Woven so punctiliously by fanatical elements the deadly cobweb of modern terrorism has embarked upon a newfangled stratagem - targeting unwitting travellers, passengers, commuters. 9/11 witnessed the ramming of planes into the twin towers in New York. 3/11 represented a heinous serial bomb blasts in a train in Madrid. 7/7 bore testimony to the detonation of bombs in a bus and underground trains in London. 7/11 is the latest link in the despicable chain of terrorism that mauled Mumbai claiming over 200 lives and leaving several hundreds injured and fighting for life.

In the span of 11 heart-rending minutes 7 bombs (incidentally the 'minutes' and the 'number of bombs' exploded coincide with the date and month) blasted the crowded first-class carriages of commuter trains in Mumbai. It was a reminder, once again, that cities always figure in terrorists' murderous intentions.

The cause behind the cowardly terrorist attack on Mumbai is still lingering in the unknown. Between the layman on the street and the experts on terrorism an anthology of opinionated theories stream about that the attack was probably meant to undermine India's growing political as well as economic stature in the comity of nations; or possibly designed to mutilate its multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-linguistic edifice built on strong democratic foundations; or maybe intended to cripple the lifeline of Mumbai, India's financial capital; or apparently to derail the peace process between India and Pakistan underway; or perhaps to force India negotiate faster on the long drawn battle with Pakistan over Kashmir.

Unfortunately, for the terrorists, none of their aims bore fruit. International support for the government stood firm and sympathies for victims and their families profusely poured forth from various corners of the globe. Indians, regardless of their multiple identities, mainly Hindus and Muslims, refused to fall prey to tribal instincts, displaying exemplar solidarity. The Sensex, India's stock index, shot up by 3 points conveying a telling message to the terrorists that Mumbai's commercial spirit was hale and healthy. There was no instant knee-jerk reaction from India accusing Pakistan's leadership of its direct hand in the blasts. Without calling off the peace talks, India put a temporary brake on the peace process. For his part, Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf condemned the killing. The following morning, Mumbai was normal - and, back in business. While rail network was restored trains dutifully rattled along with unremitting commuters packed to their fill.

Mumbai has always been a favoured target for terrorists who in 1993 ripped through its arteries unleashing a series of bomb explosions killing 257 people. In March 2003, another terrorist attack killed 11 people. The same year, a few months later, in August, car bombs blew up at the Gateway of India claiming 50 lives. Between these major terrorist attacks, minor ones interspersed the 'city of dreams' killing and injuring many. The two attacks in 2003 were believed to be carried out by a banned home-grown terrorist group SIMI (Student Islamic Movement of India) and Pakistan-based LeT (Lashkar-e-Toiba), a terrorist outfit lavishly strained with Islamic extremism. This time, too, the suspicion has fallen on SIMI and LeT. Soon after the blasts police in Mumbai frenetically rounded up hundreds of Muslim youth in the city on suspicion of having links to terrorists though most of them were soon let off. Despite a few arrests following the blasts, the actual perpetrators, however, still remain at liberty. The sweeping arrests ignited a spark of rancour among ordinary Muslims as they felt they were customarily harassed and habitually suspected every time a terrorist attack occurred in the country.

One of the challenges confronting India is the lack of integration of some of its estranged Muslims into its national mainstream. In a country with a booming economy Muslims remain greatly disadvantaged which extremist factions such as the SIMI often capitalise upon with sinister intent. Muslims make up as much a part of Mumbai as they are of India as a whole. Home to world's second largest Muslim population, Muslims in India comprise just over 13 per cent of its total population of 1.1 billion. A sense of alienation - partly as a result of government apathy, partly as a consequence of the community's own failure to exploit available opportunities and partly due to the community's restrictive culture - has taken root among the Muslim community as they remain backward in comparison to their fellow Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and other religious groups. In urban India, 40 per cent of Muslims earn less than $6 a day as against 22 per cent of Hindus. Whereas 19 per cent of Hindus remain illiterate, Muslims make up 30 per cent. No constitution, howsoever fair and equalitarian, can resolve complex issues entangled in historic wrongs, religious discrimination, political apathy, economic constraints and communal distrust with a crooked system, corrupt politicians and exploitative leaders.

An inflating sense of persecution among Muslims - starting first with the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992, a 16th century Mosque, by rampaging Hindu mobs under the influence of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a right-wing Hindu political party, and a decade later a communal pogrom in 2002 in which over 2000 Muslims were slaughtered with covert blessing from the state government of Gujarat led by the BJP - together with the community's high unemployment, high illiteracy, high poverty and the weed of universal stigma over Islam has germinated a fertile ground breeding disaffected youth into extremist violence. Neither have India's growing political chemistry and diplomatic intimacy with America warmed the cockles of radical Islamists' hearts. Add to that the historic dispute over Kashmir - all have notoriously accorded as harmoniously as dynamite with fire with destruction-seeking Islamic militants to give vent to their anger and frustration through means of terror.

