Indeed, politicising religion dangerous

 
President Jakaya Kikwete recently implored members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Tanzania to refrain from interfering with the country’s internal affairs under the guise of extending religious support.

 

The president said there was credible evidence that some envoys were trying to influence developments in the country using religious groups to route support to political parties.
 

Religion is a sensitive issue, and many nations have experienced upheavals owing to violence fuelled by religious intolerance and extremism.

 

Thus, any attempts to influence national politics through infiltration of religious groups pose a direct threat to peace and security and are therefore unacceptable.

Tanzania has since independence jealously defended the right and freedom of people to subscribe to religious beliefs of their choice as enshrined in the country’s Constitution.

 

Tanzanians have all along lived together in peace and harmony, hardly ever experiencing violence due to differences along religious lines. 

 

The country’s population of over 45 million comprises people of a wide range of religious beliefs, among them Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Sikhs – but non-believers as well.

 

This diversity is the fabric the nation is knitted from and no single religious group is considered more significant than the rest or superior to any others.

 

Tanzania has always strived to ensure that State and religion operate together but autonomously. Attempts to eat into this separation through political initiatives wearing religious masks will only tear the country apart.

 

Therefore, we fully support peace-seeking and unifying initiatives such as the recent four-day forum organised by the Tanzania Christian and Muslim Religious Leaders’ Initiative for Peace and Co-existence.

 

The forum sent a clear message to the masses: that it is not religious affiliations that win political votes but, rather, implementable policies promising peace, stability and prosperity. 

 

This is not to mention that interference by members of the diplomatic corps stands against international protocols and the very purpose of accepting the accreditation of foreign envoys. 

 

These people are here to protect their interests and to further economic, cultural, political and other relations involving their respective countries. But this does not include clandestinely engaging in suspicious undertakings that might in fact undermine those very links.

 

That would be a dangerous form of diplomacy likely to foment religious hatred and stock fires of sectarian violence that could tear whole countries apart.

 

President Kikwete’s message also applies to clerics fond of using their religious influence as platforms from which to launch missiles precipitating civil strife.

 

Just as foreign diplomats ought to desist from turning religion into a vehicle to further hidden agendas, so should religious leaders abstain from negatively influencing their congregations on political and other matters as that could trigger violence.

 

In this last stretch towards the referendum and the upcoming general elections, the political atmosphere is especially tricky. It is therefore upon every resident Tanzania, whether a Tanzanian or a foreigner, to support efforts to promote peace and harmony.

 

In the particular case of religious leaders and foreign diplomats, who are influential public figures, it is important that they exercise extra caution in both word and deed.

 

Political leaders likewise ought to handle “clashes of ideas” through constructive debate rather than through force, intimidation or foul play as all these would endanger peace and harmony.