It sounds like a routine alarm, but the things are getting serious. The question being asked in this part of the world is: Who would grab Pakistan’s nuclear weapons first…the Al Qaeda or the USA? To this speculation one may add an Aesop’s fable: Would it be the “monkey” India/Israel combo snatching the nukes away from the Al Qaeda/USA “cat” ?
Here is a categorical statement from Mustafa Abu al-Yazid (photo above), the leader of al Qaeda’s in Afghanistan, in an interview with Al Jazeera television: “Al Qaeda would use Pakistan’s nuclear weapons in its fight against the United States.”
Considering the increasing overt and covert support that the extremist fringe enjoys within the Pakistan polity, including the Army, this Al Qaeda threat assumes menacing proportions. All the generous aid that the US administration is pouring out to Pakistan in the hope of winning over this radicalized section is unlikely to work.
Expressing concern over Pakistan’s rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal, General Deepak Kapoor, India’s chief of army staff, recently called on the international community to prevail on Pakistan to cap its warheads at present levels.
India’s DNA newspaper comments: “Pakistan’s nuclear command and control passed into army hands when General Zia-ul-Haq overthrew Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in a military coup d’etat on July 5, 1977 and has remained with the army ever since.
“With Taliban and jihadi terrorism having taken hold of large parts of Pakistan’s polity, there are serious doubts whether Pakistan’s nuclear warheads are safe from falling into jihadi hands.
“As long as the warheads are under the custody of the Pakistan army, such reservations are misplaced. However, in case there is ever a successful coup led by radical extremists with the support of disgruntled elements in the Pakistan army, or a colonels’ coup, it will be necessary to either capture the nuclear warheads or bomb the suspected nuclear storage sites to render the warheads ineffective.” More here…
Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper writes: “The correct position convincingly stated by scientist Pervez Hoodbhoy and human rights activists (call them pacifists if you like) is that nuclear weapons, in our situation, are not an asset as is generally said but a liability.
“Hillary Clinton’s declaration that a nuclear Pakistan is a ‘mortal threat to international security’ leaves one wondering whether one day, if the Taliban are not exterminated, America will intervene militarily to save the weapons from falling into their hands.
“After all the Americans keep firing missiles at the Taliban’s suspected hideouts in Pakistan but our army cannot, or does not want to, stop them. And our political leaders keep protesting only for the record.”
Meanwhile an American think tank says: “Pakistan’s military establishment remains focused on conventional conflict with its neighbor India, and cooperation between civilian and military leaders on counterterrorism action remains mixed, despite increasing domestic anxiety about the actions of militants in the country’s northwest.”
Here’s my earlier post on why USA overlooks Pakistan’s nuclear plans…See here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.