “the increase in Westernisation does not retard the process of Sanskritisation. Both go on simultaneously, and to some extent, increase in Westernisation accelerates the process of Sanskritisation.

For example, the postal facilities, railways, buses and newspaper media, which are the fruits of Western impact on India render more organised religious pilgrimages, meetings, caste solidarities, etc., possible now than in the past”.

  1. The term Westernisation is preferable to ‘Modernisation’, M.N. Srinivas asserts. “He contends that modernisation presupposes ‘rationality of goals’ which in the ultimate analysis could not be taken for granted since human ends are based on value preferences and “rationality could only be predicted of the means not of the ends of social action”.

He considers the term “Modernisation” as subjective and the term ‘ Westernisation’ as more objective. (Whereas writers such as Daniel Lerner, Harold gould, Milton Singer and Yogendrasingh consider the term ‘Modernisation as more preferable in place of Westernisation).

It is also true that with the Westernisation of Indian society, caste becomes more or less secular due to the new ideas introduced by the West. Westernisation as a social process has influenced the various aspects of social life of the Indian community.

(iv) ‘While there are certain common elements in Westernisation, each European country along with the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, reperesents a particular variant of a common culture and significant difference exist between one country and another”.

Urbanization

Urbanization is the movement of population from rural to urban areas and the resulting increasing proportion of a population that resides in urban rather than rural places. It is derived from the Latin ‘Urbs’ a term used by the Romans to a city.

Urban sociology is the sociology of urban living; of people in groups and social relationship in urban social circumstances and situation. Thompson Warren has defined it as the movement of people from communities concerned chiefly or solely with agriculture to other communities generally larger whose activities are primarily centered in government, trade, manufacture or allied interests. Urbanization is a two-way process because it involves not only movement from village to cities and change from agricultural occupation to business, trade, service and profession but it also involves change in the migrants attitudes, beliefs, values and behavior patterns. The process of urbanization is rapid all over the world. The facilities like education, healthcare system, employment avenues, civic facilities and social welfare are reasons attracting people to urban areas. The census of India defines some criteria for urbanization. These are:

  • Population is more than 5000
  • The density is over 400 persons per sq.km
  • 75% of the male population engages in non-agricultural occupations.
  • Cities are urban areas with population more than one lakh.
  • Metropolises are cities with population of more than one million.

Urbanization refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, “the gradual increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas”, and the ways in which each society adapts to the change.

It is predominantly the process by which towns and cities are formed and become larger as more people begin living and working in central areas.  Urbanization is relevant to a range of disciplines,including geographysociologyeconomicsurban planning, and public health. The phenomenon has been closely linked to modernizationindustrialization, and the sociological process of rationalization.

Urbanization can be seen as a specific condition at a set time (e.g. the proportion of total population or area in cities or towns) or as an increase in that condition over time. So urbanization can be quantified either in terms of, say, the level of urban development relative to the overall population, or as the rate at which the urban proportion of the population is increasing. Urbanization creates enormous social, economic and environmental changes, which provide an opportunity for sustainability with the “potential to use resources more efficiently, to create more sustainable land use and to protect the biodiversity of natural ecosystems.”

Urbanization is not merely a modern phenomenon, but a rapid and historic transformation of human social roots on a global scale, whereby predominantly rural culture is being rapidly replaced by predominantly urban culture. The first major change in settlement patterns was the accumulation of hunter-gatherers into villages many thousand years ago. Village culture is characterized by common bloodlines, intimate relationships, and communal behavior, whereas urban culture is characterized by distant bloodlines, unfamiliar relations, and competitive behavior. This unprecedented movement of people is forecast to continue and intensify during the next few decades, mushrooming cities to sizes unthinkable only a century ago.

Law and social change in Indian society

The abstract idea of ” social change” evinces dimension of some of the characteristics of a group of people. If any action which affects a group of people who shared values or characteristics can also be said as ”social change.”

