A Letter to the Prime Minister of Pakistan

Have you ever wondered why the nation has not progressed? Why should the developed countries pay any heed to your clamouring rhetoric and bluster? Who really cares if you go out and annihilate yourself, other than you, which of course, is a nice, well-insulated presumptuous view that you are the most important person in the world? a thought, unfortunately, not shared by the rest. the perfect answer to Indian Nuclear tests- use it to further your own good by political, international blackmail. Wonderful....what else need we ask for? Thats what the symbolism is - arrogant beggars. And this applies to both the countries. The mentality, somehow, fails to arouse any emotion.......We somehow expected it.

Anita, I could not agree with you more. You have said all sensible things, and I too, very much like yourself, would rather have not seen India detonate nuclear devices. But stealing your words, Pakistan has been left in ``an awkward position``.

And of course there is the inherent bias in the system too: The big five (historically 3 western plus 2 non-capitalist powers) and the lieutenent of the 3 western powers (Israel) are in a separate category from India and Pakistan. And then India, considered somehow inherently more ``reliable`` than an Islamic Pakistan.

I can see India`s underlying rationale: Why deny this power to one sixth of humanity? But I also see its logical extension: Then why should Africa also not have the capability, and South America, and the Pacific Rim, and the Islamic Countries? That logic leads to only one end: Global Armament, and to the scenario of Global Deterrance. Are we happy with that?

And I can see India`s courage too in standing up to the nuclear hegemony. It is just a natural effect that we have seen throughout history i.e. masses of people demanding a removal of artificial boundries.

But where does all of all of this leave Pakistan? The problem is that the nuclear weapons cannot be dis-invented, and the course of time cannot be reversed. The probability that the nuclear powers will voluntarily disarm is zero. They too are caught in a dynamic equilibrium of power, much more so than India and Pakistan are. And now this action has permanently changed the strategic landscape of this corner of the world, and of the world at large. And as such, Pakistan has no choice but to get swept into the scenario and then try to maximize its own interests.

No, in the best of all worlds, this is not what we would have wished for, but now it is here. And for Pakistan there is no choice but to play it to its own advantage.

Re: RT and MNI

In my last response I wrote that for now we should try to get this letter out asap. I think we can do both, send it individually, and collect signatures. The logic behind the first approach being to get it to the people concerned in case Paksitan is going to go ahead with the test in the near future.

RT you have an excellent suggestion. Could you suggest a re-wording that would make it more acceptable?

Re: Proud Pakistani, Karachiite, Rashid Iqbal, Ikbal Khan, Umair, RT

Hear, hear! Have you been able to get this letter across to people in Pakistan?

Re: Farhan ...
Salam Farhan, actually I was flying back and forth between Philly and Chicago when this happened ... I am currently in Chicago :( ... no, I think Chicago is pretty good during summers, now I just have to get out of my office to go see it! Hope all is well with you.

Re: PM is not the appropriate person...

You have a very good point ... I do not think many of us have access to Rawalpindi directories immediately, could you get that fax number, that would be very useful.

Re: Are you sure the device ...

Actually not sure at all. Let me be the first to say that the first suggestion is extremely far fetched in terms of realization, we knew that when we were writing the letter. There were a few reasons for not deleting it: (i) The contention that decision makers will get an idea of the range of possibilities, no matter how remote. (ii) In case it does pass through into the final list of demands then it emphasizes the position as seen by Pakistan and sets a scale for demands (from which one can then back off to others). ...

Anyway, about not holding me in high esteem, or at least my ideas: That would make it at least two people, yourself and myself! But I have learnt to move on past my occasional mistakes! It would actually be helpful if you could articulate your objections ... I am sure it can be done without incurring the wrath of chowk staff --it just depends on what words you choose!

Angry Pakistan student lodges India N-test complaint

ISLAMABAD, May 14 (Reuters) - A Pakistani student complaining of spiritual distress has filed a complaint against India`s Prime Minister for conducting nuclear tests and says he will sue Pakistan`s Prime Minister if he follows suit.

Police said 21-year-old Akhtar Abbas, doing a masters degree in chemistry at a Lahore college, filed a written complaint against the five nuclear tests carried out by India on Monday and Wednesday.

