During the past few years, the area of operation of the foreign terrorist groups active in the country has gone beyond the traditional realm of hostility in Jammu and Kashmir in northern India to the economic hubs of southern India. The primary terror target for these groups is now urban centers, economic infrastructure, transport facilities and civilians. Looking specifically at recent events in the city of Hyderabad, this article analyses the implications of this new threat environment to India's business interests, particularly its Information Technology (IT) industry; and its link with the Indian Muslim community.

On 25 August 2007, India witnessed one of the most lethal terrorist attacks in recent times. The target was Hyderabad, the capital city of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh and India's second 'Silicon Valley' after Bangalore. Within minutes of each other, twin explosions occurred at Lumbini Park, a crowded entertainment centre and at Gokul Chhat Bhandar, a popular eatery, killing 44 and injuring about a 100 civilians.

The city of Hyderabad has been linked to terrorist activities since the past 13 years. Recent events include an attack in the Sai Baba mandir in the city in 2001 and bomb blasts at police stations in 2006.

Hyderabad, self-styled as Cyberabad, rivals Bangalore, the capital of neighboring state of Karnataka in attracting Information Technology (IT) software, pharmaceuticals and services-outsourcing investments. With the initiative of ex-Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, the Vision 2020 program, a state-of-the-art IT hub called the Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consultancy City has been developed since 1998. This hosts the offices of software giants like Microsoft, Oracle and Dell among others. The development of the IT industry in Andhra Pradesh, driven by Hyderabad, is reflected in the rise in IT exports from 3 billion USD to 4.5 billion USD, from 2006 to 2007.

Although there is no evidence as yet to the claim that the terrorist attacks on 25 August 2007 were specifically targeted at Hyderabad's burgeoning IT and other business industries, the threat to urban centers is undoubtedly becoming a major cause of concern for an economically growing India. In this context, what we are seeing may be just the beginning of a growing phenomenon which can be traced to certain revelations in recent times. In a video featuring Muhammed Mujeeb, a militant affiliated with the Hizbul Mujahideen and instrumental in killing Sri G. Krishna Prasad, ASP (Additional Superintendent of Police) in Andhra Pradesh, specific reference to targeting India's economy was made. On 5 March 2005, documents seized from two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) members killed in Delhi exposed elaborate plans to carry out multiple suicide attacks against Bangalore software-based firms. On 27 December 2005, three Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami, Bangladesh (HuJI-B) militants, involved in the suicide bombing of the Special Task Force office in Hyderabad in October in the same year were arrested. Interrogations confirmed that their future targets included the Bangalore software park and Hyderabad's hi-tech city.

Such intelligence gathered over the years implies that more attention needs to be paid to the security of Indian business houses and industries, and on a broader view, to India's urban centers.

The second question involves the link between foreign terrorist organizations, specifically HuJI-B, and their local support base, or 'foot soldiers' in India. The chief terrorist group accused in the Hyderabad blasts is the HuJI-B, formed in 1992 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Headed by Shaukat Osman and boasting a cadre strength of 15,000 militants, HuJI-B is believed to have spread its network all over India. The HuJI-B connection is enforced by the possible involvement of Mohammad Abdul Shahid, alias Bilal, who is implicated for the May bombings at Mecca Masjid, as well as the December 2005 attacks in the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.

Certain Indian security analysts maintain that particularly after the Gujarat pogrom against the Muslims in 2002, HuJI-B has been able to establish local support among Muslim organizations and Muslim youth in India. Investigations into the October 2005 attacks in Hyderabad revealed that HuJI-B had recruited and trained as many as 500 Hyderabadi Muslim youth. On 5 April 2006, police forces arrested six people in connection with the March 2006 attack at the Sankatmochan temple, Varanasi. Among those arrested was a 32-year old Imam of a mosque named Waliullah. A former Student's Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) cadre, Waliullah was HuJI-B's area commander for eastern Uttar Pradesh. The involvement of Bilal, a Hyderabadi resident along with fellow Hyderabadi Rasool Party, implicated in the assassination of Gujarat Minister Haren Pandya also bears witness to the links between foreign terrorist organizations and their local support base.

The Hyderabad blasts on 25 August 2007 thus have to be looked at through two separate lenses. While on the one hand, it is time to wake up to the reality of 'urban terror', on the other hand, the government of India has to make a genuine effort to integrate the minorities into the majoritarian discourse of the 'Indian community'.