Generally, the change in existing pattern of social life is known as ” Social Change”. Society and social conditions never remain static. Generally, social change is to be understood as change in social structure.

According to Ginsberg, social change is change in social structure e.g the size of a society, the composition or balance or its part or the type of its organisation.

According to Jones, ”social change devotes variation in, or modification of , any aspect of social process,social patterns, social interaction or social organisation.”

Davis observed that social change is large number of persons are engaging in activities that differ from those which their immefiate fore-fathers engaged in some time before.

According to Anderson and Parker, social chnage involved alteration and structure or functioning of forms or processes themselves.

Social change means there is must change in social structure. Social structure which can be understood as nature, social behaviour, social relations, social organizations, community of people. Social change is change in the social order.

According to Charles L. Harper, ””significant alteration of social structure and cultural patterns through time.”

In the observation of Dennis R. Fox:
”Well-meaning efforts by liberal psychologists to reform the law in keeping with values such as dignity, privacy, justice, and equality are often misguided because law exists to serve the status quo. Law inhibits the systemic, radical social change necessary for psychological and societal well-being. It does so through coercive power, substantive assumptions about human nature, the ideology of law’s legitimacy, a preoccupation with procedure rather than substance, a focus on rational technicality rather than equity, and encouragement for limited, self-defeating legal solutions. Psycho legal scholars should arouse public dissatisfaction with law and assist social movements seeking to overcome legal impediments to social change.”

The theories of Social Change:
1.       Linear theory of social change
2.       Cyclic theory of social change.


Anthony Giddens observed social change as infra:
Sociology was born of the transformations that wrenched the industrializing social order of the West away from the ways of life characteristic of preceding societies. The world that was created by these changes is the primary object of concern of sociological analysis. The pace of social change has continued to accelerate, and it is possible that we stand on the threshold of transitions as significant as those that occurred in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Law as a means of social control:
Two fold objectives of law to serve is, firstly, to keep up stability and afford orderly life in the society. Secondly, to persuade social change by changing itself according to the needs of the changing society. Thus , law is an important agency of social control. The society supervenes the law for bettermost socialization. Rule of law in any constitution is the bedrock for democracy. By putting fear in th minds of public, the law is a helpful agency for social control. Law regulates the behaviour of the people in society. Law, by using force, makes the people conscious about their duties and obligations. Law saves precious and good concepts of the society. The exploitation of the people is curbed through law. The constitution of India, criminal , civil laws and other statutes are designed to surmount this goal.

Law as an instrument of social change:
To understand the social change through law and legal system, it is pertinent to understand that the working of legal system in the light of political,social,economic perspectives which can be seen in the constitution of India. Law is a mirror to know how people relate to one another , their values,what they consider worth preserving in life, and how they define their own security.

Law and Public opinion:
The law , which is molded through public opinion is thus the result of state action in accordance with the public opinion. Here it is necessary to remember that when Rajiv Gandhi government waned to bring defamation bill, because of the opposition to the bill in the public, the government dropped the idea. The public opinion is the reflection of the Peoples will. Public opinion becomes law.

Social change and the constitution of India:
Preamble is a key to open the statute and consists of source and objectives of the statute. Literally preamble means preliminary statement in writing or in speech or an introductory part of the statute. The word ”Pre ” means ”before”. ” Amble” means ”walk”. Thus, it is known the word ” preamble” means ”before walk”.

The preamble declaration provides that we the people of India having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign,socialist,secular,democratic republic and Justice: Social, economic and political Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. Equality of status and of opportunity and to promote among them all. Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation.

The Supreme Court of India in Beru Bari’s case,1969 observed that preamble is not part of the constitution and hence the parliament has no power to amend the preamble. Later, in KesavanandaBharativs State of Kerala,1973 the Court held that there is no wrong in treating preamble as part of constitution.

