Mob Vigilantism? Outlooks on Religious Violence, Torture, and Killings

The chapter draws on the intricate configuration of violent propensities in Pakistani society, aiming to understand the country’s anti-blasphemy violence, homicides, and religious vigilantism within a wider social context. It underscores the challenges and limitations inherent in analyzing religious violence solely through its theological and religious underpinnings, detached from daily life and the broader cultural context. By exploring the narratives of ordinary Pakistanis, the chapter questions the appropriateness of circumscribing the violence and mob killings of alleged blasphemy perpetrators exclusively to the realm of religion. While delving into everyday praxis and broader cultural scenario, it explores the deep-seated cultural logics underpinning violence and questions whether other social institutions are devoid of these violent propensities, or if religious violence is merely a manifestation of the multitude of violence deeply ingrained and normalized in people’s lives and the country’s larger cultural landscape. Amid escalating mob killings, pervasive aggression, and violence, the chapter finally examines why individuals resort to taking the law into their own hands instead of entrusting the legal system to adjudicate the fate of those accused of blasphemy. A range of social contexts, sites, social institutions, and virtual landscapes are explored to reimagine the reasoning and perpetuation of religious violence in Pakistan.