Events Prior to 1998 Nuclear Tests

Events prior to 1998 Nuclear Tests

Prior to the May 1998 nuclear tests by India and Pakistan, the nuclear issues had rarely generated a public debate in Pakistan. Although the left-wing political parties and their associated student organisations and a few trade unions had focused on issues of peace and disarmament from time to time, the scope of their appeal and work remained limited. In 1974, after India conducted its first nuclear test in Pokhran, the then Pakistani leadership had sworn to build a bomb, even if they had to eat grass!

Nonetheless, in the post-1974 period, there were attempts by certain intellectuals and progressive political activists to create awareness against nuclear weapons. Observance of the ëHiroshima Dayí became an annual feature in Islamabad and other cities.
Occasionally it sparked controversies, as the right wing activists often tried to sabotage the event. The developments pertaining to the countryís nuclear program in 1990 resulted in a bit more open debate in English language press. The ouster of Benazir Bhutto also sparked a controversy about who controls the button of Pakistanís nuclear program.

The 1993 general elections changed the scenario. The right wing Pakistan Islamic Front (PIF) contested the election with a manifesto to end the ambiguity surrounding the countryís nuclear program. A cart carrying a dummy bomb used to accompany the
election rallies of PIF, but the Front lost the election. In 1994 for the first time the National Assembly of Pakistan debated the countryís nuclear policy. The scope of debate and discussion remained limited as it was based on accusations of selling out or rolling back the program, instead of exploring mature policy options on the basis of information and experience.

However, the civil society started taking interest in the debate and in the early 90s a Campaign for Nuclear Sanity was launched in Islamabad, but it died prematurely. Meanwhile a number of initiatives were taken, within the scope of what is popularly known as Track-II diplomacy (people to people dialogue). The nuclear question figured prominently in Track-II events. A University of London project focussing on Security, Technology and Arms Control (STAC) created a modest STAC community in Pakistan. Through the workshops held by the project, the STAC participants got acquainted with critical aspects of the nuclear debate.

A few words on the role of the Pakistan-India Peopleís Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) in promoting people-to-people dialogue between Pakistan and India would not be out of place at this point.

Two groups consisting of a handful of concerned citizens from Pakistan and India met in Lahore on September 2, 1994 and agreed to launch a joint initiative against jingoism and war-mongering on either side. On that day was issued the first Lahore Declaration of Peace and Democracy. It was followed by another meeting in Delhi on 25-26 November at which not only was the Lahore Declaration re-iterated but the foundations of a broad-based people-to-people dialogue were laid.

Only three months later, on February 24-25, 1995, that modestly begun initiative blossomed into the first ever Peoplesí Convention for Peace and Democracy in Delhi attended by around two hundred delegates from the two countries. They discussed issues which had bedevilled relations between the two countries for nearly five decades and drew up basic formulations on the themes of peace, demilitarisation, denuclearisation, tolerance, governance and also Kashmir. Since then, three more joint conventions have been held ó in Lahore, Calcutta and Peshawar ó attended by delegates from every province/state of Pakistan and India, representing various vocations and professions ó politicians, human rights activists, women rights activists, environmentalists, economists, trade unionists, artists, writers and so on.

These Conventions drew up new strategies for establishing peace in South Asia. The Peshawar Convention in November 98 particularly took cognisance of the aftermath of the nuclear tests carried out by India and Pakistan and re-iterated the urgent need for consolidating and further fortifying the people-to-people dialogue for peace in South Asia.

The national and provincial state units of the Forum in both countries have been organising seminars, rallies, demonstrations and other forms of activities to mobilise public opinion to oppose nuclearisation of South Asia in particular and arms race in general.

In the process, Forum activists have had to face violent opposition from the pro-bomb, pro-war elements, e.g. the incident at the press conference in Islamabad, mentioned later in this report. Despite all this, the peace activists are forging ahead.

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