Time was when India was the ‘enemy’, Kashmir was the issue. That time is long gone. Kashmir has been forced into the background; India is no longer an enemy; it is now simply a pawn in a much bigger game. The game itself is deadly; its players are deadly serious. Make no mistake about it; our situation is hugely alarming. We are the ‘single most dangerous’ nation, a ‘failed’ state with ‘rogue’ elements; we are a ‘direct threat to global security’ and the world is determined to remedy this situation. The entire world, ‘Friends of Pakistan’ included. Even as they court us, their minds are very clear. One way or the other, Pakistan and its nuclear arsenal has to be brought under rein. By hook or by crook, this has to happen. The hook has been tried more than once but has failed; the time has now come for the crook.

Yet we remain delusional. While we debate and discuss all that is wrong within our borders and outside them. We blindly ignore the big picture. We are so consumed by individual issues that we are unable to see the problem in its entirety. We fail to see the forest because of the trees. This we do despite the fact that the ‘forest’ is staring us in the face; it has been for well over a decade.

A third world country, especially a Muslim country, shall not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. It is not germane whether it is right or wrong, whether it is ethical or otherwise; this is the plan. It has been decided by those who call the shots. Pakistan is a third world country. It is also a Muslim state. And it has nuclear weapons. It matters not that Pakistan acquired a nuclear weapon capability to safeguard itself against a threat from a nuclear armed neighbor. It matters not that our fear of Indian hegemony is real. No nuclear weapons for the third world; no nuclear weapons for the Muslims, no nuclear weapons for Pakistan.

Pakistan’s nuclear capability shall be neutralized. It will happen. This is the fact, plain and simple; this is the forest; verdant and dense. It has been decided; indeed it was decided on or by 28th May 1998. That was the memorable day we rejoiced. From ZAB’s promise to eat grass but acquire the ‘bomb’ to Nawaz Sharif’s final order, (the import of which he had no idea and most probably still does not) ‘dhamaka kar dein’; from a handicapped military unable to fight a meaningful conventional war to our scientific community harnessing the might of the atom, from a host of carpetbaggers and middlemen reaping immense financial benefit to the poor peasants laboring in the fields pursuing an unattainable dream, the entire nation of Pakistan rejoiced. Sweets were distributed, the air resounded with hoarse cries of ‘Allah ho Akbar’, tears of joy flowed; normally stern and composed individuals hugged and backslapped each other.

We then went home, back to our dreary lives. Nothing changed. The nation continued eating grass. Military pundits waxed lyrical about our deterrence and, in the same breath, justified and acquired additional funds for conventional weaponry and the nation continued laboring along its self destructive path.

Their options were many; they ranged from direct military attack as was done in the case of Iraq (remember Osirak) to dialog as was the option exercised with South Africa. In between lay a complete assortment including coercion, blackmail, bribery, sabotage, etc. All were tried with varying degrees of success but the desired end could not be achieved. The Pakistani nuclear arsenal continued to grow; indeed the situation actually worsened as we made sure that the direct military attack option was precluded. We did so under the erroneous belief that a second strike capability would make us safer; our deterrence would be bolstered. The actual outcome was unfortunately quite the reverse. We forced the West to switch to another, more permanent and achievable option; that of destroying the state of Pakistan. If the bomb could not be taken away from Pakistan, Pakistan would be taken away from the bomb. States have been destroyed earlier, more than once; each time with dramatic success. Remember Yugoslavia; a European industrial power and a vibrant economy? Or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics? Fragmentation is easy once you set your mind to it. One needs only to find the fault lines and just tap the cracks gently. Fracture will happen. Provide a trigger, detonation will follow. Gullible, illiterate, ill informed and disenchanted masses led by self-serving, myopic leaders just need to be aroused. They will take it on from there.

This is where Pakistan is today. All the events taking place in and around our borders are sparks that are designed to ignite the fire that shall consume us. All aim to arouse the masses, destabilize the state, undermine it in the eyes of the world and endorse the sentiment that they must ‘tackle a rogue nation’. It is now being openly stated that Pakistan is a failed state and shall break apart within months and when that comes to pass, the required forces shall move in and take over our nuclear assets.

So what should Pakistan do? Shall we resign ourselves to this inevitability? Should we continue looking at the trees or should we recognize the forest and take action accordingly? Should the nation continue with its hackneyed fixes that don’t work or should it wake up and recover itself from this destructive process.

We can, even now, protect Pakistan and recover from the mess we are in. However, this can only be done if we think outside the box and come up with a boldly novel and imaginative solution.
There is such a solution. It is elegant; it is simple; it is extremely effective. Use the Bomb. Simple, elegant and effective. Let’s use our nuclear arsenal to put Pakistan back on track. After all, isn’t this why we developed these weapons? Isn’t it our plan that if the nation’s existence is at risk, we shall use the bomb? We acquired this technology to deter aggression and, if that deterrence failed, we would use these horrific weapons to teach the ‘enemy’ a lesson he would never forget even if it meant self destruction. We know that the region would turn into a nuclear wasteland. We recognize that the outcome would be mutually assured destruction. MAD. An appropriate acronym. A devastated Pakistan, a crippled enemy, a horrified world. And of course, no nuclear weapons remaining in Pakistan; indeed, no Pakistan either.

