Puzzle of Bombings in Jaipur
The bombings that shook Jaipur and killed 80 innocents are not immediately legible as ordinary politics. Most previous such bombings (Bombay, Hyderabad) have been in areas that have important Muslim minorities, or have been connected to separatist movements such as in Assam. Some appear to have been the work of Muslim radicals and intended as revenge on the Bharatiya Janata Party for its ties to RSS goon squads that have engaged in pogroms against Muslims. But Jaipur in Rajasthan is heavily Hindu and is not politically symbolic. Its main claim to fame is as a tourist attraction. 
I don't agree with the Indian analysts who suggest that the site of the attack is arbitrary, or that it has something to do with the new government in Pakistan, which is more favorable to India than the previous one. A general attempt to foment Hindu-Muslim tension may be part of it, but then why did the perpetrators not announce themselves?
Possible considerations are that unlike most of India's provinces now, Rajasthan is run by the BJP. So this attack could be a strike against that party. A bombing in Jaipur clearly is intended to hurt India's tourist economy. Since tourism revenues in Jaipur at the moment benefit the BJP, these horrific bombings could be intended to harm the provincial government.
Terrorists have their own awful logic, however, so other considerations may have played a role.
posted by Juan Cole @ 5/14/2008 01:20:00 PM
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I would agree and add that the general perception that the extremists are only west of the border is not true and there are in fact people and factions in India that are always trying to use any excuse to undermine Pakistani government or stability. It may well turn out to be the truth but the fingerwagging is a very easy way to displace responsibility.
Takfiris have no "logic." No point searching for it.
They seek to establish global righteousness by force where righteousness is defined, interpreted and enforced by them. They believe implementing the divine will on earth brings them closer to God
I would also point out that before 9/11 more than 10,000 Indian civilians were killed by International Islamic Front members that had publicly declared Osama Bin Laden to be their "Emir."
The broader AQ network launched their first major global synchronized high profile attack with an almost simultaneous attack on the WTC and Mumbai skyscrapers in 1993. {AQ’s first major atrocity outside Afghanistan was their massacre of Shia in Gilgit, Pakistan Administered Kashmir, in 1988 under Osama Bin Laden’s leadership.}
AQ networks have killed more civilians in Pakistan than Iraq over the last year. Far more Pakistani Army soldiers have been killed fighting AQ networks and the Taliban recently than the total number of American soldiers killed in combat inside Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11.
AQ seeks to destabilize as many regions as possible by provoking sectarian tension and conflict. Their attacks on Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq share this common goal.
Another point to remember is that India's large Shia population makes India an attractive target for AQ militants (in the same way that Bhutto was killed in part because she was a Shia.)
India has 20 million or more Shia (who mostly declare Sistani as their Marjya.) People associated with the Najaf Marjya have claimed that India has 30 to 40 million Shia . . . although that seems to be a high estimate. The Indian Shia are important to the Najaf Marjya.
PS. About 160 million of India's 1.18 billion people are muslim, but the exact breakdown between Shia and Sunni are disputed. Many Shia Indians have been oppressed by extremists. Estimates of Shia inside India have been understated for some time.
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"A general attempt to foment Hindu-Muslim tension may be part of it, but then why did the perpetrators not announce themselves?"
Say, the Harkat Ul Jihad-E-Islami did it, and then announces that they did it.
However, in that case, their goal of fomenting discord between religious communities fails, since public opinion in both communities will turn against the HUJI.
Therefore, anyone with the goal of fomenting discord between Hindus and Muslims needs to necessarily remain silent, so that an atmosphere of suspicion grows, which can be further intensified by vague insinuations/secondary targeted attacks.
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