Conclusion:
A systems perspective must acknowledge that social problems are interconnected rather than isolated. People should be advocates for radical perspectives defensible on both psychological and political grounds, in keeping with values such as dignity, autonomy, equality, and justice.

Factors of Social change

Elements of Social Change:
The word ”social change” is used in history, politics, economics and sociology. Social change is also an issue in social work, political science, history, sociology, anthropology, and in many social sciences. Social change is being created by revolution, protest, politics, communities, and by direct action. Elements of social change can be separated as follows.
1. Physical or geographical
2. Biological
3. Economic
4. Cultural
5. Psychological
6. Technical
7. Population

Biological
Demographic factors – Population plays an important role in society it there is change in the composition of pop there is change in society by composition we mean the structure i.e. sex ratio. For balance in society the sex ratio should be 1:1 and if there is change in the ratio there is change in society if there are more females than the status & position goes down (because in Polygene more wives & the hubby now their status goes down). In the other case the females position rises. The bride –price increases (in the tribunal society).
Age group – childhood, adulthood, old age. If the population of children is most then increase of population will be slower. If adults more than there will be rapid change in society cause they are the most regulative. In case of old more there is conflict in society they don’t wish for change.
Marital status in production of children. If girls are married young there will be over population &he health is also in danger. Status of women becomes lower. And if at too late a stage – a girl is married fertility is less. Changes in demography – Birth rate & Death rate. Higher birth rate creates a lot of problems. Malthus theme of population – Economics. Over population-poverty unemployment increases. Death – rate – man – power decreases.
Immigration & Emigration – 1 is coming into country, 2 – going out of the country. Causes cultural problems leads to over population. 2 – Brain – drain is the problem.

Natural factors – now native affect society – National calamities, floods, epidemics affairs society in its social relationships (i) structure. People become selfish as during scarcities they are more bothered feeding themselves.

 

 

 

Technological factors

Mechanization & social change – machines bring about this gave women the chance to work gave rise to women’s tib.
Unemployment & such problems arose these affected cottage industries.

Urbanization – changed job opportunities.
Transport gave rise is social contacts. Communication gives rise to greater awareness & is beans of recreation too.
Atomic Energy & change

Cultural Factors
Write about concept of cultural tag by w.fOugbourn book – social change brings change. He says material & non – material change. Usually non-material can’t cope up with material changed & gives rise to cultural lag.
Change in values ideas & custom’s changes society (Habits).
In handbook of Sociology, he said if may so happen that material behind education, unization etc., too brings change in marriage system etc.

 

Marxian theory of social change i.e. Technological Deterministic theory. On interpretative theory – change according to him is inevitable & a continuous process. He has given more important to the economical factors. He says if there is change in economy the only tractor my (changes of demography etc affect the individuals) there is change in society – change n the production system i.e. change in technology because it is due to change in technology that these’s change in production that’s why his theme is called technological data. Two change in production system.

 

 

 

 

 

Unit-5

SOCIAL EVILS AND MOVEMENTS

(a). Communalism

(b). Regionalism

(c). Casteism

(d). Social Movements

 

COMMUNALISM

Introduction

Communalism, is referred in the western world as a “theory or system of government in which virtually autonomous local communities are loosely in federation”. Communalism is a political philosophy, which proposes that market and money be abolished and that land and enterprises to be placed in the custody of community. But in the Indian sub-continent context, communalism has come to be associated with tensions and clashes between different religious communities in various regions.

It is important to note that Indian society was never homogenous throughout history. It was highly diverse religiously, culturally, caste-wise and linguistically but there was hardly any tension between these groups. It all began with establishment of British rule in India and so most of the scholars agree that communalism is a modern phenomenon and not a medieval phenomenon.

Development of communalism as political philosophy, has roots in the ethnic and cultural diversity of Africa. It is characterized as, People from different ethnic groups or community, who do not interact much or at all and this has somewhere acted as hindrance in the economic growth and prosperity of Africa.

