The recent series of bomb blasts that have rocked India – a series which has become a proverbial dark tunnel where no end is in sight – denote a new pattern. Till now communal riots were engineered by communal forces and the fascist part of the Indian state machinery to polarise society. This trend reached its apogee in the Gujarat 2002 riots.

The communal forces both inside and outside the Indian State machinery learnt some important lessons from Gujarat; chiefly t...

Delhi bombings resulting in horrible killings have understandably caused righteous indignation at the almost total failure of intelligence machinery. Prime Minister has commendably scotched the idea of Federal Agency accepting frankly that in view of bombings having taken place under the so-called watchful eye of Central agencies, the fight against terrorism requires the involvement of States as equal partners especially in the light of autonomy of States under our Federal Constitution.