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K Suryanarayana, the abducted Indian engineer has been killed by the Taliban. The brutes they are, they have not chosen to kill him by putting a bullet in his head but by actually beheading him. I once watched the video of one of the be-headings in Iraq and almost puked, I hope we wont be subjected to another such video.A close friend, deeply disturbed by the news called me and asked me two questions.First, is India a soft state? Could the government done anything to save his life? Secondly and more interestingly, what is the difference between Indian and Israeli reaction to terrorism?.At one level, India is perhaps the most benign and the most powerless ”powerful country in the world. Scores of her citizens have been killed in terrorist attacks, planes hijacked, hostages taken and the Indian government does not seem to do anything. This is however only partially true. India has faced terrorism from Kashmir, Punjab. North East and now the Naxalites ; on which so little attention is being paid. But, to her credit the Indian government has never buckled down. No terrorist has ever managed to bring the country to the knees. Even Israel has embarked on a policy of ”land for peace” but not India. It has taken years and years, for example in Punjab but the government and the armed forces have stuck to the task and ultimately in most instances managed to tire down the terrorists. India standing tall in face of such adversity, such violent acts(IRA compared to say the Kashmiri terrorists are kindergarten kids) is a miracle in it self, which we must respect and be proud of.( I am not talking about the origins of the problems, in most cases including Kashmir that is nothing to be proud of).Also, there was very little the Indian Government could have done in this case. Maybe, before the kidnapping was done;sure. Provide better security, take more precautions. In Iraq, which is literally swarming with American troops, most of the kidnappers have never been caught, to expect a better result in Afghanistan with the tough terrain and an almost invisible enemy is a pipe dream.Whats more disturbing is how the Indian government reacts after a kidnapping/hijacking takes place. Till very recently, we did not have a policy to deal with hijacking/kidnapping.(1), unlike USA and Israel which have a policy of never conceding to terrorists. Perhaps comparing India and Israel reaction to high profile terrorist attacks will be illustrative. The Munich Massacre during the Munich summer games shocked the world. Eleven Israeli sports persons were killed by a group called the Black September, five of the perpetrators were killed in police action while three who were arrested were released following the Lufthansa kidnapping. How did the Israeli government react? It launched a covert operation code named ”Wrath of God” to hunt down the remaining terrorists, a string of assassinations followed, whether they managed to target the real masterminds is a matter of debate but at-least they send a strong message to would be terrorists-We will not take it lying down.Contrast it to the Indian (re)action. The horrific Mumbai blasts of 1992, how many have been brought to book? I am all for peace with Pakistan but I have a serious problem when people construe that as forgetting that Dawood Ibrahimfinds shelter there. I mean, look at this way, if the government in Pakistan is really interested in peace with India, should not it hand over Dawood? Frankly, I don’t blame the Pakistani government for it, Dawood after all holds a lot of strategic value for them, but Indian government seems perpetually in a ”forget and forgive ”mood. Same goes for the Kandahar kidnapping (2), Masood openly moves about in Pakistan, why cant we make extraditing him as a pre condition for peace. That’s not asking for too much, is it?There is only so much a government can do prevent every terrorist attack. However, the Indian government reaction after such outrages leaves much to be desired. Instead of taking a pro-active position, all we do is to criticize, hope review and then go back to sleep.We simply don’t value Indian lives enough.(1) Thankfully, we have one now. The government will not give in to any demands of future hijackers/kidnappers. Fair enough.(2) I really don’ think the government had an alternative in Kandahar. As Vir Sanghvi points out in a recent column, did we have the guts to face the prospect of the terrorists blowing up the plane? Remember all the hysterical relatives, the shrill media coverage. Which government would not have given in? Do we have the stomach to make hard decisions? What hurts me is that we let the Taliban off the hook. Serious, what’s this claim about being a regional super power when a rag tag army like Taliban could get away with such outrageous acts?p.s Nitin Pai advocates sending special forces to Afghanistan.p.p.s Another massacre in Kashmir. Still peace? Still blame me for being sceptical? When will we value the lives of our citizens? On the Rediff home page, the news of the massacre in Kashmir is featured after Pramod Mahajan developing respiratory problems. We have some serious prioritization issues.