Indians of different religions feel most at home in a group of people with the same faith.According to a Pew Research Center survey, the majority of Indian Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Jains believe that people should not marry anyone who does not share their religious beliefs, particularly women.Pews survey was based on face to face interviews with almost 30,000 adults, conducted in 17 languages, between late 2019 and early 2020.Modis BJP, inter-caste marriageHindus who supported Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party, (BJP), were more likely than Hindus to oppose marriages across religion lines.It is not surprising, considering the BJP supports Hindutvaan ideology which roots nationalism in Hindu values. Interfaith couples have faced difficulties since the party's 2014 election victory.Beginning with Uttar Pradesh's November 2020 ordinance, which made a religious marriage conversion illegal, many BJP-ruled states announced similar laws to stop love jihad. Manjinder Singh Sirsa is the national spokesperson of the center-right party Shiromani Akali Dal and called for similar laws for Jammu & Kashmir. He claimed that Sikh girls were forced to convert to Islam in the valley.Most Indians believe they can freely practice their religion, and very few claim they face discrimination. They prefer to remain within their tribes. Few Indians marry someone who doesn't share their faith.Marriage is not the only area of life in which different communities want to remain apart.Hindus and Muslims remain within their respective communitiesPew found that a large majority86% of respondents said all or most of the close friends they have are members of their religious community. This is especially true for Hindus, who make up a large portion of Indians. They may also have more Hindu friends. It is not true for Jains and Sikhs, however, as they make up a small percentage of the population.Pew observed that Indian society is in many ways a patchwork fabric with clear separations between religious communities.This trend is also evident in living arrangements.Pew research found that more than a third (33%) of Indian Hindus would not live next to a Muslim and 31% would not like a Christian living near them. Jains hold more firm beliefs about the subject, with 54% refusing to accept a Muslim neighbor and 47% not accepting that a Christian would live near them.
