Religion, Churches, and Madagascar's Recurring Conflict

Madagascar, an island located in the Indian Ocean and a former French colony that gained its independence in 1960, has experienced nine episodes of internal conflict since the colonial period: 1947, 1971,1972, 1975, 1985, 1991, 1996, 2002, and 2009. These episodes displayed various features but were all more or less related to political issues. In1972 for instance, 40 people were killed and many more injured following the revolt of young people from deprived neighborhoods and intellectuals rallying against the state’s perceived neocolonialism and capitalism. In1991, another conflict episode of a similar scale saw various actors such as Churches, political parties, and associations denouncing the 20-yearrule of President Ratsiraka and his socialist-inspired policies. In 2002, the two candidates running for Presidency disagreed over electoral results, leading to lethal clashes which took an ethnic undertone. Finally, episode2009 saw a military coup organized by the former Mayor of the capital city of Antananarivo with the support of major politicians who were already involved in many of the former episodes of conflict. As a result, more than 100 people died between 2009 and 2016.
Many internal and external actors got involved in these peace and conflict processes. For instance, the Malagasy State has always been among the major conflict actors in the country, while external involvement has varied depending on the conflict episode. It goes without saying that local/indigenous actors, and among them Churches, play crucial roles too.