BEYOND THE BLAST: THE URBAN FACE OF EXTREMISM

The spread of extremist ideology through urban echo chambers doesn't need instigation from across the border. Inclusion, dialogue and community engagement are as important as curbing infiltration

- LT GEN SYED ATA HASNAIN (RETD)

FOR nearly a decade and a half, India’s cities have felt secure— calm streets, crowded metros, and a quiet faith in the invisible shield of our intelligence and police networks. The explosion outside Red Fort metro station in New Delhi will shake that sense of safety. Whether it was an intended terror act or an accidental detonation, the intent behind it was unmistakable—to harm Indians, and thereby, India’s confidence.

The incident must not be viewed merely as an isolated tragedy, but as a symptom of a deeper malaise. It signals the quiet resurgence of ideological extremism in India’s urban underbelly—a phenomenon that has long simmered beneath the surface, particularly in parts of Jammu and Kashmir, but has now seeped into the social fabric of several metropolitan centres. No longer limited to remote valleys or border districts, it is travelling through cities, universities, prayer groups, and online echo chambers.

The unchecked spread of extremist ideology is today the most dangerous multiplier of terrorism. While our security forces and intelligence agencies have done exemplary work in shrinking the number of active terrorists in J&K and in curbing infiltration from across the Line of Control, radicalism has not been subdued. It doesn’t manifest daily, yet it builds the invisible scaffolding on which terror networks stand—those of sympathisers, financiers, propagandists and facilitators who blur the line between faith and fanaticism.

The difficulty is conceptual as much as operational. Around the world, nations have struggled to draw the line between religiosity and radicalism. Deradicalisation programmes, from Europe to Southeast Asia, show uneven results because the process requires theological engagement, psychological counselling, and community partnership. India faces this challenge acutely because its diversity makes any single approach inadequate.