South Asia has always valued belief and spirituality and has been the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism.
Three additional religions which come from West Asia are Christianity, Islam, and Judaism – they arrived later and have many believers across South Asia today. Refer to the graphic above to understand how the various faiths are represented across South Asian countries.
The region represents a significant amount of religious diversity and these religions often co-exist peacefully – that’s not to say issues don’t arise. The effects of poor inter-faith relations can increase intolerance which can lead to hate crime. To find out more regarding religious hate crimes, you can read about International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief which take place on 22 August.
Practicing positive interfaith relations in the workplace
Practicing positive interfaith relations in the workplace revolves around us embracing tolerance and challenging poor interfaith relations. We can do this by being aware of upcoming religious events, sharing customs and traditions with one another.
At GC, 8% of GC colleagues are South Asian and a total of 571 GC colleagues have told us they have a religion or faith: Buddhist 0.51%, Christianity, 45.22%, Hindu 1.10%, Islam 6.44%, Judaism 0.42%, Sikh 0.51%, Other Religion or Belief 3.05%.
The ‘Religion and Faith’ and ‘EmbRace’ networks are available for advice and guidance regarding religion/faith and/or cultural queries you may have – visit the EDI page on Our Working Way.