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Religionisation of Politics in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar

Until quite recently, religion was considered a negligible variable both in violent conflict and politics. At most, it was perceived as an ideological pretext hiding other, economic or political causes for conflict, in which religion was merely instrumentalised by the powerful. This view has changed decisively over the last two decades. In many political and conflict situations ‘Religion’ is now implicitly or explicitly considered as a self-explanatory factor that cannot be questioned further. The article questions these assumptions: religion can never count as the only or the self-explanatory factor underlying any (violent) conflict situation. Yet, it cannot be perceived as merely an ideological means to be instrumentalised for their own purposes by ruling elites either. While this top-down perception does apply in many cases and is captured by the term ‘politicisation of religion’, bottom-up processes can and do intervene to bring about the reverse effect: the religionisation of politics. We illustrate this with empirical examples taken from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand. Instead of religion being used to realise political objectives, politics becomes an instrument of implementing religious practice. These are not exclusionary processes, they influence each other and create their own dynamics, leading to the exclusion of the ‘Other’ and from there frequently to violence.