The presidential system and the nuclear bomb have long been on the BJP's agenda - longer, in fact, than the temple. From its Jan Sangh days, this Right-wing outfit has been insistent on these two points, its belief being that these would help to project India as a strong country under a strong leader. The party's and the Sangh Parivar's disdain for the "non-nationalists", also described as pseudo-secular, is based on the conviction that they lack martial valour and are, therefore, responsible for all of India's ills, going back to the invasions of the past and the inability to stand up to the world at present.
(RSS') eagerness to confine itself within the bounds of the colonial rules ensured that the freedom struggle would remain in the hands of people like Gandhi whose "femininity" ... earned him the hostility of the Hindu nationalists. The other reason why the Sangh parivar remained aloof from the independence movement was its antagonism towards Muslims, who were sought to be included in the movement by Gandhi and others ...
After 1947, while the pacifist turned to the socialist model of development and founded the anti-American non- aligned bloc, the Jan Sangh-BJP had a pro-American and pro-capitalist image. Its model was Israel, no doubt because the latter was waging a life-and-death struggle against Muslims in West Asia and also because, even without a presidential system, it gave the impression of strength ...The reason why the BJP has brought the bombs out in the open at the present time is not only due to its customary preference for pursuing a policy of machismo and atavism, but presumably to divert attention from its coalition troubles. The election results were a disappointment for the party. Not only did it fail to get a majority, its partners in government have also been giving it no end of trouble. Besides, its own hardliners were distressed over the shelving of their pet projects like the Ayodhya temple ...
... What the nuclear tests have confirmed is that India always had the capacity. Only it did not display it not so much because the pacifists then in power lacked martial vigour as because they were mature enough not to plunge India into a situation where ... it may find itself bracketed with Cuba, Iraq, Iran and Libya ... Besides, since India's adversaries knew of, or at least suspected, India's nuclear prowess, there was no need to advertise it anyway. They would have kept their distance ...
The BJP's exercise of the nuclear option, therefore, does not change anything, except that having emerged from the closet, India will now have to bear the brunt of international opprobrium and sanctions. Pakistan, too, will have to respond; otherwise its rulers will be seen to be lacking in spirit. In the process, an entirely avoidable atmosphere of conflict - in which China, too, will be drawn in - will be created in South Asia.
Ironically, the tests have come at a time when the threat perceptions are somewhat less than before ...
The BJP, on the other hand, is known to have a tendency to bank on emotive appeals ever since its 1989 electoral success convinced it that the avowed goal of moulding India according to the Sangh parivar's image is within sight. In adopting such a course, it sometimes overshoots the mark, even damaging itself in the process. Ayodhya is a typical example whose ramifications it has yet to live down ...
There may not be anything wrong, per se, in opting for the bomb if it is genuinely required for the sake of national security. But the step must carry conviction, and not be seen as a jingoistic measure for partisan purposes ... A decision of this nature should be taken by a ruling party or an alliance which has a clear mandate, having won on the basis of a large percentage of votes and with a consistent record of such percentages in the past, and which is widely recognised as stable. The present government does not meet these requirements. (Source: The Hindustan Times, 18 May, 1998)
Abhijit Bhattacharyya On Euphoria over the Bomb
The Indian sub-continent experienced the dawn of civilisation along with the riverine civilisation of the Nile, Euphrates, Tigris and the valleys of the Hwang Ho and Yang Sikiang of China. But the Indian civilisation also attracted hostility from the people belonging to other areas where both waster and food were scarce ...
Hordes of horsemen and motivated soldiers from comparatively sterile terrain found it convenient to pour through the passes of North-west India ... Invasions became a recurring phenomenon. Invasion, defence, defeat, subjugation and loot continued to be the order for almost a thousand years ...
The original inhabitants were at the receiving end owing to both internal diversion and external aggression ...
... The battering of the Indians for centuries at the hands of those who did not belong to the cub-continent, to this day constitutes a sore point at the back of most Indians' mind.
... Partition ... created a permanent scar ... India ceased to be a united country ... An acute sense of suppressed agony and pain burst out and manifested in the detonation of five nuclear devices at Pokhran on May 11 and 13, 1998.
... Pokhran temporarily appears to have overshadowed the inherent goodness of the Indians who have down the ages paid heavily for their tolerance and avoidance of "first-'strike" intention, despite occasional capability. The wounded psyche runs deeply embedded ... (Source: The Pioneer, 11 June, 1998)
