Social Hostilities Index (SHI) and Government Restrictions Index (GRI)

Social Hostilities Index (SHI) and Government Restrictions Index (GRI)

Subject : Indices

Context: India was among a handful of countries that saw religious hostilities in the early stages of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020, said a report released on Tuesday by the US think-tank Pew Research Center.

Concept:

Social Hostilities Index (SHI)

• The SHI measures acts of religious hostility by private individuals, organizations or groups. The index comprises 13 metrics, including religion-related armed conflict or terrorism and mob or sectarian violence.
• The report covered 198 countries, by the US think-tank Pew Research Centre.
• Questions used to compute the SHI included whether the country saw violence motivated by religious hatred or bias, whether individuals faced harassment or intimidation motivated by religious hatred or bias and whether there was mob violence against those of particular religious groups.

Highlights:

• Among the most populous countries, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Egypt and Bangladesh had “very high” social hostilities involving religion, according to the report.
• The country had the highest rate of social tensions along religious lines globally in 2020.
• Social Hostilities Index (SHI) in 2020  India’s  score was 9.4 out of a maximum possible score of 10, was worse than neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan, and a further increase in its own index value for 2019.

Government Restrictions Index (GRI). 

• This index looks at laws, policies and state actions restricting religious beliefs and practices.
• The GRI comprises 20 measures, including efforts by governments to ban particular faiths, prohibit conversion, limit preaching or give preferential treatment to one or more religious groups.

Highlights: 

• China ranked the worst, with a score of 9.3. India’s 34th rank was enough to categorize it among countries with “high” levels of such government restrictions.
• India was one of just four countries in the world that saw pandemic-related social hostilities against religious groups involving physical violence or vandalism by private individuals or organizations. Argentina, Italy and the US were the others.
• India was also among the countries in which private individuals or organizations linked the spread of the coronavirus to Minority religious groups.