Leveraging ethnicity is pretty typical in most multi-ethnic countries. They use that as a springboard to jump into national which they then use to buy perks for their home region to further solidify their hold. I don't really think there's much that can be done about that.

I don't think atheism can solve this, it's not like you can force those people to leave their religion.
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You are right mostly, especially in the aspect of ethnicity. However, when it comes to religion, it is not about one becoming an atheist. The issue is that religion is being used to manipulate the people into moronic obedience and alliance. The relevance that religion is supposed to have in the life of their followers is being taken advantage of to control them.