NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science Civics Chapter 2 Understanding Secularism contain solutions to the exercises given in the Civics book Social and Political Life. These answers have been explained in a manner that you will easily understand all the concepts and get your doubts cleared without even seeking anyone’s assistance. You can read and download all the questions and answers in PDF format.
Class 8 Civics Understanding Secularism Ncert Textbook Questions and Answers
Question 1: List the different types of religious practice that you find in your neighbourhood. This could be different forms of prayer, worship of different gods, sacred sites, different kinds of religious music and singing etc. Does this indicate freedom of religious practice?
Answer: The different types of religious practices that we can see in our neighbourhood are as follows:
- The different types of religious practices that we can see in our neighbourhood are as follows:
- Hindus visit Temple. They perform puja and worship the idols of their Gods and Goddesses.
- Muslims visit mosque and worship their sacred book the Quran. They offer namaaz.
- Sikhs visit Gurudwara, worship their sacred book Guru Granth Sahib by offering prayers and listening to shabad-kirtan.
- Christians visit Church and worship Jesus Christ.
Yes, this indicates freedom of religious practice as the people in India have the freedom to practice the religion of their choice while living together in peace and harmony.
Question 2: Will the government intervene if some religious group says that their religion allows them to practice infanticide? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer: The government in any democratic nation would intervene if some religious group says that their religion allows them to practice infanticide because this tradition goes against the Fundamental Right to Life. It involves the killing of an innocent and is, hence, unacceptable. The government, in this case, interferes by coercion or via support. The government should intervene in religion to end a social practice that discriminates and violates the “Fundamental Rights” of citizens. Ending such practices ensures that there is freedom and equality in our society.
Question 3: Complete the following table:
| Objective | Why is this important? | Example of a violation of this objective |
| One religious community does not dominate another. | ||
| The State does not enforce any particular religion nor take away the religious freedom of individuals. | ||
| That some members do not dominate other members of the same religious community. |
Answer:
| Objective | Why is this important? | Example of a violation of this objective |
| One religious community does not dominate another. | This is important to protect the Fundamental Right to Freedom of Religion. | The Gujarat riots in 2002 against Muslims. |
| The State does not enforce any particular religion nor take away the religious freedom of individuals. | This is important to uphold the ideals of a democratic nation which gives its citizens the freedom to follow any religion of their choice. | France government banning the Muslim headscarves and Sikh turbans in public places. |
| That some members do not dominate other members of the same religious community. | This is necessary to uphold individual freedom to practise religion in the light of pressure from the group or religious community that one belongs to. | Dalits being looked down upon by the upper caste Hindus. |
Question 4: Look up the annual calendar of holidays of your school. How many of them pertain to different religions? What does this indicate?
Answer: The annual calendar of our school marks holidays like Eid, which is celebrated by Muslims. Diwali, which is a Hindu festival, Christmas, which is celebrated by Christians and Guru Nanak Jayanti which is a Sikh festival. This proves that India is a secular country and every individual has the right to religious freedom.
Question 5: Find out some examples of different views within the same religion.
Answer:
Many religions in our country are further divided into groups and communities that hold opinions differing from each other. Some examples of such groups and communities existing within the same religion are given below:
- Muslims are divided into Shias and Sunnis.
- Jains are divided into Shwetambar and Digambar.
- Buddhist followers are divided into Mahayana and Hinayana.
- In Hindu religion also, there are hundreds of gods and goddesses that are worshipped by different groups of people.
Question 6: The Indian State both keeps away from religion as well as intervenes in religion. This idea can be quite confusing. Discuss this once again in class using examples from the chapter as well as those that you might have come up with.
Answer:
(i) The Indian State distances itself from the religion and it is not ruled by a religious group nor does it support any one religion. At the same time, the Indian Constitution grants the right to religious communities to set up their own schools and colleges. It also gives them financial aid on a non-preferential basis.
(ii) Equal respect is given to all the religions. In order to prevent domination by one particular community, the state may interfere in the religion via coercion or support.
(iii) The State may interfere in religion to ensure that all religions are treated equally.
(iv) Sometimes, the State may have to intervene in religion based on ‘personal laws’ of the communities to ensure that laws relating to equal inheritance are protected. Similarly, the State also intervenes in case of unwanted religious practices such as untouchability and infanticide by banning such practices.
(v) The State also uses a strategy of non-interference. This means that in order to respect the sentiments of all religions and not interfere with religious practices, the State makes certain exceptions for particular religious communities. For example, Sikh motorists are allowed to not wear helmets while riding two- wheeler.