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Gilani’s
Gallopedia© Gallopedia From Gilani Research Foundation July 2021, Issue # 697* |
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Gilani’s
Gallopedia is a weekly Digest of Opinions in a globalized world |
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This issue scores 43 out of 100 on Gilani-Gallopedia's Globality Index, showing coverage of world population, and 42 out of 100 on the world income (prosperity) Index. Click for Details |
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Contact
Details: Natasha Amir Research
Executive, Gallup Pakistan Email: natasha@galluppakistan.com This WEEKLY
REPORT consists of 22 national
& multi country surveys 7 polling
organizations have been represented. India (Health , Religion , Ethnicity), Pakistan (Regional
Conflict ) – 04 national
polls Nigeria (Morality, Values & Customs),
South Africa (Employment Issues , Governance
, Enterprises/Investment ), Zimbabwe (Health) – 05 national polls UK(Health , Elections , Consumer
Confidence , Elections, Morality, Values & Customs), France (Civil
Society), USA ( Elections , Regional Conflict ,
Science & Technology , Media/New
Media), Canada (Crime, Health) Australia(Consumer
Confidence ) – 28 national
polls |
YouGov UK – 05
Countries (Education) YouGov MENA – 02
Countries (Health) Gallup – 02
Countries (Regional Conflicts) YouGov UK – 06
Countries (Health) Afrobarometer – 32 Countries (Poverty) The
Majority Of Hindus See Themselves As Very Different From Muslims (66%), And
Most Muslims Return The Sentiment, Saying They Are Very Different From Hindus
(64%) |
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697-01 Indians (78%) Think The COVID Situation In Their
Country Is Getting Better, But Seven In Ten (71%) Said They Are Also Worried About Their Personal Finances
Getting Affected (Click for Details)
(YouGov
India) 28 June 2021 4.11 Society »
Health |
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697-02 80% Of The
Muslims Felt It Was Important To Stop
People From Their Community From Marrying Into Another Religion, 65% Of
Hindus Felt The Same (Click for Details) (India) Pew interviewed 30,000
people across India in 17 languages for the study. The interviewees were from
26 states and three federally administered territories. According to the
survey, 80% of the Muslims who were interviewed felt it was important to stop
people from their community from marrying into another religion. Around 65%
of Hindus felt the same. Nearly two-thirds of Hindus (64%) said it was very
important to be Hindu in order to be "truly Indian". (BBC News) June 29, 2021 4.1 Society » Religion |
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697-03 The Majority
Of Hindus See Themselves As Very Different From Muslims (66%), And Most
Muslims Return The Sentiment, Saying
They Are Very Different From Hindus (64%) (Click for Details)
(PEW) June 29, 2021 4.3 Society »
Ethnicity |
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697-04 3 In 10
Pakistanis Think That The Kashmir Issue
Should Be Resolved Through Talks With India (Click for Details) (Pakistan) A nationally
representative sample of adult men and women from across the four provinces
was asked the following question, “How do you think the Kashmir Dispute
should be resolved?” In response to this question, 30% of Pakistanis said
through “talks with India”, 14% said “through the United Nations”, 12% said
“through war”, 4% said, “silence is better”, 3% said “Kashmiris should take
the first stand” and 28% said they “don’t know.” 8% did not respond. (Gallup Pakistan) July 02, 2021 2.5 Foreign Affairs & Security » Regional Conflicts |
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697-05 3 In 4 Britons Support Offering
Children The Vaccine (Click for
Details)
(Ipsos MORI) June 30, 2021 4.11 Society »
Health |
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697-06 Ahead Of Batley And Spen
By-Election 6 In 10 Britons Think It Is
Unclear What Labour Leader Keir Starmer Stands For (Click for Details) (UK) Just 30% of Britons
say it is very clear or fairly clear what Keir Starmer stands for. 60% think
it is not very clear or not clear at all– including two in five (41%) 2019
Labour voters. 52% think it is clear what Prime Minister Boris Johnson stands
for – including 79% of 2019 Conservative voters. 40% of Britons overall think
it is unclear. Favourability towards Johnson and the Conservative Party has
fallen since May – but just 1 in 4 Britons think Labour under Starmer would
do a better job in government. (Ipsos
MORI) July 01, 2021 1.1 Domestic
Politics » Elections |
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697-07 Right
To Repair: Britons Are Most Comfortable
Repairing Wooden Furniture (60%) (Click for Details)
(YouGov UK) July 01, 2021 3.2 Economy »
Consumer Confidence |
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697-08 Labour
Members: 69% Think Burnham Would Be A
Better Leader Than Starmer (Click for Details) (UK) Currently, just
over half (54%) of the membership think Keir Starmer should remain as party
leader, while one third (34%) believe it is time for him to step down. One in
six (17%) who backed him to lead the party in 2020 and 86% of those who voted
for Rebecca Long-Bailey – his rival in the contest – think he should stand
aside. (YouGov UK) July 01, 2021 1.1 Domestic
Politics » Elections |
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697-09 Some
Six In Ten Britons (62%) Would Support
Returning Historical Artefacts To Their Country Of Origin On A Permanent
Basis (Click for Details) (UK) Some six in ten Britons
(62%) would support returning historical artefacts to their country of origin
on a permanent basis, including nearly three in ten (29%) who would
“strongly” support museums doing so. Half Conservatives voters (50%) and
eight in ten Labour voters (79%) support returning historical artefacts. Most
people in all age groups are supportive, but most notably adults aged 18-24
(69%). (YouGov UK) 02 July 2021 4.7 Society » Morality, Values &
Customs |
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697-10 62% Of
French People Plan To Do The Sales This
Summer (Click for Details)
(Ipsos France) July 02, 2021 4.4 Society »
Civil Society |
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697-11 In 1971, Sixty Percent Americans Favored Lowering The Voting Age For Local And State
Elections, While Just Over A Third Opposed (Click for Details) (USA) Trend
from 1939 to 1970 in Americans' support for lowering U.S. voting age to 18.
