Bengaluru: Between democracy and dictatorship which one does a citizen of India prefer? More Hindus in India prefer dictatorship to democracy than Muslims.
While 63 percent from both the communities prefer democracy to dictatorship, among Hindus, 15 per cent preferred dictatorship, while among Muslims it was 14 per cent, according to a study conducted by political scientists.
As expected among the South Asian countries, a large number of people from four regions in Pakistan-Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baloch preferred dictatorship to democracy. Around 38 per cent Punjabis and 27 per cent Balochis preferred dictatorship.
Interestingly, among the South Asian countries, the country which has greater faith in democracy is Bangladesh. Only two per cent Bengali Muslims and Bengali Hindus in the country preferred dictatorship and 78 and 79 per cent people from these communities respectively preferred democracy.
The other interesting aspect is the support for religous leaders in politics. In all the five countries in South Asia, very high percentage of Muslim respondents backed for this. In Pakistan, 52 per cent Muslims prefer religious leaders to have a say in politics, while in Sri Lanka it was 51 per cent. In India, 34 per cent Muslims want religious leaders to have a say in politics.
The study was led by Prof Sandeep Shastri of Jain University, Prof Suhas Palshikar of Savitribai Phule University Pune and Prof Sanjay Kumar of CSDS New Delhi.
A large group of political scientists from the south Asian countries took part. The teams worked for over four years from 2013. The report also observed that more than one third in South Asia feel democracy means getting welfare and justice.
