The clear and present danger of white collar terror cells

To deflect attention from the catastrophic failures of law and order, acommunity can be cast as both the victim and the perpetrator

- BHAVDEEP KANG

idayeen attack or accidental —explosion? RDX or ammonia gel? Jaish-e-Mohammad or Al Qaeda? The blast at Delhi's Red Fort called to mind a vocabulary of violence that was familiar in the 1990s and 2000s but was blurred in public memory by a decade and a half of relative peace. Now, the continuing vulnerability of metropolitan India to terrorist assault has been explosively revealed. As concerning as the bombing itself is the inevitable fallout, in terms of its impact on the public psyche and the creation of a climate of fear and suspicion.

The blast is a fearful reminder that insurgents evolve to remain one step ahead of law enforcement. They can always slip through the interstices of border security, counter-terrorism measures and technology-enabled surveillance. Even worse, they can infiltrate social institutions, thereby lurking undetected. For every hundred foiled plots, there is one that might succeed.