Source

NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 11, 2012 (Hindustan Times): A whopping 93% of Indian youth consider religion to be a matter of faith and not of cultural or social identity. 32% of them assert that they are staunchly religious, while 59% say they are moderately religious. These are the findings of a survey commissioned by HT and carried out by C fore to analyse the religious outlook of young people in the country. One thousand youngsters in the 18-30 age group living in major metropolitan cities and across a cross-section of religions in India were surveyed.

HPI note: The rest of this report is dedicated to putting the above remarkably positive findings in the worst possible light, for example by noting:

“When the respondents were asked if they had read their religious scriptures, only 15% answered in the affirmative. 48% say that they did not know why certain rituals like fasting are practiced.”

Toward the end of the article, however, they report how the results compare to the West:

“An international survey on religion conducted last week by WIN-Gallup International reveals that the average religiosity of 59% showed a decline of 9% since 2005. The percentage of atheists also rose from 4 to 7% in the same period, indicating, perhaps a crisis of faith.”

And in a final paragraph, they offer an explanation for the low level of religious knowledge among the youth:

“Professor Khanna says, ‘In our country, there are no avenues to understand the true leanings of religion. Every secular nation has a department of religious studies at universities. India has none. Unless we have educative channels the youth will continue to absorb colonial knowledge. After all, if you flaunt the roots you must know what to flaunt.’ “