Communalism in South Asia is used to denote the differences between the various religious groups and difference among the people of different community. And generally it is used to catalyse communal violence between those groups.

Communalism is not unique only to South Asia, but is also found in Africa, America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. But, it is significant socio-economic and political issue in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, etc.

 

What is Communalism?

It is basically an ideology which consists of three elements:-

  • A belief that people who follow the same religion have common secular interests i.e. they have same political, economic and social interests. So, here socio- political communalities arises.
  • A notion that, in a multi-religious society like India, these common secular interests of one religion are dissimilar and divergent from the interests of the follower of another religion.
  • The interests of the follower of the different religion or of different ‘communities’ are seen to be completely incompatible, antagonist and hostile.

Communalism is political trade in religion. It is an ideology on which communal politics is based. And communal violence is conjectural consequences of communal ideology.

 

Evolution of communalism in Indian society

If we discuss about Indian society, we will find that, ancient India was united and no such communal feelings were there. People lived peacefully together; there was acceptance for each other’s culture and tradition. For example, Ashoka followed religious tolerance and focussed mainly on Dhamma.

In Medieval period, we have examples such as- Akbar, who was epitome of secular practises and believed in propagating such values by abolishing Jajhiya tax and starting of Din-I- ilahi and IbadatKhana. Same acceptance for different cultures and tradition was practised in several kingdoms throughout India, because of which there was peace and harmony, barring few sectarian rulers like Aurangzeb, who was least tolerant for other religious practises. But, such motives were guided purely for their personal greed of power and wealth.

Such rulers and actions by them like- imposing taxes on religious practises of other community, destructing temples, forced conversions, killing of Sikh guru, etc. were instrumental in deepening and establishing the feeling of communal differences in India. But, these incidents were not common as, huge majority of Indians were rural and were aloof from such influences and so people coexisted peacefully. Though, they were very rigid in practising their own rituals and practise, but it never became barrier in the peaceful coexistence. Overall, the Hindus and Muslims in those days, had common economic and political interests.

Communalism in India is result of the emergence of modern politics, which has its roots in partition of Bengal in 1905 and feature of separate electorate under Government of India Act, 1909.Later, British government also appeased various communities through Communal award in 1932, which faced strong resistance from Gandhi ji and others. All these acts were done by the British government to appease Muslims and other communities, for their own political needs. This feeling of communalism has deepened since then, fragmenting the Indian society and being a cause of unrest.

(by Communal award colonial government mandated that consensus over any issue among different communities (i.e. Hindu, Muslims, Sikhs and others) is precondition for any further political development)

Communal consciousness arose as a result of the transformation of Indian society under the impact of colonialism and the need to struggle against it.

  • Partition of India,1947

After partition, millions of population was forced to move from both sides of the border. Hindus in Pakistan and Muslims in India were killed in masses, women were raped, and many children lost their parents. There was hatred everywhere; violence didn’t see anything except bloodshed. Later, it turned in the problem of refugees and their rehabilitation became one of the biggest challenges for independent India.

 

  • Anti-Sikh riots, 1984

This is one of the bloodshed in India, where Sikhs in large number were massacred by anti- Sikh mob. This massacre took place in response to the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by his own Sikh body Guard in response to her actions authorising the military operation.

 

  • Ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindu Pundits in 1989

Kashmir is known as the heaven of India and was known for its Kashmiryat, i.e. the reflection of love, peace and harmony through brotherhood and unity of Hindu, Muslims and other communities living together. But, the brotherhood saw a serious blow due to Extremist Islamic terrorism in the Kashmir valley, which led to mass killing and large scale exodus of Kashmiri Pundits from the valley to the various regions and corners of the India, giving them the status of refugee in their own country. Since then, the valley is under the grip of communal violence and the ongoing unrest has become a problem for the development of the people.

