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COVER STORY NOVEMBER 28, 2025 | The Indian Eye 5

chairman in a separate case added an- in remote hideouts but in hostels,
other layer of suspicion, even though WhatsApp groups, university librar-
no direct connection to the blast has ies, private apartments, and encrypted
been officially asserted. channels.
For security agencies, these over- The suicide bomber’s own trajec-
laps raise troubling questions. Why tory reflects this evolution. A doctor
are multiple individuals associated and professor, he moved between
with reputable educational institu- campuses and cities, blending into ac-
tions turning toward violent extrem- ademic life while harboring extremist
ism? motivations. His second vehicle — re-
What ideological networks are covered and now being examined for
operating unseen within academic en- evidence — may provide more clues
vironments? about his activities in the months be-
And most importantly, why are fore the attack.
highly educated professionals — peo- The sophistication of the module
ple who should be insulated by oppor- is reflected in the precision of the op-
tunity and social mobility — embrac- eration: vehicle procurement, recon-
ing the path of terror? naissance, IED assembly, coordinated
The Red Fort blast has forced support roles, and the timing of the
agencies to re-examine long-held as- Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets the injured in the Red Fort car blast, at Lok Nayak Hospi- blast. This was not amateur radicaliza-
sumptions about radicalization. Ear- tal in Delhi (DPR PMO/ANI Photo) tion. This was professional execution.
lier waves often involved young men Even the legal system felt the
driven by conflict exposure, lack of op- Her message reflected the emotional pressure. When co-accused Jasir Bi-
portunities, or targeted recruitment. fault lines that these attacks trigger: Architecture of Terror lal Wani sought special access to meet
The current trend seems powered by the grief of victims, the fear of repri- hat makes the Red Fort at- his lawyer at the NIA headquarters,
something different: ideological con- sals, and the difficulty in separating tack particularly alarming is the Delhi High Court firmly refused.
viction incubated in environments individual acts from an entire region’s Wthe emerging architecture “This is not a special case,” the judge
that appear, outwardly, to be modern identity. behind it. Investigators now believe said, underscoring the importance of
and aspirational. Yet the debate also highlighted that this module operated through procedural integrity even amid public
When a doctor becomes a suicide pressure.
bomber, the nation is forced to ask not something else — the widening gap personal networks rather than mass Meanwhile, NIA’s multi-state
recruitment. It was tight-knit, disci-
between political narratives and the
only who radicalized him — but how security challenges unfolding on the plined, and ideologically aligned. It search operation continues, with offi-
he lived in plain sight for so long. ground. did not require large camps, foreign cers convinced that the arrests so far
Some Hard Questions While politicians traded accusa- handlers, or cross-border infiltration. represent only part of a larger net-
tions, NIA teams were examining 73 It required belief — shared by a small work.
s news of the accused profes- witnesses, coordinating with Delhi, group of highly educated individuals A Real Threat
sionals filtered out, the po-
Alitical reactions grew sharp J&K, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana Po- who built a lethal trust ecosystem he Red Fort blast has shattered
and predictable. Congress MP Im- lice, and pursuing every lead to uncov- among themselves. a dangerous illusion — that
This marks a significant shift from
er a wider conspiracy.
ran Masood called Umar Un Nabi a The investigators saw the case as a earlier generations of militancy. Tterrorism emerges only from
“misguided youth,” sparking a storm systematic internal threat. The political Today’s radicalization model is the margins of society, from remote
of criticism. BJP leaders accused the class saw it as a moment for position- quieter, more insular and more dif- terrains or from foreign soil. The new
opposition of offering “intellectu- ing. The two perspectives rarely met. ficult to detect. It can take root not reality is stark: extremism can emerge
al cover” to extremists, linking the from college classrooms, medical
statement to past controversies and labs, professional corridors and ur-
what they called an “appeasement ban neighborhoods.
culture.” The nation must confront this
But amid the political jousting, new profile: educated, articulate, pro-
the core issue was largely ignored. fessionally accomplished, ideological-
Is it accurate to call a trained ly committed, and embedded within
medical professor — a man who con- society.
sciously planned, sourced, and deliv- This shift demands new thinking.
ered an explosive device into a crowd- It demands new strategies. And most
ed public space — “misguided”? Can of all, it demands that India recog-
someone with years of education, pro- nize the contours of a threat that is no
fessional stability, and access to infor- longer distant. The idea that a healer
mation fit into that category? could turn into a suicide bomber or
Or does the label serve as a con- that a professor could transform into a
venient shield that avoids engaging radical bomber handler forces a pain-
with the deeper, more uncomfortable ful question — What are we missing?
reality — that radicalization in India India must now decide how it will
today cuts across class, education, and face this threat — with clarity, politi-
professional success? cal maturity, institutional courage and
As the political rhetoric escalat- a willingness to look beyond old as-
ed, Mehbooba Mufti visited the fam- Jammu and Kashmir Police Special Operations Group (SOG) and CRPF conduct raids and sumptions. Because the danger is no
ily of a Kashmiri victim of the blast search operations in several residential areas, suspected to be linked with Jamaat-e-Islami longer at the border. It is already here,
and urged that national anger not be and militant groups in Pulwama (ANI) living and working among us, waiting
turned against ordinary Kashmiris. for the moment to ignite.

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