Percentage supporting was 17% in 1939, and rose to 39% in 1942 and as high as
63% by 1953. Thereafter, support ranged from 51% to 66%, including 57% in
1970. Gallup's 1939 reading on public support for reducing the voting age
found 17% of Americans favoring it and 79% opposed. Gallup's final poll on
the matter was taken March 11-14, 1971, asking Americans if they favored or
opposed lowering the voting age for local and state elections. Sixty percent
favored it, while just over a third were opposed. (Gallup USA) JUNE 29, 2021 1.1 Domestic
Politics » Elections |
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697-12 Most Americans(67%) Have ‘Cold’ Views of China. Here’s What They Think About China,
In Their Own Words (Click for Details) (USA) Americans
rarely brought up the Chinese people or the country’s long history and
culture. Instead, they focused primarily on the Chinese government –
including its policies or how it behaves internationally – as well as its
economy. Human rights, China’s economy and the country’s political system
were referenced most by Americans, coming up among 20%, 19% and 17% of
respondents, respectively. (PEW) JUNE 30, 2021 2.5 Foreign Affairs & Security » Regional Conflicts |
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697-13 51% Americans Say That UFOs Reported By People In The Military Are Likely Evidence Of Intelligent
Life Outside Earth (Click for
Details)
(PEW) JUNE 30,
2021 3.11 Economy »
Science & Technology |
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697-14 56% Of Americans Oppose The Right To Sue Social Media Companies For What Users Post (Click for Details) (USA) Some 56% of U.S. adults say people should not be able to sue social
media companies for content that other users post on these companies’
platforms, according to a new survey conducted April 12-18, 2021. At the same
time, 41% say people should be able to do this. Liberal Democrats (64%) are
most likely to say harassment would decrease if people could sue social media
companies. Similarly, 62% of liberal Democrats say that the amount of
misleading or inaccurate content would most likely decrease if people could
sue (PEW) JULY 01,
2021 4.6 Society »
Media/ New Media |
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697-15 Among The 67% Of Canadian Drivers Who Used Alcohol In The Past 30
Days, One In Ten (10%) Have Driven Knowingly
Impaired From Alcohol At Least Once In The Last 6 Months (Click for Details)
(Ipsos
Canada) 29 June
2021 4.12 Society »
Crime |
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697-16 Liberals (38%) Support Plateaus On Back Of Vaccination Programme And Reopening Plans, While
Conservatives Slip Behind (26%, -3) (Click for
Details) (Canada) If an election were held tomorrow, 38% of
decided voters would vote for the Liberal Party led by Justin Trudeau; while
this is unchanged from last month, it is also down 2 points from April’s
polling. A quarter (26%) would vote for Erin O’Toole’s Conservative Party,
down 3 points from last month, and two in ten (20%) decided voters would cast
their ballot for the NDP, led by Jagmeet Singh, down 1 point from last month.
Perhaps a sign of rising discontent with the major political parties, a
quarter say they would either not vote (8%) or remain undecided (17%), a
combined increase of 4 points over last wave. (Ipsos
Canada) 30 June
2021 4.11 Society »
Health |
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697-17 Roy Morgan Business Confidence Down Only Slightly In June To 128.3; But New
Covid-19 Restrictions A Clear Threat To The Recovery (Click for Details) (Australia) Business Confidence in June 2021 was
14.4pts above the long-term average of 113.9 with nearly two-thirds of
businesses, 64.8%, expecting ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the
next 12 months and a clear majority of 58.4% saying the next 12 months is a
‘good time to invest in growing the business’. (Roy Morgan) June 29
2021 3.2 Economy » Consumer Confidence |
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697-18 Two Thirds Of Britons Say Higher Education
Is Not Affordable (Click for
Details)
(YouGov UK) JUNE 28, 2021 4.10 Society »
Education |
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697-19 Three-Quarters Of Respondents In Both
UAE And KSA Think Pfizer Vaccine Is Safe Than Unsafe (74% Vs 10%) (Click for Details) Currently, three-quarters of respondents in both the countries think
Pfizer vaccine is safe than unsafe (74% vs 10%). Less than one in five (17%)
said they are unsure about its safety. Comparatively, UAE residents are more
likely than KSA residents to trust Pfizer for its safety (76% vs 71%). Adults
between 25-34 years are more likely to trust the vaccine; but trust is lower
among the youngest age group (18-24 years). This is more common among young
adults in KSA, where only 66% say they consider Pfizer safe. (YouGov MENA) June 30, 2021 4.11 Society »
Health |
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697-20 Egyptians, Ethiopians Struggle Over Shared Nile Resources, 64% Of
Egyptians Reported Interruptions To Water Supply
In Past Year (Click for
Details)
(Gallup) 01 JULY 2021 2.5 Foreign Affairs & Security »
Regional Conflicts |
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697-21 On Average Nearly Half (43%) Of People
Are Uncomfortable About Visiting Live Events Such As Sports, Music Concerts,
Festivals (Click for Details) According to consumer data collected by YouGov in Australia, Canada,
the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Philippines, on
average nearly half (43%) of people are uncomfortable about visiting live
events such as sports, music concerts, festivals; while just 38% say they are
comfortable. Drilling down into the six markets, nearly half of the
population in Canada (48%) and more than half in Australia (54%) and the
Philippines (53%) say they are uncomfortable; while in the US, UK and Denmark
a majority say they are comfortable attending this type of live event. (YouGov UK) 01 July 2021 4.11 Society »
Health |
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697-22 Half (47%) Of Africans Went Without Enough
Food During The Past Year (Click for
Details) On average across 32 countries surveyed in 2019/2021, more than half
(53%) of respondents say they went without food at least once during the
previous year. About one in six (17%) say this happened “many times” or
“always,” while 21% say they went hungry “several times” (Figure 1). o Food
deprivation was most prevalent in Malawi (79%), Niger (76%), and Zambia
(75%), while Mauritians (10%) and Moroccans (15%) are least likely to report
going hungry (Figure 2). (Afrobarometer) July 02, 2021 3.5 Economy »
Poverty |
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TOPIC OF THE WEEK: The Majority Of Hindus See Themselves As Very Different From Muslims
(66%), And Most Muslims Return The Sentiment, Saying They Are Very Different
From Hindus (64%) uThis page is devoted to
opinions of countries whose polling activity is generally not known very widely
or where a recent topical issue requires special attention. |
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The
Majority Of Hindus See Themselves As Very Different From Muslims (66%), And
Most Muslims Return The Sentiment, Saying
They Are Very Different From Hindus (64%)
India’s massive
population is diverse as well as devout. Not only do most of the world’s
Hindus, Jains and Sikhs live in India, but it also is home to one of the
world’s largest Muslim populations and to millions of Christians and
Buddhists. A major new Pew
Research Center survey of religion across India, based on nearly 30,000
face-to-face interviews of adults conducted in 17 languages between late 2019
and early 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic), finds that Indians
of all these religious backgrounds overwhelmingly say they are very free to
practice their faiths. Indians 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 community.
