The November 10, 2025, car bomb blast near the Red Fort in Delhi, that claimed fifteen innocent lives, has opened up a new trend in India, of highly educated professionals getting involved in terror offences, which hitherto, was the exclusive domain of uneducated fundamentalists, inspired and funded by foreign intelligence agencies. There have been cases in India of educated professionals, tempted by the desire to make quick money, resorting to drug peddling and trafficking, but getting actively involved in terror offences aimed to kill innocent people, opens a new dimension in counter-terrorism measures.

Radicalisation in Indian educational institutions is not a well-explored subject. While education is seen as a key preventative tool, challenges include weak administration, poor governance, and the dominance of religious organisations, in setting up and administering educational institutions, including professional institutions. The standard arguments of poverty, unemployment, and historical injustices, which create fertile ground for recruitment, particularly in marginalised communities, are no longer valid. People who can afford to pay in crores for a professional degree have no justification whatsoever to switch to a career of indiscriminate killings. Terror organisations are also seeking a change of image; they no longer want to be seen as a ragtag bunch of illiterate fundamentalists, looking like savages. They desire to induct highly educated professionals, suave and sophisticated, into their dreaded profession, including highly educated women.

Terror organisations understand that for their resilience they need to constantly recruit new members, supporters and sympathisers. When supporters and sympathisers of violent extremism come together, they form a unitary identity, resulting in sub-cultures or communities known as radical milieus. In radical milieus, religious identity, culture, language and symbols, influence both individuals and groups, fostering an environment that could transform into terror nurseries.

Of critical importance is how recruitment and mobilisation are being facilitated online, through popular platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp. Scholars have warned of the potential for violent extremists to rationalise, normalise and promote radical ideologies, among university students, and those pursuing medical and engineering degrees. Even girls are getting attracted and indoctrinated by radical teachings of holy........

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