 

  • Babri masjid demolition in Ayodhya, 1992

According to Hindu mythology, Ayodhaya is birth place of Lord Rama and therefore it is sacred place for Hindu religion. But in medieval period Mughal general Mir Baqi, built a mosque, named after Mughal ruler Babur. There were disputes since then and riots also took place. But in 1990, due to some political mobilisation, there was atmosphere of protest by Hindu religious groups and in large scale “karsevak” visited Ayodhya from all parts of India, in support of demolishing Babri masjid and building Ram temple there. These movements caused huge amount of bloodshed and since then it is a disputed matter.

After this, violence was followed by the Godhra incident in 2002, when “karsevak” returning from Ayodhya in a Sabarmati Express were killed by fire in the coaches of train. This act was followed by the extended communal violence in Gujarat. That violence is like black spot in the history of the Gujarat and nation too, as people were killed without any mercy. Hindu and Muslim community became antagonist to each other. Till now people are fighting for justice in Supreme Court, with a ray hope from the Indian Judiciary.

North eastern states are known for its distinguished tribal population & ethnic diversity and large scale Bangladeshi immigration has changed the demography of North eastern states, which often becomes reason for clashes. In 2012, there were ethnic clashes between Bodos (Tribal, Christian & Hindu faith) and Muslims.Ethnic tensions between Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslims escalated into a riot in Kokrajhar in July 2012, when unidentified miscreants killed four Bodo youths at Joypur.

  • Muzaffarnagar violence, 2013

The cause of this ethnic clash between Jat and Muslim community is very much disputed and has many versions. According to few, it was started after some suspicious post on Social media platform Facebook. According to some, it was escalated after the eve teasing case in Shamli. Let the reasons be unknown, but what matters is, the nature and scale of loss to the country with respect to human resource and peace.

 

In all these and hundreds of other riots, one thing is common that huge majority of victims have nothing to do with communal hatred. In short, preparators of violence and victims of violence are different persons.

Similar to above mentioned list, there are many more, which has impact on the masses and killed people on large scale. Bombay bomb incident, 1993, Attack on Akshardham in 2002 by Lashkar-e-Toiba& Varanasi Bomb attack, 2006 are few of them, having Anti-Hindu outlook.

Lot of movies have been pictured on the above mentioned communal violence, which can give us understanding about the damages and harm, done by these violence- “Bombay” & “Black Friday” based on 1992 attacks.“Train to Pakistan” based on the novel of Khuswantsingh about partition of India, 1947. “Gandhi” is portrayal of Direct Action Day and partition of India. “Hawayein based of 1984 Sikh riots and “Machis” about Punjab terrorism.

These are the few ones to name and there are many more, which may sensitise us about such issues, so that in future it can be avoided.

Consequences of communalism is well known to all of us. With killings in mass, the real sufferers are the poor, they lose their house, their near and dear ones, their lives, their livelihood, etc. It violates the human rights from all direction. Sometimes children will lose their parents and will become orphan for life time and nobody will be there to look after them.

Steps required

The solution of such problems cannot be one or two steps by government. Apart from legislative support, administrative efficiency and alertness with the help of modern tools and technology, the major onus lies on the citizens themselves by avoiding communal violence. Though its bit philosophical in nature, as it’s not a concrete solution, but the sustainable changes can be brought only by those steps.

Each of us, have to make a balance between our own religious community and national interests, we have to unite with nationalism, and then should move forward. The teachings of a religious community may be great, but the followers of the community concerned should understand that nationalism is greater.  If they do not become familiar with this fact, they will be away from national stream; they will suffer. This fact relates not only to India but also to many other countries of the world.

We have to be rational while making decisions. Each and every religious community has been founded on the basis of certain values that were best and necessary for circumstances of the country and times.  Goodness likes adjustment with others, or co-operation, or consistency can be found in their teachings.  But by not moving  according to the teachings of their religious community those who depend upon fundamentalism and conservative practices, or those who use their co-religionists taking advantage of their poverty, illiteracy or innocence, are dishonest towards their own self, their co-religionists and also towards those great leaders who founded the religious community.  Everyone must understand this fact also.  Along with this, leaders of all communities, by knowing it, must come forward for an atmosphere surcharged with harmony, in which lies their welfare too. The religious teachers should promote rational and practical things through religion promoting peace and security.

