Survey on Religious Attitudes in India — Pew Research Findings and UPSC Analysis (UPSC Indian Society)

When the Washington-based Pew Research Centre released “Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation” in 2021, the report reached a conclusion that Indian sociologists have long argued about but rarely quantified: Indians across faiths describe themselves as deeply religious and deeply tolerant, yet they prefer to live, eat, marry and befriend within their own religious community. The survey — based on nearly 30,000 face-to-face interviews in 17 languages — is still one of the largest post-independence studies of religious life in India, and it maps directly onto core UPSC GS-I themes of secularism, communalism and the sociology of Indian society.

This evergreen guide unpacks the survey's key findings, connects them to classical debates on Indian pluralism, and tracks later developments up to 2024-26 — including the caste census movement, the Women's Reservation Act and the global discourse on religious majoritarianism.

The Pew Survey — Methodology and Scope

Pew conducted the survey between November 2019 and March 2020, covering Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Jains across 26 states and three union territories. Respondents were asked about religious identity, practice, dietary customs, attitudes towards inter-faith marriage and the relationship between religion and national identity.

The report's central phrase — "tolerance and segregation" — captures an uncomfortable paradox: Indians claim the highest levels of religious freedom, yet also the strongest preferences for religious separation.

Key Finding 1 — Religious Freedom and Tolerance

Across all six major religious groups, overwhelming majorities told Pew that:

• They feel "very free" to practise their faith.
• People of other religions are also very free to practise theirs.
• Respecting all religions is an important part of being a true Indian and a core part of their own religious identity.

These numbers are broadly consistent with India's constitutional commitment to religious freedom under Articles 25-28 and with the Nehruvian vision of sarva dharma samabhava — equal respect for all religions.

Key Finding 2 — Tolerance Coexists with Segregation

The survey's most discussed insight is that tolerance in India operates alongside strong preferences for religious separation:

• Most Indians say their close friends come mainly from their own religious community.
• Majorities in every major group say they have "not much in common" with members of other religions.
• Strong majorities oppose inter-faith marriage — a preference cutting across Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Jains.

Sociologists like Andre Beteille have long argued that Indian pluralism is a "live-and-let-live" arrangement rather than genuine integration. Pew's data puts numbers on that observation.

Key Finding 3 — Religion and National Identity

The survey's most politically significant finding concerns the fusion of religious and national identity:

• Nearly two-thirds of Hindus (64%) said it is "very important" to be Hindu to be truly Indian.
• Among those Hindus, 80% also said it is very important to speak Hindi to be truly Indian.
• 59% of Hindus who support the BJP said being Hindu is very important to being Indian — versus 49% among non-BJP supporters.

This fusion of religion, language and nationhood is what scholars call ethno-religious nationalism. It sits uncomfortably with the civic nationalism of the Indian Constitution, which defines Indianness through shared citizenship rather than shared faith.

Key Finding 4 — Dietary Laws as Religious Markers

Pew found that food is one of the clearest markers of religious identity in India:

• 72% of Hindus said a person cannot be Hindu if they eat beef.
• 77% of Muslims said a person cannot be Muslim if they eat pork.
• Vegetarianism remains a strong marker for Jains and many upper-caste Hindus.

Food taboos reinforce what sociologist M.N. Srinivas described as the ritual purity boundary — separating communities in ways that are invisible in the constitutional text but very real in daily life.

Key Finding 5 — The Southern Exception

Both ethno-religious nationalism and dietary restrictions are less prevalent in South India than in the Hindi belt. Southern respondents were:

• Less likely to say religion is central to national identity.
• Less likely to say Hindi-speaking is essential to being Indian.
• More likely to have inter-religious friendships.

This pattern echoes the Dravidian movement's long-standing resistance to Hindi imposition and its more plural regional political culture.

Possible Consequences for Indian Society

Communalism

Sociologist Ashis Nandy distinguishes between religion as faith and religion as ideology. The Pew findings suggest that religion as faith (tolerance, freedom) remains intact, but religion as ideology (identity, boundary-making) is hardening. This creates conditions for communalism — the belief that different religious communities have fundamentally different social, political and economic interests.

Ethno-Nationalism

When national identity fuses with majority religion, minority communities are framed as less-than-authentic citizens. Indian nationalism was designed to be civic and plural — not built on a single religion, language or ethnicity. A drift toward ethnic nationalism risks xenophobia, majoritarianism and the erosion of minority rights.

Infringement of Individual Rights

The anti-conversion laws in several states, the love-jihad discourse and the opposition to inter-faith marriage all point to growing restrictions on Article 21's right to personal autonomy — including the freedom to choose one's partner and one's faith.