These shared values
are accompanied by a number of beliefs that cross religious lines. Not only
do a majority of Hindus in India (77%) believe in karma, but an identical
percentage of Muslims do, too. A third of Christians in India (32%) –
together with 81% of Hindus – say they believe in the purifying power of the
Ganges River, a central belief in Hinduism. In Northern India, 12% of Hindus
and 10% of Sikhs, along with 37% of Muslims, identity with Sufism, a mystical
tradition most closely associated with Islam. And the vast majority of
Indians of all major religious backgrounds say that respecting elders is very
important to their faith. Yet, despite sharing certain
values and religious beliefs – as well as living in the same country, under
the same constitution – members of India’s major religious communities often
don’t feel they have much in common with one another. The majority of Hindus
see themselves as very different from Muslims (66%), and most Muslims return
the sentiment, saying they are very different from Hindus (64%). There are a
few exceptions: Two-thirds of Jains and about half of Sikhs say they have a
lot in common with Hindus. But generally, people in India’s major religious
communities tend to see themselves as very different from others.
This perception of
difference is reflected in traditions and habits that maintain the separation
of India’s religious groups. For example, marriages across religious lines –
and, relatedly, religious conversions – are exceedingly rare (see Chapter 3). Many Indians,
across a range of religious groups, say it is very important to stop people
in their community from marrying into other religious groups. Roughly
two-thirds of Hindus in India want to prevent interreligious marriages of
Hindu women (67%) or Hindu men (65%). Even larger shares of Muslims feel
similarly: 80% say it is very important to stop Muslim women from marrying
outside their religion, and 76% say it is very important to stop Muslim men
from doing so.
Moreover, Indians
generally stick to their own religious group when it comes to their friends.
Hindus overwhelmingly say that most or all of their close friends are also
Hindu. Of course, Hindus make up the majority of the population, and as a
result of sheer numbers, may be more likely to interact with fellow Hindus
than with people of other religions. But even among Sikhs and Jains, who each
form a sliver of the national population, a large majority say their friends
come mainly or entirely from their small religious community. Fewer Indians go so
far as to say that their neighborhoods should consist only of people from
their own religious group. Still, many would prefer to keep people of certain
religions out of their residential areas or villages. For example, many
Hindus (45%) say they are fine with having neighbors of all other religions – be they
Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist or Jain – but an identical share (45%) say
they would not be
willing to accept followers of at least one of these groups, including more
than one-in-three Hindus (36%) who do not want a Muslim as a neighbor. Among
Jains, a majority (61%) say they are unwilling to have neighbors from at
least one of these groups, including 54% who would not accept a Muslim
neighbor, although nearly all Jains (92%) say they would be willing to accept
a Hindu neighbor.
Indians, then,
simultaneously express enthusiasm for religious tolerance and a consistent
preference for keeping their religious communities in segregated spheres –
they live together
separately.
These two sentiments may seem paradoxical, but for many Indians they are not. Indeed, many take both
positions, saying it is important to be tolerant of others and expressing a desire to limit
personal connections across religious lines. Indians who favor a religiously
segregated society also overwhelmingly emphasize religious tolerance as a
core value. For example, among Hindus who say it is very important to stop
the interreligious marriage of Hindu women, 82% also say that respecting
other religions is very important to what it means to be Hindu. This figure
is nearly identical to the 85% who strongly value religious tolerance among
those who are not at all concerned with stopping interreligious marriage. In other words,
Indians’ concept of religious tolerance does not necessarily involve the
mixing of religious communities. While people in some countries may aspire to
create a “melting pot” of different religious identities, many Indians seem
to prefer a country more like a patchwork fabric, with clear lines between
groups. The
dimensions of Hindu nationalism in India
The survey finds that
Hindus tend to see their religious identity and Indian national identity as
closely intertwined: Nearly two-thirds of Hindus (64%) say it is very
important to be Hindu to be “truly” Indian.
The BJP’s appeal is
greater among Hindus who closely associate their religious identity and the
Hindi language with being “truly Indian.” In the 2019 national elections, 60%
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 identity. Overall, among those
who voted in the 2019 elections, three-in-ten Hindus take all three
positions: saying it is very important to be Hindu to be truly Indian; saying
the same about speaking Hindi; and casting their ballot for the BJP. These views are
considerably more common among Hindus in the largely Hindi-speaking Northern
and Central regions of the country, where roughly half of all Hindu voters
fall into this category, compared with just 5% in the South.
