Warnings From Red Fort

While there is a storm of speculation, particularly on social media, very little has been authoritatively disclosed with regard to the explosion in the Red Fort Metro Station parking lot on Nov 10, which killed at least 13, and injured another 30. A case under sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Arms Act, as well as the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, has been registered. It is clear that the Red Fort blast is being treated as an act of terrorism and the PM has described it as a “conspiracy,” declaring, “The conspirators behind this will not be spared. All those responsible will be brought to justice.” Similar sentiments have been echoed by ministers for defence and home. NIA, the country’s premier counter-terrorism investigator, has been charged with leading the investigations.

GOI remains reluctant, nevertheless, to declare the incident a terrorist attack, even 24 hours later, and this is unsurprising in view of the pronouncement in the wake of Operation Sindoor, that any future act of terrorism would be treated as “an act of war”, committing India to demonstrative retaliation against Pakistan – where the lines of investigation are likely to point.