On November 10th , after a decade, India experienced its first terror attack on its heartland, starting from the capital, which killed 13 and injured more than 20. The largest bomb strike in India since the 2006 Mumbai train bombings has nearly blurred the red lines of terror against India. The bomb blast at the Red Fort must be seen as a serious warning or sign of upcoming dangers for India, as it indicates multiple significant pattern shifts in the terror cycle against India and possibly a new beginning of jihad against India.

The Shift

There are three shifts worth noting after the horrific terror incident in Delhi. First, terror gloves are off now, which shows the audacity to strike India in its heartland — a dangerous stance that was prominent from the early to mid-2000s, diminished after 2014, and shifted focus to Kashmir. Second, the tone and nature of terror modules have also undergone a major change. Earlier, the pattern was direct, with terror outfits and their splinter groups directly recruiting and carrying out attacks with full responsibility. Third: complexity and silence-until now, no terror outfit has claimed responsibility for the Red Fort terror attack, which is a troubling shift — indicating an increasing depth of subversive terrorism aimed at staging both direct and indirect attacks through multiple methods — sabotage, institutional infiltration, front groups, kidnappings, assassinations, etc. The shift may resemble what LeT-supported Indian Mujahideen and SIMI did, where radicalisation focused on youth and students who formed the core of IM and SIMI.

Both terrorist groups targeted urban areas and used high-impact serial blasts to create shock. The SIMI group had about 90 per cent of its........

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