UPSCPORTAL : "(Online Course) Essay Writing Skills Improvement Programme: Democracy Implies Tolerance of Dissent" plus 1 more

(Online Course) Essay Writing Skills Improvement Programme: Democracy Implies Tolerance of Dissent

Posted: 15 Jul 2012 11:41 PM PDT

Democracy Implies Tolerance of Dissent

'Democracy' literally means 'rule by the demos' in the ancient Greek word. The term 'demos' is generally translated as 'the people' and the 'people' implies the whole population, particularly the adult population, of a tribe, a territory or a country. The entire population or the collectivity obviously comprises a multitude of individuals as units. It is well-known that no two individuals in a collectivity, mechanical or organic, can be alike, as their needs and aspirations differ even as their physical and mental compositions differ. Naturally, their views, notions, beliefs and habits are not similar and yet the concept and practice of and the rule of/by the people, however disparate, is very much in existence.

Human societies are held together by something more than convenience, calculation or the threat of punishment. There is certainly something in a state's constitution, especially in democratic states, that is permanent, never to be questioned, and that political institutions must protect and preserve. A democratic constitution is in fact far more than a writing on a piece of paper. It envisages cultural and moral loyalty to certain values. This kind of loyalty or feelings of faithfulness consists in an explicit commitment to the basic ideals that the law of the state incorporates. The power of this meta-juridical ethos reflects on the manner in which procedures work and citizens interact in their daily lives. This principle is the sovereignty of the individual, of each individual, and resulting in the sovereignty of individual political judgment. In practice, by 'the people' we mean the majority of the people. As such, in a democracy, whatever the majority decides is carried out by the entire population. This, however, does not mean that the majority is entitled to lord it over the minority. Rather, democracy thrives only on the willing co-operation of the minority and on the protection guaranteed to the rights and freedoms, and tolerance of, if not agreement with, the views and beliefs of the minorities. It leaves much scope for dissent, i.e., there may be people who think differently from official ideas or the ideas of the majority. Dissent is not necessarily a negative concept; it offers an alternative to the prevailing ideas, institutions and system, and exists even in non-democratic systems.

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(Online Course) GS Concepts : Mordern Indian History - Causes of the Tribal Movements

Posted: 15 Jul 2012 11:04 PM PDT

Subject : Modern Indian History
Chapter : Early Uprisings Against The British

Topic: Causes and Phase of Tribal Movements

Question : Briefly discuss the causes of the tribal movements?

Answer :

Tribal movements are further subdivided into two categories along two main divisions of tribes based on the geographical region occupied.

(a) Non-frontier tribes constitute 89 per cent of the total tribal population. The non-frontier tribes were mainly confined to Central India, West-CentraI India and Andhra. Among the tribes that participated in the movements were Khonds, avara, Santhal, Munda, Oraon, Koya, Kol, Gond and Bhil. The uprisings of these tribes were quite volatile and constitute some of the major uprisings.

(b) Frontier tribes of the seven North-eastern frontier states of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.

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Monday, 16 July 2012