The signs in the Heavens! 29

[resurrected]

The mystery man wished to avoid scientific part of the nuclear issue, partly because it was not necessary to understand it for a layman and secondly because he himself wasn’t very knowledgeable in Physics. It sufficed for him if we became aware that Nuclear power was some very potent power that could be used for both constructive and destructive purposes. Even though confessing his ignorance about the true nature of that enormous power, he was certain that not all the assertions regarding nuclear devices were true. Many of the statements given about the destructive powers of the N. Bombs were nothing but conscious fallacies, fear invoking tactics and tolls of propaganda. The assertion that these bombs could destroy the entire world many times was nothing but nonsense. A nuclear war could certainly kill many millions and the radiation could plague the world for a long time but wiping out Seven billion people on the planet was just something that could occur in some science fiction. So he consciously left out all talk about fission, fusion, and the materials involved in making these weapons. He seemed more interesting to talk about the political reasons and possible consequences than to speak of technical matters and I felt thankful.
The emergence of new Atomic powers in the world eliminated the danger of monopoly situation and forced the US to come down to earth and realize that they weren’t alone to dictate the world and form it as to their liking or disliking. The Soviet Union and China could hit back if US was to ever initiate a nuclear war and the retaliation could be far more devastating than they could anticipate. The development of Intercontinental missiles made an Atomic attack on US by both Soviet Union and China a reality instead of a mere probability as it had been till then. This knowledge created a terror balance, which hindered any new attempts to use the weapon once again.
For decades and decades the number of Atomic nations remained the same, not exceeding the mysterious five. These nations did everything in their power to retain the number of the club members and yet the number of nations with nuclear dreams was definitely increasing by the passage of time, South Africa and Israel belonged to that group of nations. But the atomic Explosions of 1973 took every one with surprise and none dreaded the matter more than Pakistan, which had just lost half of its population and its Eastern part by the hands of that enemy. It was no surprise to find even Pakistan joining the nations that actively sought an atom bomb after Indian experiment, he told me.
The story from that point to the time Pakistan detonated its own Atomic devices, he wanted to save for some other time as it could explain much of the sad part of our national history. He believed that seeking of the nuclear technology and developing of the atomic weapons was the only right thing our leaders ever did in our short but turbulent history. The journey from 1973 to 1998 held the secret to our survival strategy. The Indian dreams of destroying our land had come to naught. Our nuclear weapons were the guarantee that Indian expansionists were not to dare venture once again in our directions. Their overwhelming superiority of the army and arms had become useless an advantage, as they had been clearly given the message that we weren’t going to use these weapons as a last resort but could hit back at any time we felt necessary. Our loud and clear message to India and the world had brought us peace but could that fear of our threat to use the atomic weapons bring us permanent peace with India? The mystery man was doubtful about that He believed that the détente was to function as long as Indians were fearful of Pakistani retaliation but the situation could be different if Indians were to get some assurances from their newly made friends that Pakistani atomic bombs could be taken care of by them. I knew what he insinuated as it was widely believed by the people that US was planning to steal our bombs.
“Why would any country even dream of stealing our Atom Bombs?” I asked.
“We certainly would come to that but right now you should know that the attempts to get hold of the nukes wouldn’t be made in order to protect or entertain India” he answered briefly.
According to him in addition to five recognized nuclear powers, India, Pakistan and Israel also had joined the club so far, making it an interesting development. One could easily state that all major religions had gotten access to the Atom bomb, so in any future war between the religions couldn’t be a matter to smile at. The Christian, the Jewish, the Atheist, the Hindu or the Buddhist nukes were nothing to worry about but a Muslim Atom Bomb threatened the world and its peace, was a conceived truth by the world. He laughed at the assertion but looked relaxed and content as long as he too had an access to the nukes. The world and its worries didn’t touch his heart as he remained convinced that the world was biased, discriminating and all devoid of wisdom. The same world that had hated so furiously the imaginative weapons of mass destruction in the hands of some crazy Iraqi dictator, so willingly bowed to the power of the US and its warmongers. They went all dumb and blind when the question of Israeli nukes was raised. It was completely wrong to accuse the west for having double morals, they were enjoying the multiple morals, so a term needed to be devised instead of the one that was available, they were the hypocrites of highest degree, the mystery man was not in a mood to spare the world.

[Mirza Ghalib]

How I share the disgust of your mystery man. And congratulate him on his perception of the link between the nuclear weapon and the various religions sharing the world. Purely for the sake of accuracy, I'd like to point out that North Korea (Buddhist and Communist) is generally believed to have the N weapon as well:

"North Korea (officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) has been active in developing nuclear technology since the 1950s. Although the country currently has no operational power-generating nuclear reactor, efforts at developing its nuclear power sector continue. Moreover, North Korea is widely believed to have developed nuclear weapons; it conducted what are widely accepted to have been nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013."