1- How are some dalits treated in India even today
2- What did foreign observers feel about the future of India after Independence?
Answers
Answer:
1)Dalits are poor, deprived and socially backward. Poor means that they do not have access to enough food, health care, housing and/or clothing (which means that their physiological and safety needs are not fulfilled). They also do not have access to education and employment.
2)When India became independent in August 1947 it faced a series of big challenges –
As a result of Partition about 8 million refugees had come into the country from Pakistan and these people had to find homes and jobs.
Then there was the problem of the princely states almost 500 each ruled by a maharaja or a nawab each of whom were to be persuaded to join the new nation. The problems of the refugees and of the princely states had to be addressed immediately.In the longer term the new nation had to adopt a political system that would best serve the hopes and expectations of its population.
India’s population in 1947 was almost 345 million. It was also divided between high castes and low castes, between the majority Hindu community and Indians who practiced other faiths. The citizens of this vast land spoke many different languages, wore many different kinds of dress, ate different kinds of food and practiced different professions. There was the problem of unification.Added to this was the problem of development. At Independence the vast majority of Indians lived in the villages. Farmers, peasants and the non-farm sector of the rural economy depended on the monsoon for their survival. In the cities factory workers lived in crowded slums with little access to education or health care.
The new nation had to lift its masses out of poverty by increasing the productivity of agriculture and by promoting new, job-creating industries. Unity and development had to go hand in hand. If the divisions between different sections of India were not healed they could result in violent and costly conflicts and at the same time if the fruits of economic development did not reach the broad masses of the population, it could create fresh divisions.
The Indian Constitution
Between December 1946 and November 1949 Indians had a series of meetings on the country’s political future. The meetings of this “Constituent Assembly” were held in New Delhi but the participants came from all over India and from different political parties. These discussions resulted in the framing of the Indian Constitution which was adopted on 26 January 1950.
Features of the constitution were –
One feature of the Constitution was its adoption of universal adult franchise where all Indians above the age of 21 would be allowed to vote in state and national elections. This was a revolutionary step that the Indians were allowed to choose their own leaders now.