This group also tends
to be more religiously observant: 95% say religion is very important in their
lives, and roughly three-quarters say they pray daily (73%). By comparison,
among other Hindu voters, a smaller majority (80%) say religion is very
important in their lives, and about half (53%) pray daily. Even though Hindu BJP
voters who link national identity with religion and language are more
inclined to support a religiously segregated India, they also are more likely than other Hindu voters
to express positive opinions about India’s religious diversity. Nearly
two-thirds (65%) of this group – Hindus who say that being a Hindu and being
able to speak Hindi are very important to be truly Indian and who voted for the BJP in 2019 –
say religious diversity benefits India, compared with about half (47%) of
other Hindu voters.
Among Indians overall,
there is no overwhelming consensus on the benefits of religious diversity. On
balance, more Indians see diversity as a benefit than view it as a liability
for their country: Roughly half (53%) of Indian adults say India’s religious
diversity benefits the country, while about a quarter (24%) see diversity as
harmful, with similar figures among both Hindus and Muslims. But 24% of
Indians do not take a clear position either way – they say diversity neither
benefits nor harms the country, or they decline to answer the question.
(See Chapter 2 for a discussion
of attitudes toward diversity.) India’s
Muslims express pride in being Indian while identifying communal tensions,
desiring segregation
Today, India’s Muslims
almost unanimously say they are very proud to be Indian (95%), and they
express great enthusiasm for Indian culture: 85% agree with the statement
that “Indian people are not perfect, but Indian culture is superior to
others.”
But personal
experiences with discrimination among Muslims vary quite a bit regionally.
Among Muslims in the North, 40% say they personally have faced religious
discrimination in the last 12 months – much higher levels than reported in
most other regions. In addition, most
Muslims across the country (65%), along with an identical share of Hindus
(65%), see communal violence as a very big national problem. (See Chapter 1 for a discussion
of Indians’ attitudes toward national problems.)
Muslims’ desire for
religious segregation does not preclude tolerance of other groups – again
similar to the pattern seen among Hindus. Indeed, a majority of Muslims who
favor separate religious courts for their community say religious diversity
benefits India (59%), compared with somewhat fewer of those who oppose
religious courts for Muslims (50%). Sidebar:
Islamic courts in India Since 1937, India’s
Muslims have had the option of resolving family and inheritance-related cases
in officially recognized Islamic courts, known as dar-ul-qaza. These courts
are overseen by religious magistrates known as qazi and operate under Shariah
principles.
For example, while the rules of inheritance for most Indians are governed by
the Indian Succession Act of 1925 and the Hindu Succession Act of 1956
(amended in 2005), Islamic inheritance
practices differ
in some ways, including who can be considered an heir and how much of the
deceased person’s property they can inherit. India’s inheritance laws also
take into account the differing traditions of other religious communities,
such as Hindus and Christians, but their cases are handled in secular courts.
Only the Muslim community has the option of having cases tried by a separate
system of family courts. The decisions of the religious courts, however,
are not legally binding, and the parties
involved have the option of taking their case to secular courts if they are
not satisfied with the decision of the religious court. As of 2021, there
are roughly 70 dar-ul-qaza in India. Most
are in the states of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Goa is the only state
that does not recognize rulings by these courts, enforcing its own uniform civil code instead.
Dar-ul-qaza are overseen by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. While these courts can
grant divorces among Muslims, they are prohibited from approving divorces
initiated through the practice known as triple talaq, in which a Muslim man
instantly divorces his wife by saying the Arabic/Urdu word “talaq” (meaning
“divorce”) three times. This practice was deemed unconstitutional by the
Indian Supreme Court in 2017 and formally outlawed by the Lok Sabha, the
lower house of India’s Parliament, in 2019.1 Recent debates have
emerged around Islamic courts. Some Indians have expressed concern that the
rise of dar-ul-qaza could undermine the Indian judiciary, because a subset of
the population is not bound to the same laws as everyone else. Others have
argued that the rulings of Islamic courts are particularly unfair to women,
although the prohibition of triple talaq may temper some of these criticisms.
In its 2019 political
manifesto,
the BJP proclaimed a desire to create a national Uniform Civil Code, saying
it would increase gender equality. Some Indian
commentators have voiced opposition to Islamic courts along with more broadly
negative sentiments against Muslims, describing the rising numbers of
dar-ul-qaza as the “Talibanization” of
India,
for example. On the other hand,
Muslim scholars have defended the dar-ul-qaza, saying they expedite justice
because family disputes that would otherwise clog India’s courts can be
handled separately, allowing the secular courts to focus their attention on
other concerns. Since 2018, the Hindu
nationalist party Hindu Mahasabha (which does not hold any seats in
Parliament) has tried to set up Hindu religious courts, known as Hindutva
courts, aiming to play a role similar to dar-ul-qaza, only for the majority
Hindu community. None of these courts have been recognized by the Indian
government, and their rulings are not considered legally binding. Muslims,
Hindus diverge over legacy of Partition The seminal event in
the modern history of Hindu-Muslim relations in the region was the partition
of the subcontinent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan at
the end of the British colonial period in 1947. Partition remains one of the
largest movements of people across borders in recorded history, and in both
countries the carving of new borders was accompanied by
violence, rioting and looting.
