A global median of 65% said it is very important for women to have equal rights.
By Sreejith Vallikunnu
Washington-based think tank Pew Research Centre’s recent survey says that Indians consider religious freedom as important, with 86% of people believing that it is highly significant to have the freedom to practice their faith.
The survey which was conducted among 38 countries and interviewed 40,786 people – from April 5 to May 21, 2015 – found that there is strong support for gender equality and religious freedom in India.
Among 34 nations, those who say religion is very important in their own lives are more likely to believe it is very important to live in a country where people can practice their religion freely, the survey report said.
It also added that the gap on this question between those who indicate religion is very important and those saying it is less important is more than 25 percentage points in Pakistan, Japan, Vietnam, Turkey, South Korea, Australia, Poland and Senegal. In India, it comes only 12 percentage points.
Among the 37 countries, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Nigeria (91%) are the countries which consider the religious freedom as very important, while the US is placed next with 89%.
Most of the countries said it is at least somewhat important to live in a country with religious freedom, a free press, free speech and competitive elections.
A global median of 65% said it is very important for women to have the same rights as men and in India, 71% of those polled agree.
A median of 50% believe it is very important to live in a country with an uncensored internet, the report said.
On the issue of gender equality, there are sharp differences between men and women in most of the countries in the study. In 24 nations, women are more likely than men to say it is very important for women to have equal rights in their country. Gender gaps are particularly common in many emerging and developing nations, Pew observed.