Global terror's India connection
The Glasgow attack is the first known act of global terror involving an Indian Muslim.
from the July 10, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Moreover, the trauma of partition, in which as many as 1 million Indians and Pakistanis died, means that "on the whole, Indian Muslims don't like to stick their neck out on these issues," says Omair Ahmed, a former political adviser to the British High Commission in New Delhi.
Indeed, some suggest that for this reason, such indoctrination is far more likely to happen to young men abroad than in India. These suspects "were out of their normal pool of people who can keep them under control," says Mr. Ahmed. "If they mouth off in India, their uncle will take them aside and talk to them."
What is perhaps more likely, says Peter Neumann, a terrorism expert at Kings College London, is that the young men only became radicalized after they moved to Britain, where Indian Muslims tend to mix with their coreligionists rather than their compatriots.
"They would live in Pakistani areas, not Indian areas," says Professor Neumann. "Even though geographically they are from India, culturally they are much closer to Pakistani communities." In that sense, he says, the emergence of an Indian-Muslim link should not come as a surprise.
As of yet, it is unclear whether the attacks in Britain – or any of the suspects – are connected to Al Qaeda. Unconfirmed reports have linked Abdullah with extremists in his home country, where he lived until three years ago. But the fact that the attacks seemed poorly executed could suggest that there was no link.
"If there had been strong input from Al Qaeda in Iraq, surely they would have come up with a better working device," says Neumann. "If anyone can do car bombs, it is Iraqi insurgents."
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