{"id":11884,"date":"2021-06-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/30-06-2021\/religion-in-india-tolerance-and-segregation\/"},"modified":"2021-06-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-06-30T00:00:00","slug":"religion-in-india-tolerance-and-segregation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/30-06-2021\/religion-in-india-tolerance-and-segregation","title":{"rendered":"Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>In News<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>\u201cReligion in India: Tolerance and Segregation\u201d, a Pew Center report<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> on religious attitudes in India stated that Indians value religious freedom, not integration.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>About<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">It is a major survey of religion across India.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">It is conducted by Pew Research Center.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">It is based on nearly 30,000 face-to-face interviews of adults conducted in 17 languages between late 2019 and early 2020.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Key Findings<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Religious Freedom:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> The report finds that Indians of all these religious backgrounds overwhelmingly say they are very free to practice their faiths.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/8j9kWooNtd9QSlahG3AQpH8E8JHs1v7_5fJd3luzLYkl9DUrucfbkoVa6eyt0eegYXBuIp6Mh_Mfpj1Lwvmk8_rcx1YOjYduAqe8fUGvnVej53iNDCvLYb8DpDSa1niF3ges_CME\" style=\"height:334px; width:435px\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Image Courtesy:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> <\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/indians-value-religious-freedom-and-tolerance-but-not-great-at-integration-finds-pew-survey\/article35045347.ece\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\"><u>TH<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Tolerance: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Indians see religious tolerance as a central part of who they are as a nation. Across the major religious groups, most people say it is very important to respect all religions to be \u201ctruly Indian.\u201d Tolerance is a religious as well as civic value.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Shared Values:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> There are some shared values accompanied by a number of beliefs that cross religious lines:\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Not only do a majority of Hindus in India (77%) believe in karma, but an identical percentage of Muslims do, too.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">A third of Christians in India (32%) \u2013 together with 81% of Hindus \u2013 say they believe in the purifying power of the Ganges River.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">In Northern India, 12% of Hindus and 10% of Sikhs, along with 37% of Muslims, identity with Sufism, a mystical tradition most closely associated with Islam.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">And the vast majority of Indians of all major religious backgrounds say that respecting elders is very important to their faith.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Differences:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> Despite sharing certain values and religious beliefs \u2013 as well as living in the same country, under the same constitution \u2013 members of India\u2019s major religious communities often don\u2019t feel they have much in common with one another:\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The majority of Hindus see themselves as very different from Muslims (66%), and most Muslims return the sentiment, saying they are very different from Hindus (64%).\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">There are a few exceptions: Two-thirds of Jains and about half of Sikhs say they have a lot in common with Hindus. But generally, people in India\u2019s major religious communities tend to see themselves as very different from others.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Affinity to Own Group:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> Indians generally stick to their own religious group when it comes to their friends. Fewer Indians go so far as to say that their neighbourhoods should consist only of people from their own religious groups. Still, many would prefer to keep people of certain religions out of their residential areas or villages.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Live Together Separately:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> Indians simultaneously express enthusiasm for religious tolerance and a consistent preference for keeping their religious communities in segregated spheres \u2013 they live together separately. These two sentiments may seem paradoxical, but for many Indians, they are not.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Indians\u2019 concept of religious tolerance does not necessarily involve the mixing of religious communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Indians seem to prefer a country more like a patchwork fabric, with clear lines between groups.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/z2k5hpAtRUinUczgLQ9QwXTxtO1svE0vjn1u3HRe66xTOCPdcsAFA-o4moGWrE733YCoGJfKHNL3qNBgMBwZ873ks0gHSFWxW57QkOlFzmOj2QKoQ45gv597C-TY8aOgVnH1Hp6Y\" style=\"height:393px; width:602px\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Being Hindu important to Indian identity for many Hindus: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Most Hindus think two dimensions of national identity \u2013 being able to speak Hindi and being a Hindu \u2013 are closely connected. An identical percentage of Muslims and Hindus (65 per cent each) saw communal violence as a very big national problem.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>The Partition sentiment: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The survey found that while Sikhs and Muslims were more likely to say the Partition was a \u2018bad thing\u2019, Hindus were leaning in the opposite direction.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Caste is another dividing line in Indian society, and not just among Hindus: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Religion is not the only fault line in Indian society. In some regions of the country, significant shares of people perceive widespread, caste-based discrimination.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Religious conversion in India: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">This survey finds that religious switching, or conversion, has a minimal impact on the overall size of India\u2019s religious groups. Other groups display similar levels of stability. Changes in India\u2019s religious landscape over time are largely a result of differences in fertility rates among religious groups, not conversion.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Religion is very important across India\u2019s religious groups:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> The vast majority of Indians, across all major faiths, say that religion is very important in their lives. And at least three-quarters of each major religion\u2019s followers say they know a great deal about their own religion and its practices.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/kVht_49V2Gw4jt81EPed-QnvnripGP94zJPhSGA67raxZ01i7QH9MiBQRtDOrhokMSK-FZj1q10ahsx0g8-4tVt4MEpr8lLcYtn70nFLzaI6KmKQ0G1zIgJoeBDiBoE10NjK5heo\" style=\"height:416px; width:310px\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">(Image Courtesy: <\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewforum.org\/2021\/06\/29\/religion-in-india-tolerance-and-segregation\/\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\"><u>PewForum<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:justify\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Conclusion<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">India\u2019s massive population is diverse as well as devout.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Not only do most of the world\u2019s Hindus, Jains and Sikhs live in India, but it also is home to one of the world\u2019s largest Muslim populations and to millions of Christians and Buddhists.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Source<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">: <\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/indians-value-religious-freedom-and-tolerance-but-not-great-at-integration-finds-pew-survey\/article35045347.ece\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\"><u>TH<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In News \u201cReligion in India: Tolerance and Segregation\u201d, a Pew Center report on religious attitudes in India stated that Indians value religious freedom, not integration. About It is a major survey of religion across India. It is conducted by Pew Research Center. It is based on nearly 30,000 face-to-face interviews of adults conducted in 17 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[152,25,151],"class_list":["post-11884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-diversity-of-india","tag-gs1","tag-salient-features-of-indian-society"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/7871770current-affairs.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}