The Changing Algorithm of Terror

The sanguine saga of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the successful extradition of its mastermind Tahawwur Hussain Rana—more than 16 years after the heinous crime—and his subsequent arrest by the National Investigation Agency make for a fascinating thread in bringing out the rot in the Indian administrative-political system and the perceptible change it's undergoing.

- BALBIR PUNJ

First, let's recall. During 2008, terror groups were hitting India without a break. The fateful year opened with a deadly strike on the CRPF camp in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, attributed to Lashkar-e-Taiba. It was followed by nine more terror attacks by October-end. On October 30, before noon, several markets in Assam were rocked by deadly explosions. Eighteen bombs went off, claiming 81 lives and leaving 470 injured. Succinctly put, bomb blasts and the resulting mayhem were the new normals.

But what followed in November would overshadow all such terror acts—in India and the rest of the world—in terms of the sheer incredulity of its planning, coordination, brutality, the number of human lives lost and the excruciating trauma it caused its victims and the rest of India. The macabre drama lasted four days—November 26 to 29—and was marked by anxiety and palpable nervousness all over the country.