According to unnamed Indian sources quoted in mainstream media, Indian authorities investigating the recent Mumbai bombings are focusing on a potential alliance between the Kashmiri militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) ?widely suspected to have had a hand in the bombing?and a banned homegrown Islamic organization called the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) . Indian authorities believe that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, which is suspected of supporting Kashmiri terrorist groups and the Taliban , was also involved. Indian investigators divulged that the bombings utilized the powerful military explosive RDX?used in the past by LeT. They have also suggested that LeT provided the materiel and militant expertise, and SIMI provided local operatives.
Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the bombing. One, of the bombers, Tanvir Ansari, is believed to have traveled to Pakistan in 2004 for militant training. Referring to the other three, the New York Times quoted police investigator K. P. Raghuvanshi as saying ” ‘We have definite evidence that these people are linked to terrorist activities?They have connections with groups in Nepal [Country Profile] and Bangladesh [Country Profile], which are directly or indirectly connected to Pakistan.”
The possible involvement of a homegrown, Muslim militant group underscores the potential that the discontent felt by parts of India’s Muslim community may serve as fertile soil for the growth of Islamist militancy against Hindus and the Indian state. Though long regarded as a moderate minority?according to the Christian Science Monitor, “Not one of India’s 150 million Muslims, thus far, has been found associated with Al Qaeda [Group Profile].”?India’s Muslims have experienced feelings of societal inequality, and social and economic neglect. The 2002, Gujarat riots, in which 2,500 people?mostly Muslims?were killed, represent a fulcrum event for Muslims in Indian society. Following the riots, the Indian Supreme Court said the Hindu nationalist government in Gujarat was complicit in the killings, but little has been done to bring those responsible to justice, adding to Indian Muslims’ sense of injustice.
Supporting the suggestion that homegrown Muslim operatives were involved in the bombing is the theory, articulated by the Christian Science Monitor that, “?last week’s bombs were planted in first-class train compartments [because of] this frustration over Gujarat. Commuters in those compartments are usually traders from Mumbai’s diamond industry – most of them Gujarati Hindus. Nearly 50 Gujaratis are believed dead in the bombings.”
Indian Muslims’ discontent bears similarities to the dynamics at play among disaffected Muslim minority communities in Europe that have cultivated homegrown Islamist militant groups. As Islamist militancy continues to grow on India’s northern flanks in Pakistan, Afghanistan , and Bangladesh, Islamist militant groups may seek to exploit the more alienated, vengeful, and threatened Muslim communities. A homegrown Muslim group would raise the potential for a heavy-handed police crackdown and/or vigilantism against India’s Muslim community, further alienating it and potentially spurring civil conflict and militant radicalization. The bombings and the potential growth of militant radicalism among India’s Muslim community presents a long-term threat to India’s security and may impact its ascendancy as a major power within the global economy, as foreign investors give pause with the potential terrorism threat.
