Faith and Fire: Analyzing the Nexus Between Religion, Sectarian Violence, and Militant Organizations in Kurram Agency, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Pakistan

Islam is fundamental to Pakistani identity, and the primary objective of this religiously founded nation was to give Muslims a place to call home where they could live in freedom and unit but paradoxically, several jihadi groups have used Islam as a weapon to commit acts of violence against the country's various religious minorities. The aim of the present study is to explore the ground realities that contributed to sectarian violence. This empirical work was carried out at District Kurram, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Findings of the study revealed that in KP, various militant groups, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its support extremist organizations, including "Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Sipah-i-Sahaba, Lashkar-i-Tayyiba, al-Qaida and Haqqani fighters", recruiting youth from madrassas areas for their own agendas and incite emotions and push them towards so-called jihad. The study also explored that extremist organizations have fueled sectarian violence in KP and ideology of these groups is to declare the Shia sect as infidel and to label armed action against them as jihad. Their activities have not only taken the lives of thousands of innocent people. The study concluded that extremist organizations take advantage of such circumstances, using these emotions for their own purposes, promoting violence and killings. These groups cannot be defeated by military action alone but also need to be confronted on intellectual and ideological fronts. The reform of religious narratives, bans on hate material, and impartiality of law enforcement agencies are fundamental factors for resolving this issue.