'Indians feel they live in society where many religions can be practiced freely'

Indians generally feel they live in a society where followers of many religions can live and practice freely according to the latest survey of the USbased thinktank PewBased on the facetoface interviews of adults conducted in 17 languages between late 2019 and early 2020 before the Covid19 pandemic the Pew survey on 30000 Indians found that Indians of all religious backgrounds overwhelmingly say they are very free to practice their faithsldquoIndians 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 truly Indian And tolerance is a religious as well as civic value Indians are united in the view that respecting other religions is a very important part of what it means to be a member of their own religious communityrdquo it saidMore than 70 years after India became free from the colonial rule Indians generally feel their country has lived up to one of its postindependence ideals a society where followers of many religions can live and practice freely it saidAccording to Pew these shared values are accompanied by a number of beliefs that cross religious linesldquoNot only do a majority of Hindus in India 77 per cent believe in karma but an identical percentage of Muslims do toordquo it saidldquoA third of Christians in India 32 per cent together with 81 per cent of Hindus say they believe in the purifying power of the Ganges River a central belief in Hinduism In Northern India 12 per cent of Hindus and 10 per cent of Sikhs along with 37 per cent of Muslims identity with Sufism a mystical tradition most closely associated with Islamrdquo it saidAnd the vast majority of Indians of all major religious backgrounds say that respecting elders is very important to their faith the report foundAccording to Pew despite sharing certain values and religious beliefs as well as living in the same country under the same constitution members of Indias major religious communities often do not feel they have much in common with one anotherThe majority of Hindus see themselves as very different from Muslims 66 per cent and most Muslims return the sentiment saying they are very different from Hindus 64 per centThere are a few exceptions Twothirds of Jains and about half of Sikhs say they have a lot in common with Hindus But generally people in Indias major religious communities tend to see themselves as very different from others it saidAmong other things the survey finds that Hindus tend to see their religious identity and Indian national identity as closely intertwined Nearly twothirds of Hindus 64 per cent say it is very important to be Hindu to be ldquotrulyrdquo IndianMost Hindus 59 per cent also link Indian identity with being able to speak Hindione of dozens of languages that are widely spoken in India And these two dimensions of national identity being able to speak Hindi and being a Hindu are closely connected Among Hindus who say it is very important to be Hindu to be truly Indian fully 80 per cent also say it is very important to speak Hindi to be truly Indian it saidThe BJPs appeal is greater among Hindus who closely associate their religious identity and the Hindi language with being truly IndianldquoIn the 2019 national elections 60 per cent of Hindu voters who think it is very important to be Hindu and to speak Hindi to be truly Indian cast their vote for the BJP compared with only a third among Hindu voters who feel less strongly about both these aspects of national identityrdquo Pew addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever