Celebration of Holi festival at Swaminarayan Temple in Ahmedabad. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI
As many as 81% of Indian adults say it is important for the Prime Minister to have the same religious beliefs as them, according to the results of a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center (PEW). The same thing also says that it is important to have a Prime Minister who stands up for people with religious beliefs. PEW has conducted a survey in 35 countries between January and May 2024 among 53,000 respondents.
Chart 1 share of adults who say it is very/somewhat important to have a country leader who has strong religious beliefs, even if they are different from their own.
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In general, the share of respondents who share the same opinion is highest in certain South Asian, Southeast Asian, and African countries. It is the cheapest in North America and Europe. South America is in the middle. Even in Asia, the share of respondents who hold the same opinion is lower in economically developed countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.
It is worth noting that in this step, the part that answered “yes, important/slightly important” is not very small even in developed Western countries. For example, in the US, almost half of the respondents (48%) said that the President should have strong religious beliefs, even if they differ from him. In Singapore, the corresponding figure is 45%.
Chart 2 share of adults who say it is important that the country’s leaders show their religious beliefs
However, when asked if it is important for the leader to have the same beliefs as him, as shown in Chart 2, there is a significant decrease among respondents in western countries and Asian countries with stronger economies who answer that “it is important. / somewhat importantā. The share of respondents in the US is lower at 37%, the corresponding share is 36%.
Among countries with relatively weak economies in Southeast Asia and South Asia, such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand, the proportion of people who say it is important/somewhat important that their leaders should have a strong religion . belief, although different from itself, is higher than in the west. In addition, the share of people who say that their leader should have the same level of trust as them is higher. So, not only Asians in relatively weaker economic countries want their leaders to have religious beliefs, but a higher section wants their leaders to show their beliefs, which is different from western countries.
Chart 3 share of adults who say it is important for the country’s leaders to stand up for people who have confidence.
When asked whether their leaders should stand up for people with religious beliefs, the share of respondents who said it was important/somewhat important increased in western countries. About 64% of respondents in the US said they want their leaders to stand up for people with religious beliefs and 50% said so in Singapore. The only outliers are France, Japan and South Korea, where less than 30% each share the same view.
PEW also asked those with no religious affiliation whether they wanted their leaders to have the same religious beliefs as theirs.
Chart 4 refers to the segment of non-religious adults that although it is important for the country’s leaders to share their beliefs.
Understandably, only a few say that this is a “very/somewhat important” criterion. As the sample of such respondents in India is very low, they are not plotted.
PEW conducted a face-to-face survey in India among 3,559 people, across most States, except for a few in the North East and in some Union Territories.
Source: PEW Research Center
See also: Despite growing demand and changing attitudes, Indians have limited access to mental health care: Data
Published – 05 September 2024 08:00 IST
