The killing of an Indian engineer, Suryanarayana in Afghanistan by the Taliban militia [1] is a shocking reminder of how fragile the situation is for Indians working in the country. The Taliban had demanded that all Indians leave Afghanistan within a specified time period if Suryanarayana was to be spared. However, even before talks could start, the Taliban killed Suryanarayana before the deadline lapsed. Dilip has a post on fundamentalism and religion [2].
These are the guys who killed Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, Sanjoy Ghose in Assam, Ken Saro-Wiwa in Nigeria, Ehsan Jaffrey in Ahmedabad, Rupin Katyal on IC-814, Darshan Kaur's husband Ram Singh in Delhi, my friend Autar Kaw's father in Kashmir, go down the tragic list. Murderous thugs all. Nothing religious about any of them; and if religion is not involved, nothing that we should respect in their assorted causes or reasons or goals.
The Arbit Council poses questions on what India's future steps [3], and where the responsibilites are. Ashok, who is also an Indian working in Afghanistan comments on the work safety situation [4] and reminding us that this is the second time in the last four months that an Indian has been killed by the Taliban.
These 2 incidents reinstate the dangers of working in the Afghan-Pakistan border provinces like Kandahar, Qalat and Zabul. Unlike the Central and North Afghanistan where I work, these southern areas come under the Pashtu speaking belt and are Taliban strong holds. These are areas where even Afghans themselves (who speak Farsi) fear to tread. Unless the work is within an army camp or some secured cantonment its suicidal to take up jobs in these areas of tribal mindset.
Jagadish thinks that the Indian Government cannot be held responsible for the safety of the individuals in Afghanistan as working there is a risky business [5]. Shoonya comments on what seems to be increasing bloodshed in India [6]. Indian Capitalist comments on crocodile tears shed by Indians [7].
So much so that if an Indian faces a tragedy outside the country his plight becomes famous across India, but even if he suffers hell in the country, no one pays heed to his trauma. Thousands of Indians get murdered every year by sundry terrorists operating within the country and our generally verbose media never comes forward to televise live the plight of their families. Naxals kill tens of people every month.
Desipundit links to blogs with posts on the issue and there is an interesting discussion in the comments space. [8]