The Nuclear Circus Comes To Town
by Zia Mian
[May 9, 1999]
What is the May 28th nuclear circus for? One could take the government's
word for it and accept that it is a celebration of "self reliance," of
an
"impregnable defence." Given that the government is in such denial about
what is happening in the country and habitually lies even to itself, it is
better to not take such answers seriously. The circus itself, however, has
to be taken very seriously. It offers a glimpse into the future.
The nuclear circus is clearly meant as a prop in the narrow political
sense. It is being put on as an opportunity to deepen and broaden support
across the country for the government and for nuclear weapons. One need
look no further than the planned celebrations which are said to include "a
competition of ten best milli songs, seminars, fairs, festive public
gatherings, candle processions, sports competitions, bicycle races, flag
hoisting ceremonies etc. People will offer Namaz-e-Shukrana as well. Apart
from this special programmes for children would be arranged. Debates would
be held among school children."
To make sure that no misses out on their quota of this new common-sense
about the great and vital contribution made by nuclear weapons, and those
who made them, to Pakistan there are to be appropriate programmes
"broadcast on national network as well as locally by all 24 stations of
the radio. In addition to the national language Urdu, programmes in
regional languages, including Punjabi, Sindhi, Pushto, Balochi, Brahvi,
Saraiki, Potohari, Hindko, Balti and Shina will also be broadcast. The
external service and world service will air special programmes in 15
foreign languages for listeners in Europe, Middle East, Africa and South
East Asia. The Azad Kashmir Radio will also broadcast special programmes
on the occasion in Kashmiri, Gojri, Pahari and English languages."
This would be all harmless entertainment if it was not centred on nuclear
weapons. But it is. There has probably never been an occasion like this
before, where a state used all its resources to build into its very
national identity a pride in its capacity to commit genocide. As Mushahid
Hussain proudly put it "Chaghi has become a symbol of Pakistan's identity
all over the world." If it succeeds at its efforts at creating a
nuclearised nationalism, Pakistan, henceforth, shall be a country whose
identity is based not just like others on a sense of a shared place, or
history, language, culture, or even religion. This identity shall centre
on a technology, and that too a technology of mass destruction. Rather
than simply being a nuclear weapon state, it may become the first truly
nuclear nation.
For this reason, the nuclear circus is fundamentally immoral. It is
nothing less than a state sponsored celebration of mass murder. Weapons
are tools of violence; and nuclear weapons the ultimate in such tools. All
decent people detest them. No one should glory in their existence, never
mind their possession.
The attempt to create a nuclear nationalism raises the question of how
Pakistan will ever deal with nuclear disarmament. For the ringmasters of
the nuclear circus, that day is obviously never to be allowed to dawn.
Whenever the question of disarmament is raised, they will point to the
public support for nuclear weapons they have worked so hard to manufacture
and say: "How can we? Our people will not permit it. They want nuclear
weapons." With this they are trying to close permanently the door to real
peace. Far better in their view a hate-filled nuclear-armed confrontation
with India that in turn gives cause for demands for high military
spending, and excuses state failure and government excesses in every other
area.
The nuclear circus is also obviously meant as a national distraction. It
shall be a brief respite from the daily experience of failure that
consumes the time and energy and resources of the people of this country.
There is hardly any point in recounting either the specific failures or
the crises that have created them. It is all so well known. But it is
worth doing as an act of solidarity with Najam Sethi, the editor of The
Friday Times, who absolutely correctly observed in his speech in India on
April 30th that "Pakistan's socio-political environment is in the throes
of a severe multi-dimensional crisis. I refer to six major crises which
confront Pakistan on the eve of the new millenium: (1) the crisis of
identity and ideology; (2) the crisis of law, constitution and political
system; (3) the crisis of economy; (4) the crisis of foreign policy; (5)
the crisis of civil society; and (6) the crisis of national security."
It is these fundamental political and social crises that the glitter of
the nuclear circus and the rocket's red glare is meant to conceal. The
success of May 28th is meant in one single act to overcome fifty years of
abject failure to do anything but fail. This is why May 28th is now
declared to be the most important date since independence. It is meant to
mark a new beginning, the rebirth of a nation.
This third birth of Pakistan, after 1947 and 1971, is however no more
auspicious than the first two. Each birth has been violent and produced
violence. The first, out of the horrors of partition, failed to produce a
viable constitution and led to military dictatorship and twice to war. The
second birth, out of the slaughter in Bangladesh, failed to produce
democracy and led to more dictatorship, and the sectarian demons who now
haunt the land. This third life, born out of nuclear explosions, carries
the threat of terminal violence.
It is worth delving a little deeper into what the nuclear circus is meant
to conceal. It is meant to be an affirmation of strength, "virility," and
pride (at least that is what President Tarar called it). What this tries
to conceal, if not erase, is that events after the May tests provided
clear evidence of how weak this country actually is. The sanctions that
were imposed by the international community after the tests were lifted
not because the world was awed by Pakistan's new nuclear might, but
because for once they took a really good look at it and were horrified by
its obvious weaknesses. Sanctions were lifted because otherwise the
country would have fallen apart and nobody wanted to see that happen. It
was an act aimed to protect Pakistan from itself - or more accurately, to
try to protect its people from the criminal stupidity and recklessness of
its leaders.
It is easy to see how having to accept this realisation of weakness would
have created a crisis among those who were responsible for taking the
decision to test. One the one hand they tested nuclear weapons and thought
of themselves as being strong and having broken the "begging bowl." On
the
other, the world offered them pity and charity, because otherwise the
country would collapse. And thus the nuclear circus as a way of ridding
these fears and memories from their minds, of burying them forever. The
louder and brighter and more strident the circus, the deeper the anxiety
about being weak shall be pushed and the more determined the attempts to
deny and hide it.
Given how personal politics has always been here, there is no avoiding the
fact that the nuclear circus is also a form of self-gratification - a way
for Pakistan's current crop of leaders to make themselves feel better
about themselves. They know, at one level, that the rest of the world
looks on them as not just venal and corrupt, but pathetic and pitiful
figures ruling a country struggling to keep its head above water and who
have to be protected from the consequences of their own actions. During
the circus though, the nation will unite "to pay tribute to the courage,
statesmanship and maturity of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif" as one
government press release put it. The government will make sure of it.
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