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Raid involving the taking of hostages suggests only marginal link to al-Qaida The Mumbai attacks are unique in the history of recent violent militancy, Islamist or otherwise. As Indian security agencies race to work out who was behind them they will be negotiating a maze of conflicting clues. A group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed the operation. The name indicates a local group - the Deccan is the central Indian plateau - and a probable link to the Indian Mujahideen who started a bloody bombing campaign a year ago. It is this group, too, that threatened the people of Mumbai with "deadly attacks" two months ago and has credibly claimed responsibility for the series of attacks in recent months. Its texts are full of references to early Islamic history and key thinkers who are characteristic of modern jihadist ideology. In the local version of the global Islamist militant discourse, the Crusader-Zionist alliance has been expanded to become the Hindu-Crusader-Zionis...