Ninth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

The Deobandi movement was founded in 1867 in the Indian sub-continent and was imported to Britain during the 1950’s. By building on Quintan Wiktorowcz’ model, according to which radicalisation is the result of political grievances and ideology, and Robert Pape’s study, which demonstrates that nationalism is at the heart of terrorism, this paper purports to examine the historical, geopolitical and ideological factors leading to the rise of an extremist violent fringe within the Deobandi movement in Britain. The study shows that concerns and grievances over colonial history, Bangladesh’s secession war in 1971, the conflict in Kashmir, the military intervention in Afghanistan and the war on terror led to the rise of radicalisation within the Deobandi movement not only in the Indian sub-continent but also in Britain.