Policies like appeasement, fun and frolic with the sentiments of people for individual and party interests, and selection of candidates on the basis of religious community or sect by keeping aside the qualifications, one, certainly, does the things against national interest or nationalism; are reflections of lower national thinking.  That is why; these kinds of acts should be stopped at government level and also at the level of political parties.

There is a great need to work towards eradicating the problem of unemployment among the youths, illiteracy and poverty and that too with honesty and without any discrimination.  This will help in solving many problems, and will create awakening.  The result will be in checking on communalism to a great extent.  That is why it is expected that a lot of work have to be done at government level in this direction.

But whatever have been mentioned in above paragraphs, will be effective only when our society and its citizens, become so much capable and empowered, that they can take sensible, ethical and rational decisions. This is possible only with the help of quality education. But quality education for such huge population cannot be always expected from the public institutions. It is also the corporate social responsibility; it is the responsibility of the educated Indians, NRI and everyone who has roots in India to bring changes in Indian society. So that we can live, the ethos of our constitution and would be able to promote International peace and security too.

Media, movies and other cultural platforms can be influential in promoting peace and harmony. Though all such practises in India are common, but there is still scope for improvement in this direction.

 

Thus, in order to get rid of the problem of communalism in India, there is a need of collective efforts. All will have to discharge their duties.  If we do so, definitely harmony will prevail.  Everybody will prosper. This must be done; this was the dream of Mahatma Gandhi for a free India.

REGIONALISM

To understand regionalism, we need to know various dimensions of the region. Region as a geographical unit, is delimited form each other. Region as a social system, reflects the relation between different human beings and groups. Regions are an organised cooperation in cultural, economic, political or military fields. Region acts as a subject with distinct identity, language, culture and tradition.

Regionalism is the attachment towards one’s own region or state instead of to the entire country.

The people in India differ greatly from one another in respect of language and social habits. India is divided among states mainly on the basis of language. The Government of India, shortly after independence began reforming the provinces on the linguistic basis. It was expected that this would make each region or state a compact homogeneous whole, facilitate administration, and help its rapid progress, thus benefiting the country as a whole.

But the linguistic division of the country has already given rise to feelings that threaten the very unity of the motherland. Though the States of India are united under a common banner and common central government, we think of ourselves as natives of Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha, etc. first and Indian afterwards.

At times, the feeling regionalism in India gets so strong that people of one state often starts treating the people of other states at foreigners.

The Constitution of India lays down that every Indian shall enjoy equal rights in every part of the country.

Indeed the evil of Regionalism has already become so serious that fears have arisen in many quarters about the unity of the country.

People need to understand that India is a union of states. Our pride is in Unity in diversity. The problem of Regionalism is an evil. We should be tolerant and respect the people as human brother.

Regionalism in INDIA

Roots of regionalism is in India’s manifold diversity of languages, cultures, ethnic groups, communities, religions and so on, and encouraged by the regional concentration of those identity markers, and fueled by a sense of regional deprivation. For many centuries, India remained the land of many lands, regions, cultures and traditions.

For instance, southern India (the home of Dravidian cultures), which is itself a region of many regions, is evidently different from the north, the west, the central and the north-east. Even the east of India is different from the North-East of India comprising today seven constituent units of Indian federation with the largest concentration of tribal people.

Telangana Movement

In the years after the formation of Andhra Pradesh state, people of Telangana expressed dissatisfaction over how the agreements and guarantees were implemented. Discontent with the 1956 Gentleman’s agreement intensified in January 1969, when the guarantees that had been agreed on were supposed to lapse. Student agitation for the continuation of the agreement began at Osmania University in Hyderabad and spread to other parts of the region. Government employees and opposition members of the state legislative assembly threatened “direct action” in support of the students. This movement since then finally resulted last year one separate state of Telangana.

