The Well-Tempered Jihad: the politics and practice of post-2002 Islamist terrorism in India

Abstract

The present paper seeks to provide a detailed overview of new Islamist terror groups that have emerged across India. Operating outside Jammu and Kashmir, these groups are in the main made up of Indian nationals. Since 2001, when violence in Jammu and Kashmir began to decline, these new groups have engaged in a sustained campaign of terrorism through India. Operating with the infrastructural assistance of Pakistan-based and Bangladesh-based organisations like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Harkat ul-Jihad-e-Islami, the groups wage what might be described as a ‘Well-Tempered Jihad’: a campaign that keeps up Islamist pressure on the Indian state, whilst stopping short of inducing a major crisis involving the region's nation-states. The paper explores the relationship of this new jihad with state and non-state actors both in India and Pakistan, and argues that their growth has been driven by political circumstances in both countries.