Special Correspondent
The recent incident involving a Flydubai passenger aircraft has once again raised serious questions about the changing nature of terrorism and the possibility of extremist organisations exploiting individuals from respected professional backgrounds.
The incident became a potential catastrophe when an Omani national serving as a co-pilot allegedly attacked the Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, during the flight.
The captain’s courage and quick response helped prevent what could have been a major disaster.
Authorities have described the incident as a terrorist attack, and investigations are continuing into the suspect’s background, motives and possible connections.
A new form of terrorism?
Traditional terrorism was often associated with bomb blasts, armed attacks and indiscriminate killings.
Today, however, extremist organisations can potentially exploit people with professional qualifications, specialised knowledge and access to sensitive institutions.
This has led security experts to increasingly examine what is sometimes described as “white-collar terrorism” or terrorism involving highly educated professionals.
India has also seen investigations in which doctors and other educated professionals were accused of links to extremist networks.
The 2025 Delhi Red Fort bombing investigation brought renewed attention to this issue, with investigators alleging that medical professionals were connected to a suspected terror module.
Such cases demonstrate why counter-terrorism agencies cannot restrict their attention to traditional militant profiles.
At the same time, a person’s profession must never be treated as evidence of terrorism; guilt must be established through credible investigation and due process.
Mr. Thomas raised the issue earlier:
Against this background, the writings of investigative journalist Mr. Thomas have attracted renewed attention.
According to the author’s account, Thomas published an article on 17 October 2025 examining what he described as the emergence of a new form of terrorism in which extremist organisations could exploit people from respected professions.
His argument was that terrorist organisations were no longer necessarily dependent only on conventional militants.
Instead, they could attempt to recruit or influence people with professional expertise, education and access to institutions.
The recent Flydubai incident, according to supporters of Thomas’s analysis, provides another reason for authorities to examine this possibility more seriously.
Thomas’s analysis of the Hamas attack :
Thomas has also written about the geopolitical circumstances surrounding the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
One of the central arguments attributed to his analysis was that the attack should be viewed within the broader geopolitical competition involving Iran, Israel, the Arab countries, India, China and emerging international connectivity projects.
He particularly examined the significance of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), announced in 2023 by India, the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and the European Union.
The proposed corridor was intended to strengthen connectivity between India, the Middle East and Europe through infrastructure involving railways, ports and other transportation links.
Thomas argued that the strengthening of relations between Israel and Arab countries, together with the proposed connectivity corridor, had important geopolitical implications for Iran and other regional powers.
He further argued that Hamas’s relationship with Iran should be considered when examining the broader strategic background to the October 7 attack.
