The Expansion of Sectarian Conflict in Kurram Agency, 1979-1996

Abstract

Since the 1980s, Kurram Agency, which is now District Kurram and merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the 18th amendment to the Pakistani constitution, has remained a focal point of sectarian strife for many years. The study examines how sectarianism spread during that interval and how both internal and external factors contributed to its growth in Kurram Agency. It also highlights the three major events that occurred in the 1970s: the Iranian Revolution, the Saur Revolution, and martial law in Pakistan, and how they shaped the sectarian violence in Kurram Agency in the 1980s. In the midst of these events, Arif Hussain Al Hussaini, a religious leader from Parachinar, met with Ruhollah Khomeini in Najaf. He then returned to Parachinar and began his political career in Pakistan by founding the Tahrik-i Nifaz-i Fiqh-i Ja'fariya (TNFJ) organization. The study exposes the impacts of Hussaini's presence in Pakistani politics on the Shias of Parachinar and Zia-ul-Haq's retaliation against them in the 1980s. Additionally, this paper explains how the Sunnis in Kurram Agency became interested in Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), an anti-Shia organization founded in Jhang in 1984. The paper also elaborates on the role of Afghan refugees in sectarian conflict in Kurram Agency who entered the agency in the 1980s. The sectarian violence in Kurram Agency during the 1980s and 1990s is thoroughly examined in this research, along with how these conflicts laid the groundwork for future bloodshed in the region. The conclusion has been reached by consulting reports, interviews, and primary and secondary sources. Both descriptive and analytical methods have been used to develop an argument.