my guess is that it has something to do with religious pride. When you follow a particular religion you want to show that you are not fooling around and are serious in what you believe in. Being a pretty tough religion to follow, Hinduism is a way of life and cannot be changed in a blink of an eye. The religion issues between people believing in Hinduism or Islam may also refer to the feud between their countries and their different ways of life. I cant say for sure though but being a Hindu myself gives me a reason to believe so.
