[sacw] SAAN Post (18 May 00)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asians Against Nukes - Post
18 May 2000
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#1. Ex-Indian Naval Chief slams nuclearization
#2. Peace in South Asia - the nuclear threat | Public meeting in London
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#1.

DAWN
18 May 2000
Thursday

Ex-Indian Naval Chief slams nuclearization

By Our Staff Reporter

KARACHI, May 17: People-to-people contact between India and Pakistan be
increased so that they understood each other better, speakers stressed at a
seminar on Wednesday. They said the misunderstanding between the two
peoples had been created deliberately by the vested interests so that
tension persisted.

The seminar on "prospects of peace and development in South Asia in the
context of nuclearization of India and Pakistan" was organized by the
Pakistan India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy, and Action Committee
Against Arms Race.

The former chief of Indian Navy, Admiral Ramdas, said that keeping nuclear
bombs was against all ethics and morality because by using it, one can kill
millions of civilians who have no relation with war or armed forces.

He recalled that soon after the nuclear testing its supporters said it was
deterrence against aggression, but within months there was the Kargil
conflict.

He said the bomb supporters claimed it would reduce the arms expenditure,
but soon after the nuclear testing a doctrine was prepared which said India
should make a plan to spend Rs1 trillion in the next 10 years.

This year the Indian defence budget was increased by 28 per cent as the
figure jumped from Rs430 billion to Rs580 billion. This must have put
pressure Pakistan and soon it will also have to increase its defence
budget.

Admiral Ramdas said a nuclear bomb, including its delivery system, its
support system and the need to keep it updated, cost huge money which the
economies of the two countries were unable to sustain and would eventually
collapse under its pressure.

India, he said, had tested the nuclear device in 1974. So if, after the
May 11 Pokharan testing, Pakistan had not gone for its Chaghi testing, it
could have gained many benefits in terms of political, financial and
militarily support and international respect.

He said both countries by spending huge amounts on arms were bleeding each
other to death. Hunger, misery, poverty, illiteracy, and lack of health
facilities were the common enemies, and the two governments should curtail
their defence spending and shift the funding to the social sector
development.

The former Indian navy chief said the extremists on both sides were also
the common enemy and it was the duty of saner elements to make people aware
of the extremists' designs and try to spread feelings of love, peace and
harmony.

He talked of fanatics who lived in both countries. He feared that one day
the Indian fanatics might announce plan for crossing over to the Pakistan
side of Kashmir. Pakistan could face a great difficulty if over 10 million
fanatics tried to cross over the Line of Control.

In reply to a question, he said Kashmir was not a real estate dispute
which the India and Pakistan could decide and added that it should be
settled the way the Kashmiris wanted it to be settled.

Kamal Mateenuddin, columnist M.B. Naqvi, Dr Asad Saeed, Rehana Iftikhar,
Dr Zaki Hassan, and Hassan Abidi also spoke while Sheema Kirmani recited a
poem at the seminar.

Terming the territorial dispute a major cause of tension between the two
countries, Mateenuddin, a retired general, said that they should behave
like good and responsible neighbours and start dialogue on all the issues.

He said that when the Pakistanis had forgotten the issues of East Pakistan
and Siachen the Indians should forget Kargil. Dialogue must continue, he
stressed.

Mr Naqvi said bombs were built only when there was an intention to use
them. He said the two governments had been lying to their peoples; all the
time they said they were not making nuclear weapons and then suddenly both
of them conducted tests.

He said that "on one hand Pakistan was hosting the Indian prime minister,
on the other it was executing the Kargil operation."

Mrs Ramdas said that message of love and peace be spread, and terrorism,
wherever it occurred, should be condemned because it was crime against
humanity.

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#2.

17 May 2000

Please find attached the notice of a public meeting in London to coincide
with anniversary of nuclear explosions in South Asia. I would appreciate if
you could spread the e-mail to your contacts.

best,
arif azad

for further details <aajkaynaam@y...>
Aaj Kay Naam (In the Name of Today): Campaigning for
human rights, social justice and democracy in Pakistan
www.solidarity.freeserve.co.uk
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Peace in South Asia - the nuclear threat
Public meeting with:

Achin Vanaik and Praful Bidwai
-India's leading anti-nuclear campaigners

Bruce Kent Jeremy Corbyn MP

Thursday, 25th May 7:30pm Conway Hall central London (Holborn
tube)
Meeting sponsored by: London Region CND Liberation, Aaj Kay Naam,
SMG-Unity

Since the nuclear tests in 1998, and the Kargil war in 1999, South Asia is
now the most likely setting for the outbreak of nuclear war. As tensions
between the right-wing Hindu communal BJP government in India and the
military regime in Pakistan reach an all-time high, and with the two
countries regularly exchanging conventional weapons fire in Kashmir, the
world may now be closer to a nuclear conflict than at any time since the
Cuban missile crisis. All those committed to peace and social justice
should be alarmed at these recent developments.
For more information contact:
mike.marqusee@w... P&p 45 Chesholm Rd, London N16 0DS
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