Britain is on the edge following a series of attempted terror attacks in London and Glasgow over the past few days.  On Friday, two cars packed with gas cylinders, nails and fuel were found in central London.  The following day, a blazing jeep rammed into Glasgow airport’s main terminal. And on Tuesday, yet another car bomb was discovered near a mosque in Glasgow a few hours before the start of an India-Pakistan cricket match in the city. All four attempts were failures in the sense that those who planned them out did not succeed in killing people. But they have been successful in generating extreme terror among the British people and in putting all of Britain and indeed the world on the edge. Two years ago, terrorist attacks on London’s transit system killed 52 people.  The recent wave of attacks have revived unpleasant memories of the death and destruction that the 2005 attacks left in their wake. The looming threat of terrorism that has been hanging over Europe has once again become a clear and present danger. Terror has returned to the centre-stage in Europe and could dictate future actions of its governments .

British authorities have announced a critical security alert following last week’s attacks and in the run-up to the second anniversary of the 2005 attacks on the transit system. A critical alert means that another attack could be imminent. The British police have swung into action to break up sleeper cells that might be waiting to strike. Around eight people, including Indians, have been taken in for questioning so far.
Authorities will be under immense pressure to be seen to be taking effective measures to prevent more attacks. But sweeping arrests and targeting of specific communities is not the way to tackle terrorism and should be avoided. The South Asian community, especially Muslims among them, has felt singled out for scrutiny by the police in recent years. This has contributed to anger and alienation within the community. Branding an entire community for the crimes of a few will only contribute more recruits to the terrorist cause.  There have been some incidents of white men hurling racist abuse on South Asian cab drivers. These individual attacks could escalate into mob violence if not halted immediately. This is a difficult period for Britain and the last thing the country needs at a time like this are race riots.