Abbas said in his complaint against Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that the tests had caused him ``spiritual, physical and financial distress,`` and cited the effect of nuclear explosions on life and its impact on global warming.

Later he told reporters that he would sue Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan`s top nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan if Islamabad exploded its first nuclear device.

Successive Pakistani governments have said they have the capacity to carry out a nuclear test but have refrained from doing so to keep a lid on tension with India, with whom it has fought three wars since 1947.

``I will definitely sue Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan for precisely the same reasons,`` he said.

Police said there was no example of such a complaint before and it would have to consult its legal department on how to deal with a ``criminal complaint against the Indian Prime Minister.``

India`s underground tests have provoked global condemnation and the United States has imposed economic sanctions estimated by the White House to be worth more than $20 billion.

Re: MNI

It would probably be best if instead of collecting signatures, we just send in this letter individually. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE, and it is helpful to be repetitive in this case. Just emphasizes the point. I suggested earlier that we can send this under a general rubric of ``Concerned Expatriate Pakistanis``, with the explicit goal of getting it to the Pakistani media and any people who can make a difference, in particular MILITARY officials. So if we know such people directly, (relatives etc.) we should contact them, otherwise contact people who know such people.

It is a grave concern for all of us, and again timing is very very important.

Are you sending one letter with many signatories or are we supposed to send a copy of this to the PM ourselves?

Thanks for the effort in writing this Wasiq sahib.

Regards,
MNI

India Declares Self Nuclear State


Filed at 11:19 a.m. EDT
By The Associated Press

NEW DELHI, India (AP) -- India`s prime minister declared his country a nuclear state, saying it has a ``big bomb`` following five nuclear tests this week, according to an interview his office released today.
Indian officials had earlier been careful to differentiate between their tests and weapons, saying only ``devices`` were tested at a desert range Monday and Wednesday. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said India had only peaceful intentions for its nuclear program.
``India is now a nuclear weapons state,`` Vajpayee said in the interview Thursday. ``We have a big bomb now for which (the) necessary command and control system is also in place.``
``Ours will never be weapons of aggression,`` he said.
Observers have said that, with the tests this week, India was making a claim to enter the league of nuclear weapons states-Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
Those countries receive two key benefits: They are permanent members of the U.N.
Security Council, which allows them influence in every international issue; and they can keep their nuclear weapons.
By declaring itself a nuclear state, India threatened to unravel the global system of nuclear weapons controls, because all existing nuclear treaties are based on the assumption of the world having five declared nuclear states.
A transcript of Vajpayee`s interview with India Today magazine was faxed to The Associated Press by the prime minister`s office.
Vajpayee`s government has insisted it would never be the first to use nuclear weapons but needed a deterrent because neighbors China and Pakistan-with whom it has fought a total of four wars-were nuclear powers.
``We live in a world where India is surrounded by nuclear weaponry,`` Vajpayee told India Today. ``The world community should appreciate the fact that India, the second-most populous country on earth, waited for five decades before taking this step.``
But the international community has shown little appreciation for the move.
The United States, Japan and other countries have slapped economic sanctions on India. While there was no immediate comment from the White House to Vajpayee`s announcement, President Clinton said earlier today he would seek a ``strong and unambiguous`` denunciation of India`s nuclear ambitions from world leaders at a three-day summit in Birmingham, England.
Meanwhile, nuclear expert David Albright said from Washington today that
Vajpayee`s
reference to a ``command and control system`` proved India has been
pursuing weapons for years, despite its calls for global nuclear disarmament.
It took planning and time to develop means to move nuclear weapons onto missiles, install protections against enemy interference and decide when the weapons would be used, said Albright, a researcher with the Institute for Science and International Security who has worked as a U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq.
Domestic reaction to three tests Monday and two Wednesday has been overwhelmingly positive. Vajpayee is hailed as a hero for standing up to international opposition and proving India`s technical expertise.
About 50 protesters, shouting slogans in support of the tests and against sanctions, scuffled with police in front of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi today.
India`s chief economic adviser to the finance ministry, Shankar N. Acharya, said today he didn`t expect the sanctions to hurt economic growth.
The rupee has fallen due to fears India could lose billions of dollars in potential investment and hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid.
But Indian stock markets were buoyant, with brokers buying back shares in the belief that sanctions won`t be damaging.