Inimical neighbour

Every time a terrorist attack befalls India, one name invariably finds a ready mention in Indian circles - Pakistan. Such is the impression Pakistan has managed to steadfastly engrave in Indian psyche. Many Indians view Pakistan as the bedrock of terrorism where terror recruits graduate out of its Jihadi factories managed under the guise of Madrassas - Islamic religious schools. Treading along lines of ambiguity it is unclear what role Pakistan plays in eradicating terror. It proclaims itself as an ally with the West in the 'war on terror' but for every aspiring 'suicide bomber' Pakistan seems to be the preferred destination for sharpening his Jihadi mindset and acquiring terror expertise.

It seems, on the outside, that Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf is doing what he could to improve relations with India, rein in terrorists and rabid mullahs in his country. Notwithstanding such endeavours, no significant progress has yet been made to ensure lasting peace between the two politically antagonist neighbours.

On one hand President Musharraf appears sincere trying his genuine best to forge peace between Pakistan and India, to suppress radical Islamists in his country and to carve a deal out on the issue of Kashmir without antagonising the hawks in the upper berths of the army and the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), the Pakistani intelligence agency that helps terrorists in Kashmir with strategic plans and intelligence outputs. On the other hand he seems a mere army general who is wilfully reluctant to clip the wings of ISI which provides a safe haven for Jihadis fighting in Kashmir as well as in Afghanistan. As the chief architect of the 1999 border war that nearly tripped both India and Pakistan into a nuclear confrontation, Musharraf's diplomatic antics cut no ice in several quarters in India. Sceptical Indians see him as a sly, cunning and sinister dictator whose attempts to root out Islamic terror outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba have been nothing more than superficial and tame.

Time to act

The successful terrorist attack pointed to some of the chinks in the armoury of India's intelligence service. Though the Intelligence Bureau had worked professionally and assiduously in the past, it starves from a paucity of resources and support mechanisms to cope with the demands of 21st century terrorism. Mired in bureaucratic corruption and procedural delays India's security systems remain archaic by modern standards especially when modern-day terrorists have developed a knack to sneak through detection and vigilance even in developed countries like the US and UK where security structures are considered foolproof.

Consider the litany of frailties: the Mumbai police have only been trained to nab criminals which leaves them largely clueless in dealing with terrorists; sometimes the police have to carry out emergency duties in dangerous situations without bullet proof; the communication-intelligence capabilities are outmoded that they cannot effectively intercept messages; there is no indication of watertight crisis management protocols in place; a majority of train stations and bus terminals do not have CCTV cameras; and with a population of 18 million and still growing Mumbai suffers from a serious understaffing of police force and deficiency of resources. While it is impossible to pre-empt every depraved terrorist plot it is however possible to minimise terror attacks with the help of advanced security structures in place and more personnel. Had Mumbai had the kind of emergency response teams as Britain had deployed on 7/7 it could have avoided several loss of lives through injury and due to delayed medical attention.

But overhauling intelligence is only part of a bigger problem. The bigger problem lies just across India's border where terrorists are manufactured, reared and provided with wings to fly around the world carrying their Jihadi doctrine. Pakistan, largely out of its own design, has become the global hotbed of terrorism. Without Pakistan acting seriously on its commitment to wipe terrorists out of its soil it is not just India or Pakistan that will continue to bear the brunt of bloodthirsty terrorists but will also spell diabolical consequences on the overall development of the whole of Indian sub-Continent.

So long as Kashmir, the biggest problem of all, remains a bugbear between India and Pakistan, India will have to fight the demons surfacing from Pakistan. Both countries have so far waged two wars over Kashmir. It won't be a surprise should a third one breakout, again, over Kashmir. It is not entirely obvious why the two countries fight over a region that is landlocked, has a small population and possesses few natural resources. Apart from its abundant natural beauty and its kernelled status in the heart of both countries' political pride, Kashmir has much less to offer. Enmeshed in deep-seated discord whether Muslim-majority Kashmir should belong to an Islamic Pakistan or to a multi-faceted India which has more Muslims than Pakistan, the political battle over Kashmir creates the perilous vulnerability between the two neighbours.

Vested interests both in India and Pakistan have taken such deep roots that resolution of Kashmir seems more a wonderment than a possibility. Indian hawks, doubters and doomsayers are so greatly gripped by the belief that even if Kashmir issue is resolved there will always be terrorists, radical Islamists and anti-India forces actively working in Pakistan seeking every opportunity to destabilise India. The call of Osama bin Laden to expunge the "Crusades-Jewish-Hindu" entity has further fuelled the fears of right-wing hawks in India. So long such fears occupy the centre-stage of politics acts of terrorism will remain scripted in the backstage of the sub-Continental existence, while maximum terror will seek to destroy the main stage of society. Nevertheless, resolving the quandary of Kashmir may diminish a lot of bloodshed.