The recent furore over the success/failure of the Thermonuclear device tested at Pokhran (called Pokhran II) in 1998 throws open a huge debate on our nuclear capabilities & readiness.
On the one hand is a former DRDO nuclear scientist who claims that the device was a failure and did not give the desired yield. On the other hand, the entire Govt machinery, refuting these allegations.
The Govt’s dilemma is evident & it is running for cover. It had convened special press conferences only to claim that the test was a success & had also gone to the extent of personally attacking the scientist. The Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, the Director of BARC, our former president, the current & former National Security Advisor's & a slew of other Govt entities are supporting this case. And rightly so, because if these allegations are true, not only would it be a major embarrassment for India globally, it would also boost the morale of our hostile neighbours and raise questions on our strike capabilities. This would grossly undermine India’s superiority in the region.
But somehow, when I think about this case, my mind tends to believe that the old man is right. I have seen one of his interviews wherein he seems genuine & talks sense. He does not come across as a person seeking publicity. He is a concerned citizen who is bothered about the failure of the test & is expressing his concern to highlight it so that corrective steps be taken & future testing is done. The only question I have for the gentleman is- Why rake up the issue now, after 11 years? Why not back then?
As a Nation, we want to know the truth. The Govt should set up an independent committee to review the results of the test. If proven that it was a success, good for us. But if proven otherwise, we should firmly test again & as a reprimand to all the people who lied to the country, prosecute them.
"why not back then?" It is very very dificult for a "serving" government servant to make any public statements and his/her voice can be crushed by the govenment using various means. Not that the government cant do that now, but it is more difficult now. Also one reason why he raked up this issue now, is that earlier during the vajpayee government, they had no intenetion of signing the CTBT, the bush government never puhsed for this. Now the Obama lked democrat governmnet is pushing hard for india to sign CTBT. Maybe Mr.Santhanam being a true patriot who knows the whole truth didnt want the manmohan singh's governmment to sign the CTBT in haste.
ReplyDeleteAccording to various reports and articles I have read, it is very very difficult to design a perfectly 'deliverable' nuclear weapon with just 5 tests. Even the USA which has the best of supercomputers for simulations has conducted more than 900 tests!! So whether the pokhran test was sucessful or not, I find it difficult to believe that we have excellent nuclear weapon capability with 5 tests. More test will be required.
Also as a nation, do we really need to know the truth? For a country like india which has based most of its nuclear deterence philosophy on "maintaining a credible minimum nuclear deterent" where the numbers of nuclear weapons and their yeilds is kept a secret so as to confuse its adversaries, it would be dangerous to bring the skeletons out of the closet. So when we say, the nation needs to know the truth...the whole world will also come to know the truth invariably.