A PEW Research Centre report said that India, along with Russia, Egypt, Pakistan and Nigeria had the highest combined levels of government restrictions and social hostilities involving religion in 2015
India is amongst the top five countries in the world that has the highest levels of social hostilities involving religion amongst the 25 most populous countries in the world, says a PEW report.
The report also adds that India, along with Russia, Egypt, Pakistan and Nigeria had the highest combined levels of government restrictions and social hostilities involving religion in 2015, while Brazil, Japan, South Africa, Ethiopia and the Philippines had the fewest restrictions and hostilities.
PEW's Research Centre added that government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion increased in 2015 for the first time in three years.
"The share of countries with “high” or “very high” levels of government restrictions – i.e., laws, policies and actions that restrict religious beliefs and practices – ticked up from 24% in 2014 to 25% in 2015," the report added.
The report stated that the global rise in social hostilities reflected a number of factors, including increases in mob violence related to religion, individuals being assaulted or displaced due to their faith, and incidents where violence was used to enforce religious norms.
Of the 198 countries in the study, 105 (53%) experienced widespread government harassment of religious groups, up from 85 (43%) in 2014 and 96 (48%) in 2013. Limited harassment – cases that were isolated or affected a small number of groups – also rose, taking place in 52 countries (26%) in 2015 (up from 44, or 22% of countries, in 2014).
While the Middle East-North Africa region continued to have the largest proportion of governments that engaged in harassment and use of force against religious groups (95%), Europe had the largest increase in these measures in 2015. “More than half of the 45 countries in the region (53%) experienced an increase in government harassment or use of force from 2014 to 2015. Twenty-seven European countries (60%) saw widespread government harassment or intimidation of religious groups in 2015, up from 17 countries in 2014. And the governments of 24 countries in Europe (53%) used some type of force against religious groups, an increase from 15 (33%) in 2014,” the report stated.
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