Check out part one of the conversation here.

In part two of this special edition of Let’s Talk About, the Newslaundry team of Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan, Shardool Katyayan, and Mehraj D Lone continue their conversation on religion, this time focusing on the intersection of religion and politics.

Abhinandan asks the panel whether it thinks mixing religion and politics is inevitable or desirable.

Anand says, “Religion leads to a community, and community can be a repository of power, and power is currency in politics. Depending on the social texture of a society at a given time, religion can be one of the natural claimants of power.”

Manisha thinks religion is an important part of people’s lives and, therefore, “politics is always going to be a feature of it”.

Abhinandan, Raman and Shardool argue that the intervention of religion in politics has decreased over time. “These are old power structures,” Shardool says, “which are slowly fading away.”

Mehraj believes religion is intertwined because it impacts every aspect of one’s life. Abhinandan explains how politics has merely “replaced” religion while still keeping aspects of it intact.

Listen.

Text by Utkarsh Tripathi.

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