Nuclear Tests

Sitaram Yechury

It is, indeed, heartening to see the country rise as one man to hail our scientific community on the successful nuclear tests. And, in a rare show of solidarity, the nation, cutting across all shades of the political spectrum, has resolved to fight the sanctions imposed by some countries. These western nuclear power countries and the others who maintain an unequal nuclear world order have no right, moral or otherwise, to impose sanctions on India.

Many of us, never had any doubt whatsoever regarding the capabilities of our scientific community in developing our indigenous capacities in this field. Or, for that matter, in many other fields. It is only hoped that the present BJP-led government will bestow similar faith in our scientists in other fields as well and will not betray them or the country by signing unequal treaties like amending our patent laws and intellectual property rights.

The main issue concerning the present nuclear tests is not that of verifying India’s capabilities. Only the cynical needed such verification. The moot point is the transition from a position of known capacity to that of a demonstrative capability. Was such a transition necessary at all, in the first place? Was this the best manner in which such a transition ought to have been affected? What is the cost-benefit analysis? Is there any strategy to meet the consequences of such an action? These and many other questions need to be answered, in the interests of the country.

Before we come to this, however, it is necessary to recap in a nutshell India’s longstanding consensual nuclear policy.

Maintaining that concerns of national security are supreme and non negotiable, India so far had chosen not to produce nuclear weapons but to keep the nuclear option open. This was based on the confidence, as indeed these tests have proved, that as and when the need arises, we can rise to the occasion appropriately. Such a stand had given India a tremendous credibility in championing the goal of universal nuclear disarmament. As it did to our stand of not signing the CTBT and NPT on the grounds that they are unequal and discriminatory. More importantly, this stand had provided a confident edge to Indian foreign policy amongst the developing world, particularly for initiatives in South Asia and the sub-continent.

At one stroke, the BJP-led government has reversed this policy and its gains. When this government assumed office, the country was told that any shift in our nuclear policy would be done only after a comprehensive review of our strategic defence and security concerns. Yet, a total reversal of the policy is made even before the National Security Council is constituted! Why?

If the concerns were those of our country’s security, what has occurred, so dramatically, during the six-weeks of this government in office, to initiate such a radical shift. The Prime Minister has chosen to inform President Clinton of these reasons but neither the Indian people nor the political parties. Is President Clinton a greater confidant of India than its own people?

In any case what are the dramatic changes in our security and threat perceptions during the last six weeks? No neighbour has made any new noises of any fresh consequence. In the absence of any credible explanation by the government, one can only conclude that the BJP’s domestic political compulsions and not any new threat to our security concerns that prompted the timing and the manner of the present transition that we spoke of above.

The BJP, from the days of its earliest incarnations, always employed a strident jingoistic position advocating the induction of nuclear weapons. This was a stand taken independent of India’s security concerns. It was a stand of whipping up national chauvinism and exploiting genuine patriotism of the Indian people for its narrow political interests.

That this is being its objective, in the present instance, is more than evident by the following: the simultaneous publication of the RSS mouthpiece, Organiser, with the tests on May 11, exhorting India to become a nuclear power; the BJP’s decision to observe victory day'; and the decision of the VHP to establish aShakti Peetha’ at Pokhran. The BJP, leading a government with a precarious majority, unable to extricate itself from the total loss of credibility is seeking to exploit these nuclear tests for its benefit. And, in the process, it has no long term strategy to meet the consequences.

Such a unilateral reversal of India’s nuclear policy, apart from undermining the independent foreign policy of India, severely jeopardises the ongoing initiatives taken by India towards improving relations with our neighbours. It negates the advances made during the period of the United Front government. At one stroke the BJP-led government has harmed the atmosphere of good neighbourly relations being built. The strident anti-China campaign reverses the important initiatives for reduction in arms build up and the confidence building measures that the two countries have arrived at after decades of diplomatic efforts. The consequences of a nuclear arms race in the sub-continent will have a disastrous effect on the Indian economy and the livelihood of millions of working Indians. It diverts resources away from human priorities.

While mounting an aggressive anti-China campaign in his letter to the US President, the Prime Minister has deliberately ignored the longstanding threat perception of India concerning the US nuclear military base in Diego Garcia. This Indian Ocean island base has been used by the USA in the Gulf war and its weapons have a range that covers India. Such deliberate silence about imperialist military manoeuvres and its support to anti-Indian extremist activities reflects the pro-imperialist shift in Indian policy. Increased tensions in South Asia will enable USA to actively intervene in the region.

An important aspect to note is the manner in which, the BJP-led government seeks to counter the sanctions. This is being done through further `opening up’ of our economy to foreign capital. Already the government has announced counter-guarantees (like it had done with Enron) to three multinationals in the power sector. Similarly, in the sphere of mineral and petroleum exploration, the BJP-led government ignoring wise counsel to the contrary has gone ahead approving MNC collaborations. Accelerating such a disastrous course will not help combat sanctions but will make India more vulnerable to foreign pressures jeopardising the country’s economic sovereignty and imposing further burdens on the people.

The present government’s priorities, as indeed contained in its own national agenda, ought to have been the amelioration of poverty, unemployment, want and misery. Instead, the people are being exhorted to feed on jingoism. And, this comes at a time when hundreds of our farmers are committing suicide as the only way out of their miseries.

This is not the first time in human history that recourse to jingoism has been taken by those seeking to consolidate their political hegemony. Hitler did it. Mussolini did it. History eventually corrected such aberrations. But at a cost. A world at war, millions persecuted and murdered. Should India be forced into such a repetition of history by a party that barely enjoys a fourth of people’s confidence! Remember, just around 25% of the people voted the BJP in the 1998 elections!