Deterrence has failed. The ‘enemy’ is at the gates; in certain areas it is actually inside the perimeter. The enemy is not the Taliban, it is not Al Qaida, it is not India, it is not the Baluch separatists, it is not the religious extremists, it is not those that foment trouble in our cities. The ‘enemy’ is the global desire that Pakistan not possess nuclear weapons. They want our bomb and they are coming to get it. Deterrence has failed and we therefore now need to go to the next step. We have to use the bomb otherwise soon, the bomb shall no longer be ours. Their plan is simple and worth repeating; if the bombs cannot be taken away from Pakistan, they shall take Pakistan away from the bombs. They have to ensure that these weapons of mass destruction are neutralized.

We can thwart this design. We can and must use our nuclear weapons to our national advantage but we must do so creatively, intelligently and responsibly. Done properly, Pakistan can come out of the present mess in a very positive manner. We can not only safeguard the Nation but also give it a major push towards economic well being and human development. Equally importantly, we can secure our rightful place in the comity of nations.

We must ‘expend’ our nuclear weapons but this has to be done creatively. Instead of lighting the fuse, we should do exactly the opposite. We voluntarily give up our ability to light the fuse. In this radically unconventional manner, we actually ‘use’ our nuclear assets. We consciously elect to terminate our nuclear weapons program in exchange for national security.

This is a horrible thought. It is pure anathema to each and every Pakistani. I know this and I understand it. I recognize that our nuclear weapons are our pride; they are our only consolation for the misery that confronts our unfortunate masses. We eat grass, we beg, we cringe, bow, scrape in front of the world community for handouts but we do so comfortable doing so because, at the back of our minds, we know that we are a nuclear power. Unfortunately the world does not see our nuclear assets through our prism. To them we are a third world nation, bankrupt in more ways than just financial. To the rest of the world, we are a ‘major headache’. And they are now going to fix the headache.

Many will violently object to this proposal. Those that croon delightedly about our nuclear assets and vehemently defend our right to possess them are a vocal lot. The sad truth is that they are also the ones that will be the first to depart for sunnier climes when the brown stuff hits the fan. Clutching their green cards, their permanent residence visas and dual nationality passports, these patriotic individuals that include politicians, bureaucrats, military men, businessmen and members of our ‘civil society’ shall promptly depart for their second homes leaving behind the millions who have lived their tedious lives in the belief that Pakistan is a proud, defiant, principled nuclear armed Muslim nation destined for greatness.

The masses that are left behind will suffer.

‘Dhamaka Kar Dein’. Not by blowing the bombs up but by trading them for a better future. Let us exchange our weapons of mass destruction for instruments of national development. Let us put together the best negotiating team we can and let us trade our nuclear weapons for maximum attainable benefits. Write off our national debt. Get electrical power generation plants. Dredge our canals; desilt our reservoirs, harness our monsoon deluges. Build dams, roads, schools, hospitals and other much needed infrastructure. Modernize our education system, our police, our laws, our jails and our inefficient courts. Upgrade our agriculture and our industry. Get us clean drinking water, wholesome food, adequate health care and speedy justice. Negotiate an equitable water treaty, establish trade corridors, obtain preferred nation status, gain access to global markets. The list is long. Topping it must of course be a demand for the implementation of numerous UN resolutions on issues that relate to Pakistan in particular and the Muslim world in general.

The West will jump at the chance. They are not fools; nor are they emotional juveniles. If the developed world can spend trillions of dollars to bring about economic safety it shall have absolutely no problem spending a fraction of that to ensure nuclear safety. More importantly, the West knows full well that this trade off shall not cost them anything in real terms. They know that loans do not get paid if the borrower state fractures. They know that all the development monies for providing power stations, dams, infrastructure, training; whatever; all those amounts shall all be spent largely in the West through western companies and would actually be a welcome fix for their sagging economies and rising unemployment. The West shall benefit, the common Pakistani will benefit, the world shall be a safer place.

The end game has already begun. Let us, for once, act sensibly. Let us think with our heads and not with our hearts. Remember ‘Strategic Defiance’? Let us not have another myopic policy of ‘Nuclear Defiance’. The time has come to use our nuclear weapons to our national advantage while we still have the chance. The window of opportunity for exercising this option is fast closing. Let us see the forest before darkness falls because recently the Western tune has changed alarmingly. Everyone is now saying that Pakistan’s nuclear assets are in safe hands. Hands that, until recently, were considered extremely unsafe. The hands haven’t changed. Or have they? If so, the window is already closed; darkness has already fallen.