Over the last couple of years, Islamic terror-related issues have been escalating in southern and western part of India. Terrorist outfits are not only targeting security forces and government establishments, but aiming vital economic and strategic assets.

The recent Havana initiative by the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh depicts a marked shift in India’s Pakistan policy. Manmohan Singh at Havana had announced on the sidelines of the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) summit that India and Pakistan are proposing to handle the threat of terrorism jointly. This novel concept of resuming formal peace negotiations with Pakistan (frozen after 11 July Mumbai train blasts) and setting up of a joint agency to tackle terrorism appears to be an ‘atypical’ step as compared to the earlier ‘cautious’ approach.

At least 37 people were killed and over a hundred injured in two powerful bomb explosions in the communal sensitive Malegaon town, located in the Nasik district of Maharashtra, on 08 September. Many of those killed and injured were minors.

The explosions occurred outside the Bada Kabristan (Large cemetery), a burial ground for Muslims where people gathered to offer prayers for their dead relatives on the occasion of Shab-e-Baraat (night of salvation). The second blasts took place near Noorani mosque.