Murder on the Bangladesh Border

The stupefying torture and murder of a BSF officer by his counterparts in Bangladesh's BDR requires a tough stance by India.

By tough we mean, India should demand that the BDR killers be extradited to India where they should be tried for murder.

Now, there are conflicting stories (well described here and here) about the violence. There are also Bangladeshi civilians dead, who we mourn.

BUT, no matter what the underlying cause, Bangladesh does not have the authority to kidnap, torture, and kill an Indian soldier. For such transgression, the piper must be paid and India should make a harsh example of the Bangladeshi perpetrators.

Can we even imagine what might happen if dependent North Korea killed a Chinese soldier, or Mexico killed an American border patrol agent? Why India is taking this outrage lying down, mystifies us.

We have much goodwill for the people of Bangladesh, whose dysfunctional and pathetic Government is eroding the very foundations of their State. Dhaka now seems to think itself a geo-political equal to New Delhi, and if not equal at least the same as Pakistan in terms of trouble-making capacity versus India. Dhaka should be promptly disabused of this delusion.

Our hardline message to Bangladesh: quit messing with India or there'd be a heavy price to pay, sooner or later. Don't mistake India's current era of strategic softness as a lasting phenomenon -- the pendulum will swing back in time, and when it does, look out.