Nearly three-quarters of Hindus (72%) in India say a person is not a Hindu if he or she eats beef. This percentage is higher than those Hindus who say a person cannot be Hindu if they do not believe in God (49%) or never go to a temple (48%).
A new survey by US-based Pew Research Center shows that most Indians, across all religions, feel they enjoy religious freedom, value religious tolerance, and regard respect for all religions as central to India’s idea of a nation.
Published on 29 June, the survey titled âReligion in India: Tolerance and Segregationâ found that 85 percent of Hindus, 78 percent of Muslims, 78 percent of Christians, 81 percent of Sikhs, 84 percent of Buddhists, and 83 percent of Jains believe respecting other religions is very important to be âtruly Indianâ.
The survey is based on a face-to-face survey of 29,999 Indian adults between late 2019 and early 2020 â before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pew study takes a closer look at religious identity, nationalism, and tolerance in Indian society.
According to the Pew survey, people of all six major religious groups-Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists-overwhelmingly believe they are very free to practice their faiths.
However, in what is a contradiction, most prefer to keep their religious communities in segregated spheres in terms of marriage and residential areas.
The majority of the Indians say they believe in God (97%) and religion is important in their lives.
Around 80% of people in most religious groups say they are absolutely certain that God exists. However, one-third of the Buddhists say they do not believe in God as that is not central to the teachings of the religion.
The survey reveals that around three-quarters of Muslims (74%) support having access to their own religious courts to resolve family and inheritance-related cases.
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Nearly three-quarters of Hindus (72%) in India say a person is not a Hindu if he or she eats beef. This percentage is higher than those Hindus who say a person cannot be Hindu if they do not believe in God (49%) or never go to a temple (48%).
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