The hostage crisis that unfolded in Mumbai on Thursday, where a man held 17 children and two adults captive in an acting school before police intervened, was mercifully resolved without loss of life. But the incident raises unsettling questions about how psychological distress, moral disillusionment, and the pressures of modern urban life can combine to produce moments of explosive instability. Beneath the reassuring outcome of a successful rescue lies a deeper unease about what drives such eruptions in an increasingly volatile society. The hostage-taker reportedly made no political or financial demands.

Instead, he spoke of “ethical” and “moral” concerns, and of wanting to “ask questions.” The language was confused but revealing, a glimpse into the state of mind of someone who, perhaps, felt voiceless and invisible. It is often at this intersection of alienation and attention-seeking that........

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