Afghanistan: Banarjee’s assassination won’t deter Afghan-India relations

http://www.afghanistantimes.af/

Under any circumstances are Afghan-India relations ordained to tarnish even in spite of impulsions and compulsions of savages and brutes whose resolve is demoralization and destruction. Strings of relations between both have traditionally been strong and friendly and their determination for amity and harmony will never ever wither with trifling and even significant occurrences. Once again, the Taliban militants attempted to put the long-lasting bonds of Afghanistan and India in harm’s way by killing an Indian national. On Thursday, the Taliban allegedly assassinated Sushmita Banerjee, an Indian author, outside her house in Paktika province. Her body was riddled with loads of bullets, with her hair ripped off. Banerjee who was also known as Sayed Kamala had been running a health clinic in the province. Banerjee, a Calcutta resident who had moved to Afghanistan in 1989 after marrying an Afghan businessman, had recently returned to be with her husband. She was a brave woman who had dared the Taliban two decades ago. She set an example of bravery after she escaped from the clutches of the Taliban in 1994. Banerjee's death came 18 years after the Taliban sentenced her to death for refusing to wear a burqa in public. It’s absurd to regard Banerjee’s murder as less of a shock, because life of every human being is so precious and valuable. Her murder came as a shock to many and was a palpable manifestation of the Taliban fundamentalists’ extreme hatred of philanthropists. Radical Taliban who often prey on the naivet and gullibility of the masses are the foes of Afghanistan and India. They opt for the cruelest acts of barbarism to show their arrogance and defiance against humanitarian services and morality. India became the largest regional provider of humanitarian and reconstruction aid to Afghanistan after the Taliban regime toppled. Dubbed as Afghanistan’s historical friend, India has been working in various construction projects, as part of its rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan. India’s aid to Afghanistan has been vast and generous since then. Its focal strategy in Afghanistan is to build transportation links that bypass Pakistan, helping reduce the Afghan economy's dependence on Pakistan. India has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian and economic aid, making it the largest regional provider of aid for Afghanistan. India's support and collaboration extends to rebuilding of air links, power plants and investing in health and education sectors as well as helping to train Afghan civil servants, diplomats and police. India also seeks the development of supply lines of electricity, oil and natural gas. In 2005, India proposed Afghanistan's membership in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Both nations also developed strategic and military cooperation against militancy. Afghanistan strengthened its ties with India in wake of persisting tensions and problems with Pakistan. India pursues a policy of close collaboration with Afghanistan. Although India has been targeted on many occasions by the Taliban radicals in Afghanistan, it keeps its resolve intact and doesn’t allow its ties with Afghanistan wane. A top Indian diplomat in her recent visit to Indian consulate in Jalalabad had reassured that militancy can’t deter the friendly relations between Afghanistan and India. No matter how malignant and fierce the intimidations and provocations by the foes of the two countries have been, India has never had the impulse and whims to put its cozy relations with Afghanistan in jeopardy. The Taliban and their extremist affiliates and delinquents should know that they cannot undermine the bonds between Afghanistan and India that shaped a few millennia ago. Their brutality and vicious actions will unleash agony and melancholy upon themselves only and there comes a time when they will answer to their crimes.