ON BOARD PM’S AIRCRAFT, OCTOBER 16: Concerned over the wave of terror attacks, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan today said that the Government was planning to convene a meeting of Chief Ministers soon to share perspectives, information and discuss the way ahead to combat terror.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Narayanan said his assessment from available clues is that “there is no connection between the blasts in Ludhiana, Ajmer and Mecca Masjid (Hyderabad), other than the fact that the ISI’s involvement is suspected, that is the common link.”

On the Ludhiana blasts, Narayanan said: “There has been a manifest attempt in Pakistan to build up a radical Sikh environment. Sporadic blasts were creating sensation, but the desired effect of sustained tension was not working. We had intelligence about four to six months back that a lot of effort was going into attempts to foment militancy.”

“We have tracked intelligence information, we have studied the way such attacks take place and we can read a pattern. We have also seen signs of resuscitation of militant groups in Canada, US and Germany. We had been bracing for such a move by such elements,” he said.

The blasts at Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif, the intelligence establishment believes, are connected to the larger jehadi network — in the Indian context, translating into Lashkar-e-Toiba and, more recently, the HUJI.

“They have a feeling that the Kashmir issue is not able to attract the kind of attention they would want it to. We believe that some thinking has gone in, they are looking to change their style. So far it has been sporadic, soft attacks. But the human grief is not exactly adding up to the big impact they would want to see. Our information is that they may try high profile targets in and around Kashmir and also outside the state,” Narayanan said.

While he did not absolve the Pakistani establishment of its “inability to rein in the ISI”, the NSA said that “very often such agencies develop their own momentum and are difficult to control”.

“Our real problem is the need for much more vigilance on ground. There is no al-Qaeda on the ground in India as yet, but we have to be wary of random groups and individuals for various reasons — sympathy for violent groups for social, personal or economic reasons — and be alert to them. We need many more eyes and ears on the ground,” he said.

Asked about the perception in the minority community, especially on the profiling of young Muslim men and treating them as suspects whenever such incidents take place, Narayanan said: “It is unfortunate if they feel they are being targeted unfairly. Often when such incidents take place in a Muslim majority area, like in the mosque in Hyderabad, the investigative agency’s drill is to round up people in the vicinity for questioning. Perceptions get formed that there is some kind of profiling on. Often monitoring and evaluating information takes time, and the minority community can sometimes feel victimised.” “At higher levels of investigation, we use techniques like social network investigation, spectrum analysis or other sophisticated methodology. Often such techniques don’t percolate down to the level of junior investigative officers. We are making efforts to refine techniques and we hope we can reduce random arrests. We are very hopeful of limiting perceptions of profiling to the extent possible,” he said.