<p>The findings of a survey conducted by Pew Research Centre on religion and related public sentiments in India provide insights on a country of contradictions. The survey interviewed some 30,000 respondents in 17 languages across the country in 2019-20. The sample did not represent the relative size of the communities correctly and there are not many details about the income, caste or rural/urban status of the respondents. So, there could be some margin of error, but the conclusions are interesting. The survey shows that India remains an overwhelmingly religious country, with most people claiming to belong to one religion or another, and with most of them, irrespective of religious affiliations, identifying themselves with particular castes. This is true across the nation and for all categories of people, including the educated sections.</p>.<p>Most respondents believe they have the freedom to practise their respective religion in the country and say tolerance for other religions is important. While this is true, most also oppose marrying outside their respective religions and many even outside their castes. Most people would prefer to live with only co-religionists as neighbours. Inter-religious conversions are not large in number and no community is a major gainer or loser. Only a minority says there is caste discrimination, and a similar minority says there is discrimination against Muslims. There are also some in both groups who think there is discrimination against Hindus. The preferences in social interaction are similar in the case of all communities.</p>.<p>The survey has also thrown up linkages between religion, language and nationalism, and even revealed a political dimension. More than half the Hindus in the survey, especially in the North, said their religion is a marker of nationhood. Many link Hindi to nationalism. Many of them also support the BJP. A large number of respondents endorse political intervention in matters of faith. About half of them support authoritarian rule. The overall picture that emerges from the survey is of a religious country with a high degree of tolerance. But there are exclusionary proclivities in social life. The survey points to a linkage in the minds of people between the Hindu religious identity and the national identity. But essentially, through the welter of views, it points to contradictions and divergences in the national mind that have been noted before. Even the idea of religion is different in the country, and a Hindu could mean multiple identities. Faith and the lack of it, attachment and renunciation, association and dissociation, segregation and socialisation and other dualities and diversities have creatively existed and interacted in the country and shaped its inclusive culture. That culture has been secular and will continue to be the mainstay of national life.</p>
<p>The findings of a survey conducted by Pew Research Centre on religion and related public sentiments in India provide insights on a country of contradictions. The survey interviewed some 30,000 respondents in 17 languages across the country in 2019-20. The sample did not represent the relative size of the communities correctly and there are not many details about the income, caste or rural/urban status of the respondents. So, there could be some margin of error, but the conclusions are interesting. The survey shows that India remains an overwhelmingly religious country, with most people claiming to belong to one religion or another, and with most of them, irrespective of religious affiliations, identifying themselves with particular castes. This is true across the nation and for all categories of people, including the educated sections.</p>.<p>Most respondents believe they have the freedom to practise their respective religion in the country and say tolerance for other religions is important. While this is true, most also oppose marrying outside their respective religions and many even outside their castes. Most people would prefer to live with only co-religionists as neighbours. Inter-religious conversions are not large in number and no community is a major gainer or loser. Only a minority says there is caste discrimination, and a similar minority says there is discrimination against Muslims. There are also some in both groups who think there is discrimination against Hindus. The preferences in social interaction are similar in the case of all communities.</p>.<p>The survey has also thrown up linkages between religion, language and nationalism, and even revealed a political dimension. More than half the Hindus in the survey, especially in the North, said their religion is a marker of nationhood. Many link Hindi to nationalism. Many of them also support the BJP. A large number of respondents endorse political intervention in matters of faith. About half of them support authoritarian rule. The overall picture that emerges from the survey is of a religious country with a high degree of tolerance. But there are exclusionary proclivities in social life. The survey points to a linkage in the minds of people between the Hindu religious identity and the national identity. But essentially, through the welter of views, it points to contradictions and divergences in the national mind that have been noted before. Even the idea of religion is different in the country, and a Hindu could mean multiple identities. Faith and the lack of it, attachment and renunciation, association and dissociation, segregation and socialisation and other dualities and diversities have creatively existed and interacted in the country and shaped its inclusive culture. That culture has been secular and will continue to be the mainstay of national life.</p>