It should be noted that roots of disparity in two regions was in colonial rule. Andhra was under direct rule of crown while Telangana was ruled by Nizam of Hyderabad, who was not so efficient ruler. So over time Andhra got more developed in comparison to Telangana.

Khalistan Movement

It was during the era of 1980s that Khalistan movement with its aim to create a Sikh homeland, often called Khalistan, cropped up in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. In fact this demand has also the colours of communalism, as there demand is only for Sikhs.

Shiv Sena against Kannadigas

In 1966, Shiv Sena, in Maharashtra, launched its agitation against Kannadigas in the name of Marathi pride. The first targets of its agitation were South Indians who were the workers of Udupi hotels in Mumbai. This agitation was labelled to be a retaliation of the lathi-charge on Marathi speaking people in the border areas.

Creation of new States in 2000

In 2000, the Government of India, pursuant to legislation passed by Parliament during the summer, created three new states, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, and Jharkhand,reconstituting Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, respectively. Both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress party supported the formation of the states. The basis for creating the new states is socio-political and not linguistic.

Conclusion

We have seen how regionalism could be good or bad for a nation as well for group of nations. Constitution of India under Article-19, gives every citizen a fundamental right to move around and settle down peacefully any part of the country. And, as citizen of India everyone should respect this fundamental right of every person, avoiding clashes like Shiv Sena does in Maharashtra.

The need of the hour is to develop each region of India, through devolution of power to local governments and empowering people for their participation in decision-making. The governments at state level need to find out the alternative resources of energy, source of employment for local people, use of technology in governance, planning and for agriculture development. The 12th five year targets for “Faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth“, which will be instrumental for balanced regional growth.

The regional blocks like BRICS, ASEAN are developing more negotiation capabilities for economic needs of the region, for climate change negotiations, etc. The dependency on World Bank, IMF for developmental projects is being complimented by the new commitments of the BRICS Bank, New Developmental Banks, etc.

In future, the further integration of the different regions will give every nation due respect and due importance to their needs. Their exotic and unique things are getting exposure at international level and no one will feel left out. The whole world will be a global village with unique regions within.

 

CASTEISM

 Definition of Casteism:

“Casteism is loyalty to the caste translated into politics”. —D.N. Prasad

“Casteism………. is an over-riding, blind and supreme group loyalty that ignores the healthy social standards of justice, fair play, equity and universal brotherhood”. —Kaka Kalelkar.

In this way it is only because of casteism that the Smiths want to benefit only the Smiths while the Joneses want to come to the aid of other Joneses. It matters little if the members of the other castes are irreparably harmed, if it does not cause any concern to the Smiths and Joneses”. —K.M. Panikkar

It is clear from the above definitions that casteism is a blind group loyalty towards one’s own caste or sub-caste which does not care for the interests of other castes and their members.

Characteristic Features of Casteism:

  1. Casteism ignores and does not care for the interests of other castes. It signifies blind caste or sub-caste loyalty.
  2. It ignores the human values and social welfare.
  3. It hinders the spirit of democracy. It is anti-democratic.
  4. It plays a nasty role in elections.
  5. As regards casteism. Prof. M.N. Srinivas says, “on a short term basis the country is likely to have more trouble with caste”.
  6. It is against the ideal of Indian constitution.
  7. It hinders the process of national integration

Causes of Casteism:

  1. Sense of Caste Prestige:

It is the most important cause of casteism. Feeling of own caste superiority over other castes is the main factor. It is people’s strong desire to enhance caste prestige. Members of a particular caste or sub-caste have the tendency of developing loyalty to their own caste.

