May 25, 1998

The target is not Pakistan or China. It is the soul of India.

Swapan Dasgupta

For at least 72 hours after the Buddha laughed uproariously, the foreign television networks scoured Delhi in search of demonstrations against the Pokhran tests. They returned disappointed. Far from taking to the streets in outrage, public opinion in India -- the communists and pink papers apart -- has rallied resoundingly behind a Government that had the gumption to gatecrash its way into the nuclear club. The Man from Matunga may not know a great deal about strategic doctrines and test-ban treaties. Even national security is a slightly abstract concern, though there is gut-level certitude over the potential threats to India. To him, the N-tests were potent symbols of national achievement and national resurgence. The Swadeshi "Bomb" -- on the cutting edge of technology -- has become a euphemism for nationalism, for character-building. Attributes that will be strengthened if the West persists with its ridicule-India mission.

There is something paradoxical about India that foreigners find inexplicable. On the one hand, the country is beset with monumental problems that apparently defy solutions. Judged by conventional social development indices, India is a disaster zone. In normal circumstances, material deprivation and the accompanying degradation of human life distorts the collective mentality. In India, it has certainly nurtured fatalism, a benign acceptance of mediocrity and an exaggerated commitment to hierarchy -- acknowledged obstacles to a vibrant, entrepreneurial culture. The onrush of collective disabilities has, however, stopped short on two crucial counts. India has not lost its pride and self-respect. It has not become a West-funded, NGO-driven society. More important, Indians have tenaciously clung to the belief that India is destined for bigger things.

That is why there have been no street protests against the N-tests and that is why even the most dedicated proponents of a weak-kneed foreign policy have been forced to pay their grudging tributes to the scientists who made Pokhran '98 possible. Atal Bihari Vajpayee has released a flood of pent-up energy and generated a mood of heady triumphalism. He has kick-started India's revival of faith in itself. To the West, the five explosions are evidence of Hindu nationalism on a Viagra high. To Indians, it is conclusive evidence that we count, that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. The Pokhran tests are only tangentially about security. Their significance is emotional. The target is not China and Pakistan. It is the soul of India.

Of course, it is an unorthodox way of rebuilding national pride. There is a danger that triumphalism may yield to cockiness, even machismo. Such arrogance is a sure recipe for a ferocious international backlash. But accommodating international concerns -- and not all the disquiet is based on moral iniquity and big-power high-handedness -- is only possible if the political leadership sees the testing times ahead as an opportunity. India is not at war but is definitely under siege. Breaking that encirclement will call for political firmness, diplomatic dexterity, economic austerity and national resolve. It will call for inspired governance.

The chattering class may hate its settled existence taking a knock. It may even find some of the euphoria accompanying the nuclear debate crass and xenophobic. This, however, is no time to break ranks. India is at a turning point. Given the right motivation, it may actually turn. The mood is euphoric. Not the time for aesthete contrarians to embrace treachery.

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