AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF THE SOCIO-CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF MILITANCY IN MALAKAND DIVISION, PAKISTAN

The menace of militancy has been eroding the very foundations of Pakistani society for more than a decade. Several theoretical attempts have been made to look into the causes of this peace threatening problem, a satisfactory conclusion, however, is yet to reach. In a related context, the current study attempted to explore the socio-cultural dynamics/factors of militancy in Malakand Division in the year 2011. The study was conducted in Mingora, (The capital of District Swat). Data was collected from 200 male respondents who were categorized in three main classes namely the business, teacher and the clergy class. Sample from each of the category was then obtained by the application of stratified random sample technique on proportion allocation sampling method. A structured interview schedule was used as a tool of data collection. The data has been rigorously analyzed by applying SPSS, and statistical tests i.e. Chi-Square. Results of the study show that poverty, illiteracy, religious misinterpretation and other cultural factors have a direct bearing on the emergence of violence and militancy in the region. The study suggest that measures in the form of education, economic reforms and moderate religious education shall be initiated to reduce the intensity of such violence in future.