Each and every member tries to keep up their caste prestige and superiority over other castes intact. This type of loyalty towards the caste makes the members of the caste in favour of their own members of the caste wherever they get the opportunity. It leads to casteism.

  1. Caste Endogamy:

Caste endogamy refers to marriage within the same caste. Caste endogamy is therefore responsible for the emergence of the feeling of casteism. Individuals are more prone to develop their loyalties towards their own caste and sub-caste people. The practice of endogamy makes the people narrow-minded.

  1. Impact of Urbanisation:

Urbanisationindirectlyfavouringcasteism. Due to the impact of industrialization people migrate from the rural areas to urban areas. When they go to a new place, naturally they search for their caste people. They consider their own caste people as their own potential friends and well-wisher. Hence it leads to strengthen caste feeling and casteism.

 

 

 

  1. Increase in the Means of Transport and Communication:

Advancement and improvement in the means of transport and communication leads to a better organisation of caste. The feeling of casteism is also rapidly propagated through the medium of newspapers.

  1. Illiteracy:

Lack of literacy leads to narrow-mindedness. Mostly the illiterate people have more caste feelings. Hence it leads to casteism.

  1. Belief in Religious Dogmas:

Due to illiteracy, people are governed by belief in religious dogmas, blind beliefs and superstitions. Due to the practice of ‘Jati Dharma’ they take interest in their own caste. It leads to caste feeling and casteism.

  1. Social Distance:

Especially in rural areas, people belonging to the higher caste maintain social distance from the lower castes. They maintain it through different restrictions like inter-caste mintages, Inter-dinning etc. The ideologies of an individual tire conditioned exclusively by his caste norms and values. This has given rise to casteism.

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

In a society a large number of changes have been brought about by efforts exerted by people individually and collectively. Such efforts have been called social movements. A social movement is defined as a collectively acting with some continuity to promote or resist a change in the society or group of which it is a part. Social movement is a form of dynamic pluralistic behavior that progressively develops structure through time and aims at partial or complete modification of the social order.

A social movement may also be directed to resist a change. Some movements are directed to modify certain aspects of the existing social order whereas others may aim to change it completely. The former are called reform movements and the latter are called revolutionary movements. Social movements may be of numerous kinds such as religious movements, reform movements or revolutionary movements. Lundberg defined social movement as a voluntary association of people engaged in concerted efforts to change attitudes, behavior and social relationships in a larger society.

While technology, population, environment factors, and racial inequality can prompt social change, only when members of a society organize into social movements does true social change occur. The phrase social movements refer to collective activities designed to bring about or resist primary changes in an existing society or group.

Wherever they occur, social movements can dramatically shape the direction of society. When individuals and groups of people—civil rights activists and other visionaries, for instance—transcend traditional bounds, they may bring about major shifts in social policy and structures.

 

Main features of social movement may be 
1.      It is an effort by a group.
2.      Its aim is to bring or resist a change in society
3.      It may be organized or unorganized.
4.      It may be peaceful or violent
5.      Its life is not certain. It may continue for a long period or may die out soon.

 

Types of Social Movements

We know that social movements can occur on the local, national, or even global stage. Sociologist David Aberle (1966) addresses this question, developing categories that distinguish among social movements based on what they want to change and how much change they want.

Reform movements seek to change something specific about the social structure. Examples include anti-nuclear groups, Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD), and the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC).

Revolutionary movements seek to completely change every aspect of society. These would include Cuban 26th of July Movement (under Fidel Castro), the 1960s counterculture movement, as well as anarchist collectives.

Redemptive movements are “meaning seeking,” and their goal is to provoke inner change or spiritual growth in individuals. Organizations pushing these movements might include Alcoholics Anynymous, New Age, or Christian fundamentalist groups.

Alternative movements are focused on self-improvement and limited, specific changes to individual beliefs and behaviour. These include groups like the Slow Food movement, Planned Parenthood, and barefoot jogging advocates.

Resistance movements seek to prevent or undo change to the social structure.

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