Sikhs, whose homeland
of Punjab was split by Partition, are even more likely than Muslims to say
Partition was a bad thing for Hindu-Muslim relations: Two-thirds of Sikhs
(66%) take this position. And Sikhs ages 60 and older, whose parents most likely
lived through Partition, are more inclined than younger Sikhs to say the
partition of the country was bad for communal relations (74% vs. 64%). While Sikhs and
Muslims are more likely to say Partition was a bad thing than a good thing,
Hindus lean in the opposite direction: 43% of Hindus say Partition was
beneficial for Hindu-Muslim relations, while 37% see it as a bad thing. Caste
is another dividing line in Indian society, and not just among Hindus Religion is not the
only fault line in Indian society. In some regions of the country,
significant shares of people perceive widespread, caste-based discrimination. The caste system is an
ancient social hierarchy based on occupation and economic status. People are
born into a particular caste and tend to keep many aspects of their social
life within its boundaries, including whom they marry. Even though the
system’s origins are in historical Hindu
writings,
today Indians nearly universally identify with a caste, regardless of whether
they are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist or Jain. Overall, the majority
of Indian adults say they are a member of a Scheduled Caste (SC) – often
referred to as Dalits (25%) – Scheduled Tribe (ST) (9%) or Other
Backward Class (OBC) (35%).2
Buddhists in India
nearly universally identify themselves in these categories, including 89% who
are Dalits (sometimes referred to by the pejorative term “untouchables”). Members of SC/ST/OBC
groups traditionally formed the lower social and economic rungs of Indian
society, and historically they have faced discrimination
and unequal economic opportunities. The practice of untouchability in India ostracizes
members of many of these communities, especially Dalits, although the Indian Constitution prohibits
caste-based discrimination, including untouchability, and in recent decades
the government has enacted economic advancement policies like reserved seats in
universities and government jobs for Dalits, Scheduled Tribes and OBC communities. Roughly 30% of Indians
do not belong to these protected groups and are classified as “General
Category.” This includes higher castes such as Brahmins (4%), traditionally
the priestly caste. Indeed, each broad category includes several sub-castes –
sometimes hundreds – with their own social and economic hierarchies. Three-quarters of
Jains (76%) identify with General Category castes, as do 46% of both Muslims
and Sikhs. Caste-based
discrimination, as well as the government’s efforts to compensate for past
discrimination, are politically
charged topics in India. But the survey finds that most Indians do not perceive
widespread caste-based discrimination. Just one-in-five Indians say there is
a lot of discrimination against members of SCs, while 19% say there is a lot
of discrimination against STs and somewhat fewer (16%) see high levels of
discrimination against OBCs. Members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
are slightly more likely than others to perceive widespread discrimination
against their two groups. Still, large majorities of people in these
categories do not think
they face a lot of discrimination.
A higher share of
Dalits in the South and Northeast than elsewhere in the country say they,
personally, have faced discrimination in the last 12 months because of their
caste: 30% of Dalits in the South say this, as do 38% in the Northeast. Although caste
discrimination may not be perceived as widespread nationally, caste remains a
potent factor in Indian society. Most Indians from other castes say they
would be willing to have someone belonging to a Scheduled Caste as a neighbor
(72%). But a similarly large majority of Indians overall (70%) say that most
or all of their close friends share their caste. And Indians tend to object
to marriages across caste lines, much as they object to interreligious
marriages.3
Majorities of Hindus,
Muslims, Sikhs and Jains consider stopping inter-caste marriage of both men
and women a high priority. By comparison, fewer Buddhists and Christians say
it is very important to stop such marriages – although for majorities of both
groups, stopping people from marrying outside their caste is at least
“somewhat” important. People surveyed in
India’s South and Northeast see greater caste discrimination in their
communities, and they also raise fewer objections to inter-caste marriages
than do Indians overall. Meanwhile, college-educated Indians are less likely
than those with less education to say stopping inter-caste marriages is a
high priority. But, even within the most highly educated group, roughly half
say preventing such marriages is very important. (See Chapter 4 for more
analysis of Indians’ views on caste.) Religious
conversion in India
This survey, though,
finds that religious switching, or conversion, has a minimal impact on the
overall size of India’s religious groups. For example, according to the
survey, 82% of Indians say they were raised Hindu, and a nearly identical
share say they are currently Hindu, showing no net losses for the group
through conversion to other religions. Other groups display similar levels of
stability. Changes in India’s
religious landscape over time are largely a result of differences in
fertility rates among religious groups, not conversion. Respondents were asked
two separate questions to measure religious switching: “What is your present
religion, if any?” and, later in the survey, “In what religion were you
raised, if any?” Overall, 98% of respondents give the same answer to both
these questions.
Similarly, 0.3% of
respondents have left Islam since childhood, matched by an identical share
who say they were raised in other religions (or had no childhood religion)
and have since become Muslim. For Christians,
however, there are some net gains from conversion: 0.4% of survey respondents
are former Hindus who now identify as Christian, while 0.1% are former
Christians. Three-quarters of
India’s Hindu converts to Christianity (74%) are concentrated in the Southern
part of the country – the region with the largest Christian population. As a
result, the Christian population of the South shows a slight increase within
the lifetime of survey respondents: 6% of Southern Indians say they were
raised Christian, while 7% say they are currently Christian. Some Christian
converts (16%) reside in the East as well (the states of Bihar, Jharkhand,
Odisha and West Bengal); about two-thirds of all Christians in the East (64%)
belong to Scheduled Tribes. Nationally, the vast
majority of former Hindus who are now Christian belong to Scheduled Castes
(48%), Scheduled Tribes (14%) or Other Backward Classes (26%). And former
Hindus are much more likely than the Indian population overall to say there
is a lot of discrimination against lower castes in India. For example, nearly
half of converts to Christianity (47%) say there is a lot of discrimination
against Scheduled Castes in India, compared with 20% of the overall
population who perceive this level of discrimination against Scheduled
Castes. Still, relatively few converts say they, personally, have faced
discrimination due to their caste in the last 12 months (12%).
Religion
very important across India’s religious groups Though their specific
practices and beliefs may vary, all of India’s major religious communities
are highly observant by standard measures. For instance, the vast majority of
Indians, across all major faiths, say that religion is very important in
their lives. And at least three-quarters of each major religion’s followers
say they know a great deal about their own religion and its practices. For
example, 81% of Indian Buddhists claim a great deal of knowledge about the
Buddhist religion and its practices.
