Abduction of an Indian engineer

The abduction of an Indian engineer by Taliban is both sad and infuriating. His only fault is that despite mortal danger he went to such a hostile place to earn money for his family. For centuries people from Afghanistan have been coming for trade (remember the famous ‘Kabuli wala’ story by Tagore?) to India and they have enjoyed warm welcome wherever in India they have gone. Normal Afghani people love Hindi films. This is the kind of warmth Taliban wants to breach by kidnapping Indians and asking them to leave Afghanistan immediately.

Again and again on TV they are broadcasting the heart-wrenching images of the bereaved family, as in most of the cases the abducted person is considered dead, and considering the kind of apathetic bureaucracy we have, it won’t be a surprise if the family thinks that there is a bleak chance of survival. Casting all religious and communal barriers aside, as a country we should all stand behind the family.