Fundamentalism and Revivalism

Religious fundamentalism — the belief that religious doctrine should govern all spheres of life — is incompatible with the constitutional commitments to rationalism, scientific temper (Article 51A(h)) and secularism (enshrined by the 42nd Amendment in 1976).

Indian Secularism — The Conceptual Frame

The survey findings must be read against India's distinctive model of secularism. Unlike the Western wall-of-separation model (USA, France), Indian secularism is based on:

• Principled distance — the state engages with religions equally, not at arm's length (Rajeev Bhargava's term).
• Sarva dharma samabhava — equal respect, not indifference.
• Positive intervention — the state reforms religious practice where it violates fundamental rights (e.g., temple entry, triple talaq, Sabarimala).

Pew's findings complicate this model: while constitutional secularism mandates equal respect, popular secularism appears to operate as parallel coexistence rather than integration.

Latest Developments (2024-26)

Caste Census Movement. The Bihar caste survey (October 2023) and subsequent state-level surveys in Karnataka and Telangana have reopened debates on sub-group identity within Hinduism. In April 2025 the Union Cabinet approved the inclusion of caste enumeration in the next national census — a decision that will reshape welfare targeting, political mobilisation and the OBC reservation debate. This overlays religion with caste in ways Pew did not fully capture.

Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2024. The UNDP-OPHI Global MPI 2024 reported that 415 million Indians exited multidimensional poverty between 2005-06 and 2019-21 — but also flagged that deprivation remains concentrated in specific religious and caste groups, reinforcing the link between social identity and economic outcomes.

Women's Reservation Act Implementation. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (2023), which reserves one-third of Lok Sabha and state assembly seats for women, is scheduled to take effect after the next delimitation. Its rollout will test whether female political representation cuts across religious lines or reproduces existing majority-minority divides.

Global Gender Gap Report 2024. India ranked 129 out of 146 in the WEF's 2024 Global Gender Gap Index, with particularly poor scores on economic participation and health. Researchers note that gender outcomes diverge sharply by religion and caste — another layer Pew's 2021 survey hinted at but did not analyse deeply.

Religious Demographics Debate. An Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) working paper in 2024 on changing religious shares in India's population triggered sharp methodological critiques. The paper's framing — and the political response to it — illustrate how quickly demographic data becomes ammunition in the religion-and-nation debate.

Places of Worship Act Challenges. Multiple writ petitions pending before the Supreme Court in 2024-25 challenge the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The outcome will shape the legal architecture around religious site disputes — a direct policy reflection of Pew's finding that religious boundaries are politically salient.

What Sociologists Say

• Ashis Nandy: Religion-as-faith sustains pluralism; religion-as-ideology threatens it.
• Rajeev Bhargava: India's "principled distance" secularism requires the state to intervene selectively — not remain neutral between oppressor and oppressed.
• T.N. Madan: Indian secularism, imported from the West, sits uneasily with a deeply religious society.
• Dipankar Gupta: "Tolerance" in India often means mutual indifference rather than genuine respect; true pluralism demands engagement across boundaries.

The Pew data is perhaps best read as empirical support for Nandy and Gupta — and a challenge to any complacent assumption that constitutional secularism has produced integrated citizenship.

UPSC Relevance

GS Paper I — Indian Society

• Salient features of Indian society, diversity of India.
• Communalism, secularism.
• Effects of globalisation on Indian society.

GS Paper II — Polity and Governance

• Secularism and the Constitution (Preamble, Articles 25-28, 42nd Amendment).
• Minority rights and Articles 29-30.

GS Paper IV — Ethics

• Attitudes: tolerance, compassion, moral and political attitudes.
• Emotional intelligence and public administration in a plural society.

Possible mains questions

1. "Indian secularism is often described as tolerance rather than neutrality. Examine in the light of recent sociological surveys." (250 words)
2. "Religious freedom without inter-religious integration can still produce communal tension. Discuss." (150 words)
3. "Analyse the interplay between religion, language and national identity in contemporary India." (250 words)

Prelims pointers. Pew Research Centre (Washington DC, non-profit, non-partisan think tank); Articles 25-28 (religious freedom); 42nd Amendment (secular in Preamble); S.R. Bommai vs Union of India (1994) — secularism as basic structure; Sabarimala and triple talaq judgments; Places of Worship Act 1991.

Essay themes. "Unity in diversity is an aspiration, not an achievement"; "The republic of many faiths"; "Tolerance without dialogue is not pluralism".

The Pew survey is not an indictment — it is a mirror. For UPSC aspirants, the task is not to dismiss or celebrate its findings but to use them as a starting point for deeper enquiry into how constitutional ideals meet everyday social practice.

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