Outrage. Express it

India is today both outraged and angry over the brutal killing of Ramankutty Maniyappan. The death of one Indian national in these circumstances, is one death too many. It is now the responsibility of the Indian government to convey this outrage and anger to his assassins in the most direct and unequivocal terms possible.

The Taliban are no amateurs in the politics of hostage-taking and murder. That they have been able to target foreign nationals with impunity in south and southwest Afghanistan should have alerted us to the possibility of precisely such an incident. But that was not to be. Predictably enough, Maniyappan8217;s abduction found us both astounded and ill-prepared, as we scrambled to save him. Why, for instance, did it need this tragedy for the Karzai government to send some security forces to secure the lives of the 290 workers of the Border Roads Organisation, who are working in vulnerable situations on a extremely politically fraught project? The significance of that 218-kilometre road between Delaram and Zaranj is lost on nobody, least of all on the Taliban 8212; and their Pakistani sponsors. Not only will it help to end Kabul8217;s geographic isolation by allowing it access to Iran, it will greatly expedite India-Afghan relations. When even protein biscuits from India for Afghan children have been refused transit facilities through Pakistan, a road of this kind can expand the options considerably.

This is not the time then for woolly-headed policy making. Let us understand the nature of the enemy. The Taliban are no benign anti-imperialist vanguard as some hardcore US-baiters in this country may be tempted to see them. Not only are they ideologically driven by Islamic fundamentalism at its most regressive, not only are they armed to the teeth, they have the logistical support of groups like the Al-Qaeda in a region that has remained a major theatre of the war against terror. There can be no accommodation with such a force. As we resolve to carry on constructing that vital road and helping Afghanistan evolve as a modern and progressive nation, we must understand the nature of the Taliban and secure ourselves against its malevolence.