[Reader-list] The peon has the nuke trigger

[anilbhatia]

The peon has the nuke trigger 



ABHEEK BARMAN

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2002  12:08:38 AM ]





WHY is the government so keen to fight Pakistan? The ostensible answer, dinned deafeningly into our ears by India�s ineffectual home minister, L K Advani, is �cross border terrorism in Kashmir.� Wait a minute.
Is the government saying that it�ll risk one billion lives in India because it can�t police J&K? It�s also suggesting that J&K will live happily ever after if we just have another war with Pakistan � the fifth in 52 years.
This is bunkum. One, the troubles of Kashmir won�t get over by taking a swipe at Pakistan. Two, the risks of war are too horrendous to bear thinking about. Three, remember, no matter how much Advani froths at the mouth, terrorism is never �cross border�.
The roots of militancy are the failure of politicians to do the right thing by their constituents. After they fail and frustrations boil over into violence, the same wretched politicos point across the border and yell, �they did it.�
For nearly 20 years, politicians told us that militancy in Punjab was fuelled and inspired by Pakistan. Yes, many militant outfits were funded and supplied by Islamabad, which likes watching India squirm.
But Punjab�s militancy was wiped out without going to war with Pakistan.
It was wiped out with efficient policing, lots of back-breaking political negotiation and finally, because folks on the ground, exhausted by terror, preferred peace to violence.
No Indian government can end trouble in Kashmir by attacking Pakistan, because the root of trouble is squarely back home in the Valley.
But the Hindu fundamentalist BJP, a failure at governance, wants something to airbrush its dreadful image. In 1999, a war with Pakistan just before elections seemed to work wonders for the party: it won 182 seats in Parliament and came to head today�s ruling NDA.
Since then, it has lost every state, municipal and panchayat election and looks certain to lose the next general elections whenever that is held. Why not have another lovely war? 
The BJP�s limited intelligence and its anti-Muslim prejudices blind it to the risks of war. There�s no guarantee that a limited military adventure won�t spiral out of control, that crazy generals on either side won�t run berserk, and no evidence to show that India and Pakistan have the maturity, sense of responsibility and institutional controls that nuclear powers need. In fact, nobody knows whether India and Pakistan have functioning control systems for their nukes. 
Somewhere in a bunker, minutes after a Pakistan nuclear strike:
Georgeji: �Atalji, wake up and press the button.� 
Atalji: �What button? How dare you ask me to press some button? D�you know I was in Parliament before you were born? Go press your own!�
Advaniji: �Arre bhai, where�s the button?�
Generalji: �Sir, Jokhanlal the peon was bringing it over.�
Advaniji: �And where�s Jokhanlal?�
Generalji: �He�s off, sir. The Union says No Work After First Strike.�
Acharyaji: �The Dharmsansad must meet to determine an auspicious day for our counter-strike.�
Georgeji: �Never mind. Lemme see if I can cut a quick deal with Westend for a button lookalike. A million dollars, cheap. Blinking lights and batteries for free.�
Get the picture? 
I�m amazed at people who say that mutually assured destruction (MAD) � a Cold War game theory model that predicts nuclear powers won�t use the weapons because that would finish everybody off � will keep New Delhi and Islamabad from annihilating each other.
These complacent cretins, therefore, goad us to war: without nukes, our limitless supply of cannon fodder is supposed to guarantee victory over Pakistan.
These guys don�t have a clue. The no-nuclear-war prediction of MAD works only if a very stringent assumption holds: both sides are fully rational and equally accountable to their people. Here, you have a bunch of incompetent Hindutva fanatics on one side and a military dictator hemmed in by Islamic fanatics on the other. I wouldn�t trust these guys with a tricycle in a park, and we�re talking nukes!
Thank your stars that US troops are stationed in Pakistan, that Musharraf is forced to talk peace, that the BJP risks the wrath of the world by pushing for a war.
Because what this regime is pushing you towards is the most cynical, mindless and destructive gambit that any Indian government has ever tried to pull off. Stand up, say no to war.
 
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