Indians say it is important to respect all religions. However major religious groups have very little in common and choose to live separately. It is over 75 years since India gained independence and India has definitely lived up to its post-independence ideals where people from different religions can live and practice freely.
While the majority of the population is diverse and devout where most of the world’s Hindus, Jains and Sikhs live; it is also home to one of the world’s largest Muslim populations and to millions of Christians and Buddhists. Religious tolerance is seen as a central theme of the country and it is viewed that being truly Indian is when an Indian can respect all religions. Tolerance is observed as a critical civic value.
In addition to this, there are many shared values which accompany a number of beliefs across the country. Not only do a majority of Hindus in India believe in karma but an identical percentage of Muslims do as well. Many Christians believe in the purifying power of the Ganges river which is also a central belief in Hinduism. In North India, many Hindus and Sikhs and even Muslims identify with Sufism – a mystical tradition which is closely associated with Islam. However, despite all of this members of major religious communities do not feel that they really have much in common. This can be seen in the difference in traditions and habits.
For example marriages across religious lines are exceedingly rare. Ideological extremism, political instability, contempt, fear, mistrust, increasing corruption, propaganda-driven governance, a political takeover of public institutions, manufacturing and distorting of public opinion by political rhetoric by using new-age technologies and even over-centralisation of executive power all stand in the way of a healthy democracy.
Violence and hatred are behaviours which are learned over time and disrupt the humanitarian principles of peaceful co-existence and acceptance of differences. Whether it has been the Ayodhya dispute, the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the Gyanvapi mosque case, Gujarat communal rights, Anti-Sikh riots, the Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus, anti-Christian violence, anti-Hindu violence, violence against Muslims, the 2020 Delhi riots there are perpetually disruptions in the name of religion. It is noteworthy is see the significant rise in religious discrimination and it has terrible repercussions.
Many of the reasons there are so many religious fights are because there is a desire to obtain political power, ethnic rivalries, economic competition and other secular reasons. One of the main reasons still exists is because of the legacy of the policy of divide and rule that was pursued under the British colonial authorities.
Religious intolerance is seen in the form of discrimination, repression and religious rivalry. It leads to war and persistent hatred between people of different ethnicities.