Indian Muslims are
slightly more likely than Hindus to consider religion very important in their
lives (91% vs. 84%). Muslims also are modestly more likely than Hindus to say
they know a great deal about their own religion (84% vs. 75%). Significant portions
of each religious group also pray daily, with Christians among the most
likely to do so (77%) – even though Christians are the least likely of the
six groups to say religion is very important in their lives (76%). Most
Hindus and Jains also pray daily (59% and 73%, respectively) and say they
perform puja daily (57% and 81%), either at home or at a temple.6 Generally, younger and
older Indians, those with different educational backgrounds, and men and
women are similar in their levels of religious observance. South Indians are
the least likely to say religion is very important in their lives (69%), and
the South is the only region where fewer than half of people report praying
daily (37%). While Hindus, Muslims and Christians in the South are all less
likely than their counterparts elsewhere in India to say religion is very
important to them, the lower rate of prayer in the South is driven mainly by
Hindus: Three-in-ten Southern Hindus report that they pray daily (30%),
compared with roughly two-thirds (68%) of Hindus in the rest of the country
(see “People in the South
differ from rest of the country in their views of religion, national identity” below for further
discussion of religious differences in Southern India). The survey also asked about
three rites of passage: religious ceremonies for birth (or infancy), marriage
and death. Members of all of India’s major religious communities tend to see
these rites as highly important. For example, the vast majority of Muslims
(92%), Christians (86%) and Hindus (85%) say it is very important to have a
religious burial or cremation for their loved ones.
The survey also asked
about practices specific to particular religions, such as whether people have
received purification by bathing in holy bodies of water, like the Ganges
River, a rite closely associated with Hinduism. About two-thirds of Hindus
have done this (65%). Most Hindus also have holy basil (the tulsi plant) in
their homes, as do most Jains (72% and 62%, respectively). And about three-quarters
of Sikhs follow the Sikh practice of keeping their hair long (76%). For more on religious
practices across India’s religious groups, see Chapter 7. Near-universal
belief in God, but wide variation in how God is perceived Nearly all Indians say
they believe in God (97%), and roughly 80% of people in most religious groups
say they are absolutely certain that God exists. The main exception is
Buddhists, one-third of whom say they do not believe in God. Still, among
Buddhists who do think there is a God, most say they are absolutely certain
in this belief.
While belief in God is
close to universal in India, the survey finds a wide range of views about the
type of deity or deities that Indians believe in. The prevailing view is that
there is one God “with many manifestations” (54%). But about one-third of the
public says simply: “There is only one God” (35%). Far fewer say there are
many gods (6%). Even though Hinduism
is sometimes referred to as a
polytheistic religion, very few Hindus (7%) take the position that there are
multiple gods. Instead, the most common position among Hindus (as well as
among Jains) is that there is “only one God with many manifestations” (61%
among Hindus and 54% among Jains).
Among Hindus, those
who say religion is very important in their lives are more likely than other
Hindus to believe in one God with many manifestations (63% vs. 50%) and less
likely to say there are many gods (6% vs. 12%). By contrast,
majorities of Muslims, Christians and Sikhs say there is only one God. And
among Buddhists, the most common response is also a belief in one God. Among
all these groups, however, about one-in-five or more say God has many
manifestations, a position closer to their Hindu compatriots’ concept of God. Most
Hindus feel close to multiple gods, but Shiva, Hanuman and Ganesha are most
popular Traditionally, many
Hindus have a “personal god,” or ishta
devata: A particular god or goddess with whom they feel a
personal connection. The survey asked all Indian Hindus who say they believe
in God which god they feel closest to – showing them 15 images of gods on a
card as possible options – and the vast majority of Hindus selected more than
one god or indicated that they have many personal gods (84%).7 This is true not
only among Hindus who say they believe in many gods (90%) or in one God with
many manifestations (87%), but also among those who say there is only one God
(82%). The god that Hindus
most commonly feel close to is Shiva (44%). In addition, about one-third of
Hindus feel close to Hanuman or Ganesha (35% and 32%, respectively). There is great
regional variation in how close India’s Hindus feel to some gods. For
example, 46% of Hindus in India’s West feel close to Ganesha, but only 15%
feel this way in the Northeast. And 46% of Hindus in the Northeast feel close
to Krishna, while just 14% in the South say the same. Feelings of closeness
for Lord Ram are especially strong in the Central region (27%), which includes
what Hindus claim is his ancient birthplace, Ayodhya. The
location in Ayodhya where many Hindus believe Ram was born has been a source
of controversy: Hindu mobs demolished a mosque on the site in 1992, claiming
that a Hindu temple originally existed there. In 2019, the Indian Supreme Court
ruled that
the demolished mosque had been built on top of a preexisting non-Islamic
structure and that the land should be given to Hindus to build a temple, with
another location in the area given to the Muslim community to build a new
mosque. (For additional findings on belief in God, see Chapter 12.)
Sidebar:
Despite economic advancement, few signs that importance of religion is
declining
Despite rapid economic
growth, India’s population so far shows few, if any, signs of losing its
religion. For instance, both the Indian census and the new survey find
virtually no growth in the minuscule share of people who claim no religious
identity. And religion is prominent in the lives of Indians regardless of
their socioeconomic status. Generally, across the country, there is little
difference in personal religious observance between urban and rural residents
or between those who are college educated versus those who are not.
Overwhelming shares among all these groups say that religion is very
important in their lives, that they pray regularly and that they believe in
God.
