What are the reasons behind the killing of Suryanarayan in Afghanistan. On the 28th of April 2006, an Indian Engineer K. Suryanarayan working in Afghanistan in the installation of Telecommunication tower was kidnapped while going to inspect one of these towers. Just after two days of his kidnapping on the 30th of April 2006 he was murdered. In the province of Kabul in Hasankarage zone the beheaded body of the Engineer was found, by the Afghan Police.
K. Suryanarayan was working for a Bahrain based Telecommunication Company, Al Muthaiz. The world media blamed the Taliban for this kidnap and murder. The demand of the Taliban was that all the Engineers working in Afghanistan were to leave by the 30th of April 2006.
Our President, Prime Minister (read Indian President and the Prime Minister) and the crisis management group of the Indian cabinet, had decided to negotiate with the Taliban the release of the Engineer. For this purpose a high level delegation was ready to leave for Kabul. The Taliban murdered the Engineer before the delegation could reach, and before the deadline set by them.
The discovery of the beheaded body of Suryanarayan brings a doubt into the mind that was the Taliban really behind the murder of this Engineer. Let us delve deeper into this affair.
Who are the Talibans? In short after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, various tribal groups formed the Taliban to counter the Soviets. The Talibans were basically Muslim fundamentalists. They were all very well acquainted with the topology of Afghanistan. They were trained by the Pakistani Army, and funded by the Americans.
The destruction of the 2000 year old statues of Buddha at Bamyan by the Taliban was to establish their fundamentalist credentials. The destruction of the twin towers in New York on the 11th of September clearly established the link between Al Quida and the Taliban, with Osama Bin Laden as the head. Osama Bin laden had earned substantial amounts by constructing bunkers and other defensive constructions at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
After the invasion of the US led coalition and the support for the Northern Alliance the Taliban fled to the tribal areas between North Western Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some lower rung leaders escaped to Bangladesh and Pakistan.
After the installation of the Hamid Karzai led Government, the Afghan Government was able to control the urban areas, but the Taliban regrouped in the country side, and started their revolt again. They were able to retain their control of the rural areas of Afghanistan.
For strategic interest India extended its help and co-operation for the construction of Roads, Airports, railways, Hospitals, Schools and Colleges. There are nearly 2000 Indians currently engaged in various projects. Many are with the Indian Government sponsored agencies, but some are with foreign companies. Renowned companies from Germany, America, Britain, Poland, Pakistan etc. are engaged in these projects. The Indian Engineers are much cheaper to employ than Engineers from Western Countries. Indian goods are also cheaper than their western counterparts.
The biggest enemy of the Indians in Afghanistan are the Pakistanis, because they perceive the Indians as a threat to their business. Many business were thriving Peshwar dealing with Afghanistan were scared that the Indians would takeover this business, and therefore want the Indians out of Afghanistan.
If the Indian Engineer had really been kidnapped by the Taliban or by any other Afghan group they would have not committed this murder in a hurry. They would have negotiated with the Indian delegation and probably made financial gains.
The Peshwar based Pakistani traders have links with the low level Taliban supporters. The murder was probably a conspiracy by these traders to spread terror amongst the Indians working in Afghanistan. The Pakistani Government will not interfere because they claim that India is supporting the separatist movement in Baluchistan, through the Indian Embassy in Kabul, and the Pakistani Government would be happy if the Indians could be chased out of Afghanistan.
Last year another Indian Engineer, M. R. Kutty, working with the Border Roads Organization was also kidnapped and beheaded by the Taliban, again in this case the demand was that the Indians should leave Afghanistan. After this incident the presence of the Indo-Tibetian Border was enhanced to give greater security to the Indians working in Indian Government sponsored projects.
The private companies use the services of private security agencies to protect their employees. The Company that employed Suryanarayan they used the services of a security company called Salauddin. The question that arises is why there was no security guards when he was kidnapped. Was he overconfident or was there some other reason why he did not want any witness. In insurgency affected areas it has often been observed that in cases where women are involved people do not want any witnesses. The news of such indiscretions often reaches the insurgents.
There is a sizable section in the Taliban itself who are against the murder of Indian personnel engaged in development and reconstruction work in Afghanistan. It is the Pakistani traders who are against the Indian presence.
The Indian Government should not be affected by such killings and it may not be possible to provide individual protection, but we can send more battalions of paramilitaries.
The story put out that Suryanarayan punched his abductors and tried to escape does not hold water, because in such cases his body would have inevitably had bullet wounds.
Also the theory that he was an American spy is also not relevant and if indeed he was killed while trying to escape he should be treated as a hero.
|
"In economic life there is extreme inequality and exploitation. Although colonialism no longer exists openly in the political and economic sphere, still it persists indirectly, and this should not be tolerated... In this respect you should remember that in economic life, we will have to guarantee the minimum requirements of life to one and all... There cannot be any sort of adjustment as far as this point is concerned. The minimum purchasing requirement must be guaranteed to all. Today these fundamental essentialities are not being guaranteed. Rather, people are being guided by deceptive economic ideas like outdated Marxism, which has proven ineffective in practical life and has not been successfully implemented in any corner of the world. Why do people still believe in such a theory, which has never been proved successful? The time has come for people to make a proper assessment of whether they are being misguided or not." |
|
"Human beings have still not been able to form a human society, and have still not learned to move with the spirit of a pilgrim. Although many small groups, motivated by self-interest, work together in particular situations, not even a small fraction of their work is done with a broader social motive. By strict definition, shall we have to declare that each small family unit is a society in itself? If going ahead in mutual adjustment only out of narrow self-interest or momentary self-seeking is called society, then in such a society, no provision can be made for the disabled, the diseased or the helpless, because in most cases nobody can benefit from them in any way... in that case there always remains the possibility of some people getting isolated from the collective. All human beings must attach themselves to others by the common bond of love and march forward hand in hand; then only will I proclaim it a society." |