‘Most Indians opposed to inter-faith marriages’
STUDY SHOWS COMMUNITIES PREFER TO SOCIALISE WITHIN OWN GROUPS
MAJOR religious groups in India, such as Hindus and Muslims, see little in common and want to live separately, new research revealed last week.
The wide-ranging study on religion in India by the Pew Research Centre also found most Indians believe it is very important to stop people in their community from marrying into other religious groups.
Based on nearly 30,000 face-toface interviews of adults in India, the ‘Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation’ analysis also explored the idea of nationalism and how Partition impacted relations between the country’s different communities.
According to the study, most Hindus see themselves as very different from Muslims (66 per cent), with many Muslims echoing similar sentiments (64 per cent). Indians tend to stick to their own religious group when it comes to their friends, with Hindus overwhelmingly saying most or all of their close friends are from the same religious group.
However, the research noted Hindus make up most of the population, therefore meaning they may be more likely to interact with fellow Hindus than with people of other religions.
And although many Hindus (45 per cent) are fine with having neighbours of all other religions, the same share (45 per cent) would not be willing to accept followers of at least one of these groups. More than a third of Hindus and half of Jains said they would not want a Muslim as a neighbour. However, nearly all Jains (92 per cent) say they would be willing to accept a Hindu neighbour.
Despite this, the study indicated that Indians see religious tolerance as a “central part of who they are as a nation” and as a member of their own religious community.
Some shared certain values and religious beliefs too. An identical share of Hindus and Muslims believed in karma (77 per cent), while a third of Christians in India believe in the power of the Ganges. This is also a central belief in Hinduism.
On nuptials, around two-thirds of Hindus in India want to prevent interreligious marriages of Hindu women (67 per cent) or Hindu men (65 per cent), while even larger shares of Muslims feel similarly.
Among those polled, 80 per cent say it is very important to stop Muslim women from marrying outside their religion, and 76 per cent say it is very important to stop Muslim men from doing so.
On nationalism, the survey found Hindus generally saw their religious identity and Indian national identity as “closely intertwined”. The report found most Hindus (59 per cent) link Indian identity with being able to speak Hindi. Among Hindus who say it is “very important to be Hindu to be truly Indian”, 80 per cent believe “it is very important to speak Hindi to be truly Indian”.
Overall, among those who voted in the 2019 elections, 30 per cent of Hindus agreed it is very important to be Hindu to be truly Indian to speak Hindi and they also cast their ballot for the ruling BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). Analysis also explored the views of India’s Muslim population.
The report’s authors noted that while the poll was being conducted, protests had broken out in parts of New Delhi over a new citizenship law. It caused unrest after it created an expedited path to citizenship for immigrants from some neighbouring countries – but not Muslims.
Although an overwhelming number of Muslims (95 per cent) expressed pride in being Indian, one fifth of the same group said they had recently faced religious discrimination. Among Muslims in parts of north India, 40 per cent say they personally have faced religious discrimination in the past 12 months. This was at a much higher level than reported in most other regions.
Moreover, Muslims would prefer to live religiously segregated lives – including some aspects of public life. For instance, three-quarters of Muslims in India support having access to the existing system of Islamic courts (India’s Muslims have had the option of resolving family and inheritancerelated cases in officially recognised Islamic courts).
On the impact of Partition, 48 per cent of Muslims agreed the 1947 division during independence hurt communal relations with Hindus.
Two thirds of Sikhs, whose homeland of Punjab was split by Partition, also took this position.
In addition, the study also looked at typical religious practices, food, clothing, and personal appearances.
For instance, it found about eight in 10 Indian adults limit their meat consumption in some manner. Jains (97 per cent) are the most likely to restrict meat in their diet, while Muslims (67 per cent) and Christians (66 per cent) are the least likely.
On religious clothing, the vast majority of Muslim men say they wear a skullcap (84 per cent), and most have a beard (64 per cent). Sikh men largely have beards (83 per cent) and wear turbans (69 per cent).
Among women, wearing a head covering outside the home is a common practice among Muslims (89 per cent), Sikhs (86 per cent) and Hindus (59 per cent).
According to the 2011 census, 81 per cent of India’s population are Hindus. The second highest religious group is Muslims (12.9), followed by Christians (2.4), Sikhs (1.9), Buddhists (0.7) and Jains (0.4).