The survey does show a
slight decline in the perceived importance of religion during the lifetime of
respondents, though the vast majority of Indians indicate that religion
remains central to their lives, and this is true among both younger and older
adults. Nearly nine-in-ten
Indian adults say religion was very important to their family when they were
growing up (88%), while a slightly lower share say religion is very important
to them now (84%). The pattern is identical when looking only at India’s
majority Hindu population. Among Muslims in India, the same shares say
religion was very important to their family growing up and is very important
to them now (91% each). The states of Southern
India (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and
Telangana) show the biggest downward trend in the perceived importance of
religion over respondents’ lifetimes: 76% of Indians who live in the South
say religion was very important to their family growing up, compared with 69%
who say religion is personally very important to them now. Slight declines in
the importance of religion, by this measure, also are seen in the Western
part of the country (Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra) and in the North, although
large majorities in all regions of the country say religion is very important
in their lives today. Across
India’s religious groups, widespread sharing of beliefs, practices, values
Similarly, Indians of
different religious backgrounds hold elders in high respect. For instance,
nine-in-ten or more Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and Jains say that respecting
elders is very important to what being a member of their religious group
means to them (e.g., for Hindus, it’s a very important part of their Hindu
identity). Christians and Sikhs also overwhelmingly share this sentiment. And
among all people surveyed in all six groups, three-quarters or more say that
respecting elders is very important to being truly Indian. Within all six
religious groups, eight-in-ten or more also say that helping the poor and
needy is a crucial part of their religious identity. Beyond cultural
parallels, many people mix traditions from multiple religions into their
practices: As a result of living side by side for generations, India’s minority
groups often engage in practices that are more closely associated with Hindu
traditions than their own. For instance, many Muslim, Sikh and Christian
women in India say they wear a bindi (a forehead marking, often worn by
married women), even though putting on a bindi has Hindu origins. Similarly, many people
embrace beliefs not traditionally associated with their faith: Muslims in
India are just as likely as Hindus to say they believe in karma (77% each),
and 54% of Indian Christians share this view.8 Nearly
three-in-ten Muslims and Christians say they believe in reincarnation (27%
and 29%, respectively). While these may seem like theological contradictions,
for many Indians, calling oneself a Muslim or a Christian does not preclude
believing in karma or reincarnation – beliefs that do not have a traditional,
doctrinal basis in Islam or Christianity.
Not only do some
followers of all these religions participate in a celebration (Diwali) that
consumes most of the country once a year, but some members of the majority
Hindu community celebrate Muslim and Christian festivals, too: 7% of Indian
Hindus say they celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid, and 17% celebrate
Christmas. Religious
identity in India: Hindus divided on whether belief in God is required to be
a Hindu, but most say eating beef is disqualifying While there is some
mixing of religious celebrations and traditions within India’s diverse
population, many Hindus do not approve of this. In fact, while 17% of the
nation’s Hindus say they participate in Christmas celebrations, about half of
Hindus (52%) say that doing so disqualifies a person from being Hindu
(compared with 35% who say a person canbe
Hindu if they celebrate Christmas). An even greater share of Hindus (63%) say
a person cannot be Hindu if they celebrate the Islamic festival of Eid – a
view that is more widely held in Northern, Central, Eastern and Northeastern
India than the South or West. Hindus are divided on
whether beliefs and practices such as believing in God, praying and going to
the temple are necessary to be a Hindu. But one behavior that a clear
majority of Indian Hindus feel is incompatible with Hinduism is eating beef:
72% of Hindus in India say a person who eats beef cannot be a Hindu. That is
even higher than the percentages of Hindus who say a person cannot be Hindu
if they reject belief in God (49%), never go to a temple (48%) or never
perform prayers (48%).
Relatedly, 44% of
Hindus say they are vegetarians, and an additional 33% say they abstain from
eating certain meats. Hindus traditionally view cows as sacred, and laws
pertaining to cow slaughter have been a recent flashpoint in
India. At
the same time, Hindus are not alone in linking beef consumption with
religious identity: 82% of Sikhs and 85% of Jains surveyed say that a person
who eats beef cannot be a member of their religious groups, either. A
majority of Sikhs (59%) and fully 92% of Jains say they are vegetarians,
including 67% of Jains who do not eat root
vegetables.9 (For more data
on religion and dietary habits, see Chapter 10.) Sidebar:
People in the South differ from rest of the country in their views of
religion, national identity The survey
consistently finds that people in the South (the states of Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, and the union territory of
Puducherry) differ from Indians elsewhere in the country in their views on
religion, politics and identity. For example, by a
variety of measures, people in the South are somewhat less religious than those
in other regions – 69% say religion is very important in their lives, versus
92% in the Central part of the country. And 37% say they pray every day,
compared with more than half of Indians in other regions. People in the South
also are less segregated by religion or caste – whether that involves their
friendship circles, the kind of neighbors they prefer or how they feel about
intermarriage. (See Chapter 3.) Hindu nationalist sentiments
also appear to have less of a foothold in the South. Among Hindus, those in
the South (42%) are far less likely than those in Central states (83%) or the
North (69%) to say being Hindu is very important to be truly Indian. And in
the 2019 parliamentary elections, the BJP’s lowest vote share came in the
South. In the survey, just 19% of Hindus in the region say they voted for the
BJP, compared with roughly two-thirds in the Northern (68%) and Central (65%)
parts of the country who say they voted for the ruling party. Culturally and
politically, people in the South have pushed back against the
BJP’s restrictions on cow slaughter and efforts
to nationalize the Hindi
language.
These factors may contribute to the BJP’s lower popularity in the South,
where more people prefer regional parties or the Indian National Congress
party. These differences in
attitudes and practices exist in a wider context of economic disparities
between the South and other regions of the country. Over time, Southern
states have seen stronger economic growth than the Northern and Central parts
of the country. And women and people belonging to
lower castes in
the South have fared better economically than their counterparts elsewhere in
the country. Even though three-in-ten people in the South say there is
widespread caste discrimination in India, the region also has a history of anti-caste
movements.
Indeed, one author has attributed
the economic growth of the South largely to the flattening of caste
hierarchies. Muslim
identity in India Most Muslims in India
say a person cannot be Muslim if they never pray or attend a mosque.
Similarly, about six-in-ten say that celebrating Diwali or Christmas is
incompatible with being a member of the Muslim community. At the same time, a
substantial minority express a degree of open-mindedness on who can be a
Muslim, with fully one-third (34%) saying a person can be Muslim even if they
don’t believe in God. (The survey finds that 6% of self-described Muslims in
India say they do not believe in God; see “Near-universal belief
in God, but wide variation in how God is perceived” above.) Like Hindus, Muslims
have dietary restrictions that resonate as powerful markers of identity.
Three-quarters of Indian Muslims (77%) say that a person cannot be Muslim if
they eat pork, which is even higher than the share who say a person cannot be
Muslim if they do not believe in God (60%) or never attend mosque (61%).
