The spiral of silence

The BJP’s version of "standing up to the West" is another kind of "resistance": a ideologically hollow one. By exploding the Hindu bomb it demands that the entire nation (at least the newspaper-reading/ TV-watching class) feel roused by patriotism. And in this Big Moment, if you question the very basis of "going nuclear", you must be anti-national.

When asked by an otherwise docile press if the tests were intended for thegreater glory of the BJP, Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra’s replied: "If you are not concerned with security you could say that." And from the manner in which the Indian media has reported and "analysed" the event and its fallout, it appears that we are all very concerned with "national security". But who constitute this nation? Certainly not the people who live near Pokharan, where the incidence of polio and eye disease has gone up after the 1974 blast. Vajpayee’s announcement of "relief" for those affected by the blasts got very little coverage. Why bother about such disturbing ideas when the nation is expected to celebrate, rejoice, gloat in its new-found power?

The nation also does not mean those people who do not even understand the very idea of nuclear power. Why, they do not understand power at all. They have only suffered from it for centuries.

Except for the middle class, the Pokharan tests mean nothing to Indians. And it is least surprising that the powerful middle and upper middle class havebeen silent. The only voice of protest came from a Dalit think-tank, who thought it an insult to Lord Buddha. The government has officially announced May 16 as celebration day. No one thinks it perverse. Though one did not expect anything great from TV channels, even newspapers did not bother to carry the oppositional point of view. There were pictures of people celebrating, Kushabhau Thakre being fed laddus. This thrust-from-above euphoria has been gleefully peddled by the media which, instead of analysing the fallout of nuclear capability, sang paeans to India’s new-found status. One clever way of not questioning the fundamental idea of nuclear violence was to ask instead: "What should India do now that…"

This silence, even subservience, is ominous. It is pathetic that even in elite educational centres like the Jawaharlal Nehru University there has been not even a token protest from Left-wing students. Even the seminar capital of India has been lackadaisical. But then, isn’t it ABVP raj theretoo?

Herbert Marcuse had reasoned in the sixties that in industrial societies, only the student class is capable of revolution. In this era, it is too much to expect anything like a revolution from this class too. Where does all this leave "us": the new, powerful nation that "we" are now? A BJP insider said: "Who are the Americans to tell us about our security concerns?" But when the Americans told us to reform our economy and "integrate", the BJP had no problems. Liberalisation brought forth at least some protest. But on the nuclear front, there has been only shameful silence.

Lastly, on the abuse of the Buddha. The Buddha had challenged the violence-prone Brahminical order. The Brahminical BJP has once again proved its penchant for violence. It is supposed to have the mandate to do so. But neither the press nor the State should give legitimacy to the idea that "the Buddha smiled again". For the Buddha would only mourn a nuclear nation.