Film examines dangers of nuclear action in South Asia

South Asia peace activist Zia Mian presented a documentary entitled "India and Pakistan Under the Nuclear Shadow" at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy last night. The 35-minute documentary, made through the Eqbal Ahmad Foundation, examines the aftermath of the May 1998 announcements that India and Pakistan had developed nuclear weapons.

The Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies sponsored the event to "educate people about what [conflict between the two countries] entails _ nuclear holocaust," Director Ayesha Jalal said. At this point, the worst in the history of relations between the two countries, the public must look beyond the "jingoism that has paraded as national pride," she said.

Mian collaborated with fellow physicist and peace activist Pervez Hoodbhoy in "an act of desperation," with the goal of educating the public on the dire consequences of nuclear conflict. The two activists were prompted to make the film after attempting to engage in peace dialogues with many people who did not have an adequate understanding of the consequences of nuclear action, Mian said.

Americans have a particular perspective on nuclear weapons, ingrained in popular culture by the Cold War, Mian said. "It's hard to be American and not know something about nuclear war." But South Asians have not been exposed to the concept of nuclear war in the same way, often never having seen images and having no way to assess its implications, he said.

Made in Pakistan, the film incorporates commentary from people on all sides of the issue. Senior military heads of both countries, leaders of Islamic religious organizations and militant groups, noted peace activists, academics, and journalists give their perspectives in the film.

The film chronicles the rise of the nuclear age, beginning with the creation of the atom bomb during World War II, through the Cold War, and up to the testing of weapons in India and Pakistan.

The documentary shows images of Indians and Pakistanis celebrating the production and testing of nuclear weapons, shouting, "Hail the scientists," and erecting monuments to the warheads. But Admiral Ramu Ramdas said the supposed advances have been economically and politically counterproductive for Pakistan. "It has not been at all helpful; if anything it has made things... worse," Ramdas tells viewers.

An estimated one out of three Pakistanis live below the poverty line, and the film warns that continued focus on arms spending could lead the already-suffering country to complete collapse, similar to that of the USSR at the hands of the Cold War. "The fallout of the nuclear testing is the main reason we are in the crisis we are in today," a senior Pakistani journalist said on camera.

The documentary was produced in Urdu as well as in English, and has been shown in Pakistan, India, Japan, across most of Europe, North America, and Canada.

Mian studies nuclear disarmament, a main theme in both the documentary and his discussion. He called the nuclear weapons industry in Pakistan a "cottage industry," saying that it has one of everything, rather than involving tens of thousands of weapons, people, and buildings. Because of this minimal infrastructure, it would not be terribly complicated to dismantle the armaments, he said during the question and answer period.

Pakistan could follow the lead of South Africa, which successfully dismantled its nuclear industry, Mian said. "The sooner we do that the better," before more arms and waste is produced and more money is spent, he said.

Mian addressed the current situation between the US and Iraq, commenting that the use of the blanket cause of fighting terrorism could lead to India's justification of an attack on Pakistan. US action against Iraq could prompt warfare in South Asia "in the same way that Israel took the US response to Afghanistan to act against Palestine," he said.

The documentary was well-received by its audience.

Fletcher School PhD candidate Maria Stephan "found the film to be powerful because it has the power to appeal to different groups at different levels." "It revealed the reality of the dangers," she said, showing military, scientific, economic, developmental, and political perspectives.

The documentary effectively showed how ludicrous the arms race is, Stephan said, and showed that "every social movement should have a film that can mobilize people" such as this one. Its depictions of worst-case nuclear scenarios and military mistakes "showed that this is just ridiculous," she said.

"Look how much money is being wasted, when so little is being spent on education, social services, poverty elimination," Stephan said. "From a strategic perspective alone, this film is a very powerful tool," she added.

Freshman Becky Swartz said she was intrigued by the documentary's depiction of the different perspective that South Asians have on nuclear armament issues. She has always learned about them in history classes in the US, where the context is very different, she said. Indian-born freshman Priyanka Boghani, a student in Jalal's History of South Asia course, said the issues Mian addressed have always been close to her heart.

Mian is involved in the quest for peace in both India and Pakistan. He works as a research assistant with the Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton University and lectures on public and international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School