Indian Middle-Class Youth Value Religion

krsna · March 9, 2005

Religion Watch Newsletter

INDIA, March 6, 2005: Religion is alive and well among Indian youth,

who generally seems to hold rather conservative values on family and

motherland, and show pride of being Indian, according to a recent

survey. The Indian newsmagazine India Today devoted its entire January

31 issue to what young, middle-class people in Indian cities "think, do

and want to be." It also paid some attention to religious beliefs and

values. More than 2,000 respondents aged 18 to 35 were interviewed in

10 major cities across India. Over 70 percent of Indian youth in those

cities claim to visit a place of worship at least once a week (only 3

percent answer "never"). Even if the figure may be inflated, it still

indicates a strong level of religious involvement. Interestingly, the

figure is still higher in Bangalore, the high-tech capital of India:

obviously, being modern and being religious is not seen as

contradictory. Another indicator which confirms the attachment of young

Indians to religion is the fact that 66 percent of them report fasting

for religious reasons. This does not necessarily translate into a

support for politics based on religion: secular values are obviously

widespread even among religious people, and most of them want a

separation between religion and state. 81 percent of them want a

uniform civil code for all religions in the country - an issue much

debated regarding Islam in India.--By Jean-Francois Mayer, RW

Contributing Editor and founder of the website Religioscope

(http://www.religioscope.com)

March 9, 2005

It would be encouraging to see some pure leaders with real vision synthesized from the mix of a billion souls.

I often feel humbled in the company of many sober minded Indians. But they seem to be preoccupied or enamoured by the western thing and somewhat procrastinating with the real issues.

Many years back I thought if only the Indian people could get a hold on that which can propagate their inner gift, then the world would take more notice, and now it seems that is gradually happening.