There are moments when a nation realises that the threats it faces are evolving faster than its ability to recognise them. The recent arrests of four highly educated Indian doctors, all allegedly linked to banned Islamist organisations, mark one such moment. These individuals were not impoverished young men driven by desperation. They were not from the margins of society. They were doctors, trained to heal and save lives, who instead chose to become architects of mass murder and chaos.

They carefully stored bomb-making chemicals, hoarded weapons, and even experimented with poison formulation. Had these plans not been intercepted, we would only have learnt of them when our cities went up in flames.

One cell, busted across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Jammu and Kashmir, was found with over 2,900 kilograms of explosive materials, weapons, and propaganda paraphernalia. Another cell in Gujarat was engaged in biochemical experiments. Both groups, according to investigators, were in touch with handlers linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed, ISIS, and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind. Their radicalisation was not accidental; it was deliberate, ideological, and rooted in a political vision fundamentally opposed to the Indian constitutional ethos.

For too long, the narrative around radicalisation in India has been framed through the lens of material deprivation. We have been told repeatedly that extremism emerges from poverty and lack of opportunity. The proposed solution, therefore, has been welfare........

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