Indians are favourites in Afghanistan

KABUL: As the body of slain engineer Suryanarayana left Afghanistan, the nearly 1,500 Indians remaining in Kabul attempted to return to their routine. Still shaken by the brutal nature of the killing, most seem determined to weather out the crisis.

 

“That 24-hour deadline was just a sham, nobody took it seriously” said Dev, travel agent. “Ab kaam to karna hai. Darr kar rehne se kya faida.” “The way the media at home has blown up the entire incident has made it more difficult for us,” said Sudhir, IT worker, who spent hours on the phone reassuring his relatives and wife. “The truth is that things are much the same, at least in Kabul. Of course, we are taking some precautions but life goes on here.”

 

While there is speculation on whether Suryanarayana  was targeted for his Indian identity or was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time, most Indians seem to have adopted a tacit policy of cautious waiting and watching for further developments. Most companies have increased security and have placed restrictions on travel to provinces for foreign workers.

 

The Indian embassy has also issued revised security guidelines. “We already have an outreach programme in place through which our chief security officer keeps Indians posted on threats and developments over email, phone calls or personal contact,” said Rakesh Sood, Indian Ambassador in Kabul.

 

“These are private Indian citizens who come to work for private companies. It is up to them to negotiate their contracts properly and make sure their safety is assured,” said Ambassador Sood. “If things become too difficult, we may have to put a ban on Indians working in Afghanistan, as is the case in Iraq.” He added, however, that present circumstances did not warrant such a step. “There are 2,000 Indians or more in the country, and this is the second such case. There have been many more involving other nationalities.”

 

Outraged by what they see as a violation of their tradition of honouring mehmaans, ordinary Afghans are making an effort to reach out to the troubled Indian community. “The cleaning lady in my office stopped me and said in her broken Urdu how upset she was at the death of the engineer-e-hind,” said Asad Hussain, media worker. “She also assured me that all Afghans are not like that.” Indians are arguably the most popular foreigners in Kabul, and locals seem to have taken their targeting by the Taliban to heart. “The people who do this are not Afghans, it is all done by foreigners trying to break our friendship,” said Suleman Aminy, driver. “We are ashamed but what can we do?”

 

Far from facing an anti-India sentiment in the country, most Indians feel they rarely receive such friendly treatment elsewhere. “I have been to over sixteen countries, nowhere else are Indians treated better,” said Brajesh Verma, media person.  The current crisis seems to have brought the Indian community in Kabul closer to its hosts.

 

 

20 Taliban killed: Canadian troops killed up to 20 Taliban insurgents who were preparing to ambush a military convoy in southern Afghanistan, a military spokesman said.

 

Premature explosion: A suicide attacker’s bomb exploded prematurely in southeastern Afghanistan, killing him and wounding two other militants who fled from their hospital beds but were later recaptured.

 

The explosion happened in the village of Matta Khan at about 10 pm.