India in the face of global jihad: Time to re-evaluate?

• Main Author: Mandal, Sujoyini
• Other Authors: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
• Format: Commentary
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Political science
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/82682; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/40147
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

IS INDIA now on the map of global jihad? The arrests of two Indian Muslims, Sabeel Ahmed and Kafeel Ahmed, from the United Kingdom in connection with the failed London and Glasgow bombings on 29-30 June 2007, seem to suggest this. Both Indians are young, well educated established professionals, who represent India’s Muslim middle class. Significantly they belong to the state of Karnataka, where literacy among Muslims is higher than other parts of the country, and particularly from Bangalore, the cosmopolitan Information Technology (IT) hub of India. Kafeel Ahmed keenly followed events in Afghanistan and Palestine. Evidence gathered from his house includes speeches delivered by Osama Bin Laden, graphic videos of tortured Chechen terrorists and online manuals on how to prepare bombs.