South Asians Against Nukes - Year 10
May 13, 2008
URL: groups.yahoo.com/group/SAAN_/message/1119

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'Nuclear arms race has led to distortions in socioeconomic progress'

(The News International, by our correspondent, 12 May 2008)
Karachi

Speakers at a seminar titled "impacts of nuclearisation on social
development" organised Sunday at the Pakistan Medical Association
(PMA) office by the Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC) urged the adoption
of people-focused policies. The nuclear arms race, coupled with
militarization, has led to distortions in socioeconomic development
and has undermined the democratic process, they said.

Dr Syed Jafer Ahmed, Professor of Karachi University, said the arms
race in South Asia had distorted the socio-economic policies. It also
led to negative nationalism based on hatred instead of developing
identity on self-assertion and good within the country. Same sort of
nationalism had also developed in India where the BJP's emphasis on
culture also contained imperial design.

Stressing a need for changing the curriculum to promote healthy
worldview about things, Dr Ahmed said arms procurement was also
largely responsible for violence, extremism and aggression in the
society as the people think that they can get anything through use of
brute force. He believed that nuclear ambitions had also caused
destruction of democracy by ensuring dominance of ambitious military
generals on politics. He said less significant role of civilians in
decision-making was also visible from the fact that among around "15
phases" of "nuclear command and control", the prime minister is
supposed to be consulted in one phase only.

He said the USA was using Pakistan's nuclear programme for
black-mailing the government to continue support for its War on
Terror.

He said there was need to go beyond confidence building measures
between India and Pakistan with focus on people's oriented policies,
which could address the masses problems. He said the Kashmir dispute
still remained unresolved because of lack of people's focus policies
as its debate was restricted at foreign offices of both the countries.

He also regretted that efforts of NGOs lack linkage and urged
coordinated efforts among them. Dr Ahmed also underlined the
importance of creating culture of debate and discussion at academic
institutes for demilitarisation of minds.

Karamat Ali of the PPC said possession of nuclear arms instead of
decreasing demand for conventional weapons had in fact increased it
for five times recently. He said South Asia topped in arms
procurement in the world while number of the poor was also high
there. He said 76 per cent poor live in India while 70 per cent poor
live in Pakistan. He said nuclearisation and militarisation had not
only put economic burden in both countries but it had also weakened
democratic institut[ion]s. He claimed that now the Indian army was
also determining certain policies there. He cited the Indian army
chief's intrusive role to block the agreement between India and
Pakistan for making Siachin as the world's biggest peace park in 2004
in this regard.

Zahida Hina talking about US's interference in Pakistan's politics
since 1947 said that the situation had now come to such pass that
Richard Boucher, US official was deciding matters between leaders of
two mainstream parties in London.

She said since last over eight years, the people of Pakistan had been
suffering and now their hopes from the present government were also
fading.

Abdullah Baloch, a Baloch activist, said nuclear tests in
Balochistan's "Rast Koh" (straight hills) had brought devastated
consequences there. He claimed that underground water had decreased
from 60 feet to over 400 feet. He said prior to nuclear tests, there
used to be rains in each year but since then, no rains had occurred
there, leading to drought.

B M Kutti of Piler; Osman Baloch, Adam Malik, Aijaz Malik, Prof
Salman and others also spoke.

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DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do
not necessarily reflect the views of SAAN compilers.