Religion is personal, not political

COMMENT | Despite his three marriages, his boastful womanizing, Donald Trump has meagre Christian credentials. When he was asked during the Presidential campaign in 2016 if he ever asked God for forgiveness, he replied: “I don’t think so... I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don’t bring God into that picture. I don’t.”

Those analysing Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton were at wits end trying to evaluate the “Christian” voting patterns. The Internet has volumes on this subject, but the eventual answer was that religion played a part in his success.

While Trump took a “don't care a damn” attitude, something the opposite happened closer to home. Indian politicians and parties, such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have used religion and caste as a tool to garner votes and gain power since the 1990s.

However, in a landmark decision in January 2017, the Supreme Court of India banned the use of religion and caste in political activities in the run-up to state polls, where such affiliations often determine the fate of campaigns.

If the word “caste” is replaced by “race,” it presents a Malaysian scenario where race and religion have been the hallmark of campaigning...