The identity of the hijackers who seized control of an Indian Airlines flight to Delhi is still a mystery.

Indian media speculation is focused on Kashmiri Muslim militant groups fighting Indian control of the Himalayan territory of Kashmir but officials in the United Arab Emirates say at least two of the hijackers were Sikhs.

But that seems unlikely on the surface, given that the plane has landed in Afghanistan. The country is governed by the hard-line Islamic Taleban, who have not been friendly to non-Muslims in the past.

Kashmiri militants

Also, Sikh militant separatism has been largely dormant in India for several years.

The Indian media has been speculating that the hijackers are Muslims associated with the separatist insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir. That is to be expected.

Indian security sources, upon whom the local media would depend for guidance and inside information, are themselves focused keenly on the Kashmiri militancy struggle.

Most significant Indian leaders and ministers have refused to join in the speculation, saying publicly that they await further information.

Simmering grievances

Those who have spoken of Kashmiri militants being involved, are actually figures at the fringes of the current coalition government in Delhi. At least one of them is a member of a Sikh political party - once associated with militancy.

Past hijackings in India and Pakistan have involved separatists from both Kashmir and Punjab, but planes have also been commandeered by fanatics from the Hindu faith and by students demanding that exam results are changed.

There are so many simmering grievances among more than a billion people in south Asia that until the hijackers make their motives known everything else is speculation.