Réponse :

India has been part of the Commonwealth since it became independent in 1947, after 96 years under British domination. Although Queen Victoria never went to India, she was very proud of being, Empress of India, her new title! India is extremely different from what we know in Europe. India has a system of castes which we can’t really dissociate from the traditions of the country and its way of life. There are four main groups:

- the scheduled castes, better known as the “untouchables”, those people form the lowest classes of the population,

- the scheduled tribes which include the aboriginal populations,

- the other backward castes,

- the forward castes, which are what we would call in England the upper-class.

• You can't change the caste you are born into. The Brahman caste is at the top of the social ladder, at the other end the Dalits or Untouchables are outcastes. They can only occupy certain jobs such as cleaning or mending shoes. Even if discrimination against Dalits has become rare in towns, in rural areas they are still expected to use specific eating places, schools, places of worship and sources of water. The caste system is officially banned today, and yet it still exists with over 170 million Dalits of which one third are illiterate.

National hero: Mahatma Gandhi

• Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) was born in India, but studied law in London before going to South Africa where he defended the rights of the Indians who worked there under apartheid. When he returned to India he campaigned against the British rule of the country and practised civil disobedience with such acts as boycotting British goods and leading protest marches. The British imprisoned him on numerous occasions and Gandhi demonstrated his disapproval by going on hunger strike. His non-violent means of protest has been a source of inspiration to other leaders such as Martin Luther King.

• Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 by a Hindi fanatic angered by the tolerance he demonstrated towards other religions.

5. Key date

1947: Creation of Pakistan. Religious differences divided the Indian Independence movement during the 1930s and there was a call to create a separate state (Pakistan) for Muslims. Gandhi was unable to find a way to unite the Indian people in spite of their religious differences. The creation of Pakistan led to millions of Muslims having to leave India to go there and to Hindus having to leave Pakistan to go to India.

Explications : je t'ai donné pas mal d'info à toi de trier, mais tu as largement d uoi faire ton devoir.