Contemporary research on Jihadist and other violent Muslim organisations place a significant amount of blame on ideological drivers within Islam. This article seeks to challenge that assertion by comparing Islamic movements in India and Pakistan. Analysing Salafist movements in both the nations, it demonstrates that factions within of the movement in Pakistan have turned violent in Pakistan whereas they have remained wholly peaceful in India. Consequently, it argues that political patronage, state tolerance of extremism for political gains and other related factors, have played a larger role in forming a collective identity that encourages violence rather than ideology alone.