Religion

• India has two main religions Hinduism and Islam.
• Other minority religions include Buddhism Sikhism and Christianity.
• More than 80% of Indians practice Hinduism which has an enormous influence on the political social and economic life of the country.
• Hinduism is based on a social system known as the Caste system.
• Individuals are grouped into a Caste according to their job.
• At the top of the Caste system are the priests and high ranking officials and professionals ( brahmins ).
• Dalits or Untouchables make up 15% of the population and are at the lowest level of the Caste system. They often carry out unclean work such a street cleaning.
• The Caste system leads to rigid social segregation in Indian Society.
• People have to remain within the Caste into which they were born and cannot marry or socialize outside that Caste.
• Members of the lower Caste usually accept their lot and hope that with virtue and patience they may be reincarnated into a higher Caste.
• Most of the lower Caste are destined for a life of poverty.
• Hindus believe that cows are sacred animals.
• Many Hindus are vegetarian. This is one reason why agriculture in India is devoted more to growing cops crops then rearing animals.
• Cows may provide milk and pull carts but cannot be killed.
• It is now believed that there are over 200 million cattle in India contributing to overgrazing soil erosion and global warming.
• The Caste system is now frowned on by the Indian government and is beginning to break down in city such as Mumbai and Kolkata however it remains strong in rural areas.
• 13% of the population practice Islam
• Most Muslims live on the Indus-Ganges Plain. They were often converted from Hinduism by Muslim traders.
• In 1947 when India became independent from Britain two States Pakistan and India were created based on religion.
• Pakistan is a Muslim state and India is a Hindu state.
• The division caused one of the largest migrations in the world as more than 12 million people moved between the newly created states of Pakistan and India
• Muslims moved to Pakistan and Hindu's moved to India.
• There are still tensions between the two religious groups over the states of Kashmir.
• Kashmir was divided in 1947 and 75% of it is ruled by India.
• Pakistan believes it should control all of Kashmir as the majority of the people are Muslims.