'Living together separately' - Religions in India

The story: A comprehensive Pew Research Center study found most Indians respecting religious diversity, but preferring to live in separate spheres, an

'Living together separately' - Religions in India

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• The story: A comprehensive Pew Research Center study found most Indians respecting religious diversity, but preferring to live in separate spheres, and hating interfaith marriages. This was a survey on 30,000 individuals titled ‘Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation’.
• Learnings: More Indians see diversity as a benefit (53%) than view it as a liability (24%) for their country; the rest do not take a clear position. Nearly 84% of Indians believe that respecting all religions is very important to being truly Indian, and 80% believe respecting other religions is a very important part of their identity. Two in every three Indians put a high priority on stopping interfaith and inter-caste marriages.

1. While people in some countries may aspire to create a ‘melting pot’ of different religious identities, many Indians prefer a country more like a patchwork fabric or thali, with clear lines between groups
2. For all the new laws aimed at stopping inter-community marriages, the survey found very little change caused by conversion to the size of various religious groups among the respondents
3. Large sections among the minority communities say they would be willing to live near a Hindu. Most Hindus, too, say they would be willing to live near a Muslim, a Christian or a Jain. But 36% Hindus would not be willing to live near a Muslim.
4. Triple talaq - A majority of Muslims say they are against triple talaq, with women more opposed to it than men. Muslims with college degrees are more supportive of triple talaq than are Muslims with less education (46% vs 37%). Muslims who say religion is very important in their lives are more likely to support triple talaq than those who say religion is less important (39% vs 26%).
5. For most Hindus and Muslims, avoiding beef and pork respectively is central to their idea of who is truly Hindu or Muslim.
6. A majority of both groups also says a person cannot be Hindu or Muslim, respectively, if they celebrate each other’s festivals. The shares of Muslims who say namaz and visiting mosques are essential to being Muslim (67% and 61% respectively) are higher than the shares of Hindus who say a person cannot be Hindu if they don’t say their prayers or don’t visit temples (48% each).

• Survey and backdrop: The survey was conducted between November 17, 2019 and March 23, 2020 among 29,999 adults (22,975 Hindus, 3,336 Muslims), interviewed face-to-face in 26 states and three UTs. Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep (remoteness), Kashmir (shutdown), and Manipur and Sikkim (Covid-19) were excluded. Six groups were targeted for oversampling: Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and those living in the Northeast. Sampling was conducted through a design that sought to increase diversity in religious representation.

 

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