Indian Muslims also
report high levels of religious commitment by a host of conventional
measures: 91% say religion is very important in their lives, two-thirds (66%)
say they pray at least once a day, and seven-in-ten say they attend mosque at
least once a week – with even higher attendance among Muslim men (93%). By all these measures,
Indian Muslims are broadly comparable to Muslims in the neighboring
Muslim-majority countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh, according to a Pew Research Center
survey conducted
in those countries in late 2011 and early 2012. In Pakistan, for example, 94%
of Muslims said religion is very important in
their lives,
while 81% of Bangladeshi Muslims said the same. Muslims in India are somewhat
more likely than those elsewhere in South Asia to say they regularly worship
at a mosque (70% in India vs. 59% in Pakistan and 53% in Bangladesh), with
the difference mainly driven by the share of women who attend.
At the same time,
Muslims in India are slightly less likely to say there is “only one
true” interpretation of Islam (72% in
Pakistan, 69% in Bangladesh, 63% in India), as opposed to multiple
interpretations. When it comes to their
religious beliefs, Indian Muslims in some ways resemble Indian Hindus more
than they resemble Muslims in neighboring countries. For example, Muslims in
Pakistan and Bangladesh almost universally say they believe in heaven and
angels, but Indian Muslims seem more skeptical: 58% say they believe in
heaven and 53% express belief in angels. Among Indian Hindus, similarly, 56%
believe in heaven and 49% believe in angels.
Majority
of Muslim women in India oppose ‘triple talaq’ (Islamic divorce)
Most Indian Muslims
(56%) say Muslim men should not be
allowed to divorce this way. Still, 37% of Indian Muslims say they support
triple talaq, with Muslim men (42%) more likely than Muslim women (32%) to
take this position. A majority of Muslim women (61%) oppose triple talaq. Highly religious
Muslims – i.e., those who say religion is very important in their lives –
also are more likely than other Muslims to say Muslim men should be able to
divorce their wives simply by saying “talaq” three times (39% vs. 26%). Triple talaq seems to
have the most support among Muslims in the Southern and Northeastern regions
of India, where half or more of Muslims say it should be legal (58% and 50%,
respectively), although 12% of Muslims in the South and 16% in the Northeast
do not take a position on the issue either way. Sikhs
are proud to be Punjabi and Indian Sikhism is one of four
major religions – along with Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism – that originated
on the Indian subcontinent. The Sikh religion emerged in Punjab in the 15th
century, when Guru Nanak, who is revered as the founder of Sikhism, became
the first in a succession of 10 gurus (teachers) in the religion. Today, India’s Sikhs
remain concentrated in the state of Punjab. One feature of the Sikh religion
is a distinctive sense of community, also known as “Khalsa” (which translates
as “ones who are pure”). Observant Sikhs differentiate themselves from others
in several ways, including keeping their hair uncut. Today, about
three-quarters of Sikh men and women in India say they keep their hair long
(76%), and two-thirds say it is very important to them that children in their
families also keep their hair long (67%). (For more analysis of Sikhs’ views
on passing religious traditions on to their children, see Chapter 8.)
Sikhs are more likely
than Indian adults overall to say they attend religious services every day –
40% of Sikhs say they go to the gurdwara (Sikh house of worship) daily. By
comparison, 14% of Hindus say they go to a Hindu temple every day. Moreover,
the vast majority of Sikhs (94%) regard their holy book, the Guru Granth
Sahib, as the word of God, and many (37%) say they read it, or listen to
recitations of it, every day. Sikhs in India also
incorporate other religious traditions into their practice. Some Sikhs (9%)
say they follow Sufi orders, which are linked with Islam, and about half
(52%) say they have a lot in common with Hindus. Roughly one-in-five Indian
Sikhs say they have prayed, meditated or performed a ritual at a Hindu
temple. Sikh-Hindu relations
were marked by violence in the 1970s and 1980s, when demands for a separate
Sikh state covering the Punjab regions in both India and Pakistan (also known
as the Khalistan movement) reached their apex. In 1984, Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards as revenge for Indian
paramilitary forces storming the Sikh Golden Temple in pursuit of Sikh militants.
Anti-Sikh riots ensued in Northern India, especially in the state of Punjab.
Sikhs also are
overwhelmingly proud of their Indian identity. A near-universal share of
Sikhs say they are very proud to be Indian (95%), and the vast majority (70%)
say a person who disrespects India cannot be a Sikh. And like India’s other
religious groups, most Sikhs do not see evidence of widespread discrimination
against their community – just 14% say Sikhs face a lot of discrimination in
India, and 18% say they personally have faced religious discrimination in the
last year. At the same time,
Sikhs are more likely than other religious communities to see communal
violence as a very big problem in the country. Nearly eight-in-ten Sikhs
(78%) rate communal violence as a major issue, compared with 65% of Hindus
and Muslims. The BJP has attempted
to financially compensate
Sikhs for
some of the violence that occurred in 1984 after Indira Gandhi’s assassination,
but relatively few Sikh voters (19%) report having voted for the BJP in the
2019 parliamentary elections. The survey finds that 33% of Sikhs preferred
the Indian National Congress Party – Gandhi’s party. (PEW) JUNE 29, 2021 Source:
https://www.pewforum.org/2021/06/29/religion-in-india-tolerance-and-segregation/ |
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Disclaimer:
Gilani’s Gallopedia is a not-for-profit activity and every effort has been
made to give attribution to respective polling organizations. All material
presented here is available elsewhere as public information. Readers may
please visit the original source for further details. Gilani Research
foundation does not bear any responsibility for accuracy of data or the
methods and does not claim any proprietary rights benefits or
responsibilities thereof. *Archives: Gilani’s Gallopedia has
been compiled on a weekly basis since January 2007. Previous material is
available upon request. Please contact natasha@galluppakistan.com |
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