Our top security guru, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and his brethren were predictably agitated at the very thought of some thousands of their fellow citizens challenging their strategic scenarios. In a Times of India interview on August 8, he said that we should have held demonstrations in Washington and Moscow to put pressure on those governments to get rid of their huge stockpiles of 10,000 nuclear weapons each. Unfortunately, most of us who participated in the Delhi rally don't have the money or the time to fly to foreign capitals. More pertinently, we do not believe that India's and Pakistan's additional contributions (however small) to the world's huge stock of nuclear bombs and missiles enhance South Asian or global security. Indians, Pakistanis can demonstrate against the nuclear follies of each of their own governments. That is the only way to work towards a safe world without nuclear weapons.