As-salamalaikum.

I support the sentiments expressed in this letter.

Anita Zaidi
Brookline, Massachusetts

Wasiq,

Although I`ll readily lend support to, and sign your letter, the problem of course is that the US, as a rule, does not put its money where its mouth is.

From a theoretical perspective, I am committed to a stand against all weapons of mass destruction. Period. The world`s resources should be used to help people, not destroy them. However, in this two-tier world where some countries are ``allowed`` to have nuclear weapons, and impose their imperialistic will on others to not have them, this stance is admittedly naive. Therefore, I sympathize to a degree with the Indian viewpoint. Why should they not have nuclear weapons when China does? That said, from a Pakistani perspective,it is of course very unfortunate that India carried out the tests because it leaves Pakistan in an awkward, almost a no-win position. No, I do not see this as a ``golden opportunity`` for Pakistan, or for the rest of the world. Just very, very tragic. Pakistan will conduct the test (it doesn`t really have a choice) and slowly nuclear weapon technology will spread to the rest of the world. What I fear is not intentional detonations, but accidents, terrible unintentional Chernobyl type disasters as more and more countries get nuclearized without having all the safety measures in place, especially as they have the added imperative of keeping everything hidden from those satellites. Mistakes, huge, costly mistakes will inevitably happen. The countries to blame here are the BIG FIVE, not India. In the post-cold war era, it behoves them to instantly denuclearize. Then they can justifiably take the high moral ground with the rest of the world.

In the best-case scenario, Pakistan will choose to hold off conducting the test in return for small economic concessions, while international pressure mounts on the US and other nuclear states to give up their nulear destructive capabilities. This is the dream-on scenario.

In the worst-case scenario, Pakistan will conduct the test, and will suffer severe economic sanctions which will affect it much more than they will affect India. Also, India is a huge emerging market. Very few countries can afford not to trade with it, so the effort to impose sanctions on India will be muted at best. On the other hand, to the Western world, Pakistan appears the much bigger threat, with its ties to the Islamic world, and trade with Pakistan in no way compares to that with India. One can bet that Pakistan will be suffocated. That is the whole rona - Pakistan is in no position to bargain - we are damned if we do, and damned it we don`t. The choice here is, which is the bigger damnation?

Anita

Amir, others, these are some good points to
consider. I would think of the letter not the
only demands made, but rather the idea that
demands can be made at this point. This should
include of-course, India not getting special
privlages etc. If the US and others do not
isolate India for its actions, then Pakistan
MUST go ahead with the tests. It would be foolish
not to... -If they do aggree to demands, which
maybe called ``unreasonable`` etc., which is fine,
since the nuke explosions are also unreaseonable
then why not milk them? The idea being that
Pakistan develop itself as an economic power, and continue to develop the weaponry, just don`t explode `em, or do so, and say it was an earthquake or something.

Dear Mr. Sharif:

Please do not let this god send opportunity go to waste. Show diplomatic restraint. Seldom in our brief history have we been dealt with such good cards.

We understand the tremendous pressure you must be under to reply in kind.

Show your mettle.

Think of how Quaid would have acted.
Think of how your mentor Zia would have milked this opportunity for Pakistan.

Re: All (India tests three nuclear devices)

You`re absolutely right: Time is of the essence.

I was talking to my friends in Pakistan, and it seems that there is intense pressure on the government to respond to India by detonating a nuclear device.

If the letter looks good then we should distribute it electronically to people immediately. Instead of adding a long list of people to it, we should aim to get this letter to Pakistani media as soon as possible from ``Concerned expatriate Pakistanis``. At this point it would be very useful to hunt contacts in Pakistan which can print and circulate this letter.

In addition, I am sure some of us know people who are either in the responsible positions in the government/military, or who know people who know government/military officials. We should zero in
on those people and get this letter off to them. If some end up getting multiple copies from different sources, it`s better.

So it`s best at this point that each and every person who is interested should try to get this letter to (i) Pakistani media and (ii) Pakistani government/military officials through any means
possible immediately. Again the letter is from ``Concerned Expatriate Pakistanis``

I am going to start making some phone calls, but I think that all of us should start flexing our networking muscles. This is the time to do it.