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THE killing of an Indian in Afghanistan has dramatically highlighted the tense security situation in that country. Maniappan Raman Kutty, a 29-year-old from Kerala working as a driver, was kidnapped along with two Afghan co-workers on November 19. The Taliban militia, which is leading the resistance movement in Afghanistan, had demanded that the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) of India should withdraw immediately from the country. Maniappan's corpse was discovered four days later in Afghanistan's southwestern province of Nimroze, where the BRO workforce is located.
In recent months, Taliban resistance forces have been more brazen in their attacks, targeting North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces as well as civilian aid-workers. Suicide bombings, which were not very common in Afghanistan compared to Iraq, have also increased. The Taliban influence is mainly confined to the Pashtun-dominated areas of Afghanistan. Nimroze province, however, is mainly populated by Baluchis and is among the most lawless in a country where warlords and the Taliban compete for influence. More than 90 of the 186 American soldiers killed since the campaign to oust the Taliban began in 2001 have been killed this year alone.
Unlike the kidnappers of Indian labourers in Iraq, who were professional criminals out to collect a ransom, evidence thus far indicates that those who abducted Maniappan were hardcore militants. Foreign aid-workers, including doctors and nurses, have been kidnapped and killed by militants. The American-led foreign military presence in the country is unacceptable to the Taliban and forces allied to it. Many Afghans consider their country to be under foreign occupation.
Tens of thousands of Afghans were killed during the American-led invasion of Afghanistan. The invaders have been guilty of spilling a lot of innocent blood in their quest for Osama bin Laden and the remnants of Al Qaeda. Villages suspected of harbouring Taliban or Al Qaeda elements were targeted with huge Daisy Cutter bombs.
A United Nations report published in early 2005 was critical of the United States-led military effort in Afghanistan, saying that it helped produce a climate "of fear, intimidation, terror and lawlessness" and neglected the long-term threat to security posed by inequality and injustice. It also described reconstruction projects sponsored by the American military as "inadequate and dangerous", making aid-workers the targets of militants. The pattern of resistance in Afghanistan these days is eerily reminiscent of the tactics being adopted by those fighting the American occupation in Iraq. The only difference is that in Afghanistan, there is no secular strand in the resistance movement.
Though India does not have a military presence in the country, it is firmly on the side of the American-backed government led by President Hamid Karzai. It has contributed handsomely to the "Democracy Fund" set up by Washington mainly to combat Islamic militancy. Before that, New Delhi was the main backer of the Northern Alliance, the sworn enemy of the Taliban in Afghan politics. Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammed Yousef was quoted in the Afghan media as saying that Maniappan was killed because the BRO refused to consider the Taliban's demand to pull out of Afghanistan. The Indian embassy in Kabul said that the Taliban never formally got in touch with it, though it is likely that the Indian government did not really try hard enough to establish contact. After the Kandahar hijack incident, New Delhi has adopted a policy of not negotiating with terrorists and militants. Maniappan was killed after spending four days in captivity. His relatives are angry that no efforts were made to talk to the Taliban.
There are many others like Maniappan, from Kerala and elsewhere in India, working on various projects in Afghanistan, including the 400 plus Indian workers currently engaged in the road project. The government has apparently not been very forthright with them about the dangers they face. Maniappan's wife and two young children have been given compensation by the government. However, according to local media reports, public opinion in Kerala has reacted adversely. Members of Parliament from Kerala belonging to the Left parties wanted to raise the issue in Parliament. They said that the government did not make any efforts to make contact with the group that kidnapped Maniappan. The Left's MPs handed over a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressing their "anger and anguish" over the "callous approach" of the Centre. The Prime Minster assured Parliament that the government had made all efforts to save Maniappan.
Senior Indian government officials criticised the Taliban harshly after the death of Maniappan was confirmed. This comes at a time when reports emanating from Pakistan suggest that the United States has tried to establish contact with senior Taliban leadership with the aim of signing a truce agreement. Many supporters of the Taliban and the Hizb-i-Islami, led by Gulbudin Hekmatyar, won seats in the recent parliamentary elections. According to reports, the Taliban leadership has so far refused to negotiate saying that their fight will continue until all foreign forces withdraw from their country. New Delhi will now have to depend on the overstretched multinational forces in Afghanistan to protect Indians, if they have to carry on with their work.
The U.S. and NATO forces only venture out to conduct special operations. Routine patrolling and intelligence gathering is the responsibility of the nascent Afghan National Army. The loyalty of the Afghan Security Forces cannot be taken for granted. Various warlords and their followers were given key positions in Afghan security forces. For instance, General Bismillah Khan, Chief of Staff of the Afghan National Army, is a former warlord.
New Delhi has been involved in some high-stakes diplomatic games in Afghanistan. Islamabad's influence in Afghan politics has been on the decline since the fall of the Taliban and New Delhi has sought to fill the vacuum, earmarking $550 million in aid for the country. Among the ambitious projects undertaken by India are the establishment of a power transmission line connecting Kabul to the north of the country and a microwave television station network.
Pakistan has not hidden its displeasure at the heightened Indian diplomatic activity in what it considers as its "backyard". The opening of a string of Indian consulates along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, especially in Kandahar and Jalalabad, has not been taken kindly to. After the recent presidential and parliamentary elections, Islamabad recovered some lost political ground as the Pashtuns, traditionally pro-Pakistan, regained their stranglehold on power in Kabul. This could be one reason why Pakistan went along with the Indian proposal to admit Afghanistan as a full-fledged member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
The BRO, which is a government of India enterprise, was engaged in the construction of the 219-kilometre-long Zaranj-Delaram road. The road is meant to be one of the main arteries for the transport of Indian goods to Afghanistan and Central Asia via the Iranian port of Chabahar. Pakistan has not given transit facilities for Indian goods meant for Afghanistan. The Indian government has complained that even relief materials for the Afghan people have not been allowed to transit through Pakistan, which is seeking reciprocity from New Delhi.
In a statement issued after the brutal beheading of Maniappan, the Indian External Affairs Ministry said the BRO was engaged in "building a road in Afghanistan that is vital for its development and welfare of its people. It is incredible that anybody should be opposed to it and threaten those working on it". Manmohan Singh described the slain Indian worker, who came form a very modest background, as "a brave Indian, who was working in the cause of peace". The statement warned the Taliban and its backers that they should be prepared to face the consequences of such a barbaric act.
Though the Ministry of External Affairs has not specifically identified the "collaborators", the finger of suspicion is being pointed at Islamabad. Indian as well as Afghan and American officials have alleged that sections of the Pakistani state apparatus continue to have links with their former protégés, the Taliban. Afghan President Hamid Karzai had some months ago angrily alleged that Taliban fighters were being given sanctuary across the border. However, the Pakistani government strenuously denies that there continues to be a tacit understanding between them and the remnants of the Taliban leadership.
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