What did those who planted the bombs hope to achieve with their attack? Given that a group with Islamic overtones has claimed responsibility and that Ahmedabad was the nerve centre of the 2002 communal violence, probably the worst assault on the Muslim minority community in post-independence India, revenge seems a clear motive. But the blasts are clearly also part of a larger pattern to destabilise Indian cities.

And India’s seventh-largest city is a significant target. Despite a dip in the ’80s and ’90s, the city has come to be the centre of a thriving pharmaceutical and chemicals industry. Home to leading pharma companies, Zydus Cadila and Torrent, the fast growing Adani group, Nirma and a clutch of foreign concerns including Bosch Rexroth, the city is also a leading supplier of denim, gems and jewellery. Six years ago NASSCOM rated it fifth in a list of most attractive destinations for IT-enabled services. In recent years the city has expanded and undergone a further makeover with massive malls, new hotels, transport and beautification projects and the emergence on its outskirts of the Gujarat International Finance Tec City (GIFT), a futuristic-looking 27,000 ha finance and business district.

In fact, Narendra Modi has staked his reputation on development and while reports suggest his growth figures may have been wildly inflated, his vision of Ahmedabad as an emerging Singapore has fuelled optimism in the state. It is possible that Modi’s reluctance to upset the city and the state’s progress — evidenced in his focus on economic growth early in his last election campaign — is the reason for his uncharacteristically neutral response to Saturday’s attacks, unlike his stance after the Godhra incident in 2002. Recent hoardings in the city, among other things, also suggest that his ambitions have expanded beyond Gujarat. And with an eye to Delhi it is possible that he wants to shed his demagogic image and project himself as a statesmanlike figure.

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