The Islamic Bomb

Friday, December 26, 2003
By: Tashbih Sayyed

Pakistan's admission that her scientists may have spread the nuclear technology to Iran, has rekindled the fears that nuclear technology in the hands of an unstable state will remain a threat to the world peace. The serious observers are reluctant to accept that the government of Pakistan has not authorized or initiated any transfers of sensitive nuclear technology or information to other countries. There have been strong indications that Islamabad has sold nuclear secrets to some countries including Iran and North Korea over the years. And the latest development has only reinforced the suspicions.
The fact that the admission was not a voluntary act but a result of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency's inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities that showed conclusively that "Pakistani-linked individuals" had acted as "intermediaries and black marketeers," makes the situation more scary. Experts point out that Tehran's acknowledgment that it had used centrifuge designs that appeared identical to ones used in Islamabad's quest for the Islamic bomb did not leave any room for Pakistan but to admit.

Even Bush administration's statement that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf had assured Washington that his government had not—at least "in the present time"—provided any nuclear secrets to countries like Iran and North Korea did not help in alleviating the anxiety of the international community. The experience of the international community with Pakistan has taught it to be cautious before accepting any assurances. The world still remembers that Pakistani plane was caught picking up North Korean missile parts thought to be part of a swap for Pakistani nuclear technology, long after General Musharraf told the world that he stopped such sales after coming into power.

Experts insist that unless Pakistan allows international agencies to install some kind of monitoring devices in its nuclear facilities to make the whole process really transparent, there is no guarantee that radical Islamists vying for power in the Islamic state will not share the secrets with their counterparts in other Muslim countries. In my opinion even if General Musharraf is sincere in his pledge to fight against radical Islamists, he is only one man against a national ethos. And as there is no alternate leadership that shares his enlightened vision, it is only a matter of time before an improved and "wiser" version of Talibaan will seize control of the nuclear installations.

The latest attempt on the life of General Musharraf has highlighted the dangers of continuing dependence on an individual in a non-democratic setup. Pakistan is a very different kind of a Muslim country. No Muslim country in the world was founded in the name of Islam. Pakistan did. As such it claims to be the citadel of Islam. Its armed forces are the armies of Islam and it champions the cause of each and every Muslim. Religion is not just its raison d'être but the only guarantee of survival. A system that has failed to provide equal rights to all of its citizens can only depend on a religious totalitarianism. Religion is the only effective weapon in the hands of an oligarchy that does not respect the will of the people to keep the centrifugal forces tamed. Pakistan's armed forces representing the ruling class believe that religion can make the minorities and smaller provinces forget the absence of social justice that keeps them in a perpetual state of poverty and helplessness.

Pakistan is not a natural country. It is composed of regions, sects, ethnic groups and linguistic factions who, in the absence of social justice, have never felt a part of the Pakistani nationhood. It is only the iron hand of the armed forces that has prevented them from seceding. Bangalis, taking advantage of their geography that placed them far away from the military and political center, did secede and established their own country, Bangladesh. This is a very volatile state. A country that is kept together by a fascist religiso-military ideology can never be a productive and positive player in the comity of nations. It will always try to seek alliances with totalitarian regimes.

Pakistan was created for the Muslims of South Asian subcontinent. It was supposed to be a secular Muslim state working for the benefit of its citizens irrespective of their religion, color, ethnicity or creed. But soon after its creation, Islamists who had opposed its creation, hijacked it and declared that the state was founded in the name of Islam and will work to defend and expand the frontiers the faith. The non-Muslims were reduced to the status of second class citizens and the armed forces of Pakistan were declared as the armies of Islam.

Radical Islamists do not believe in the true faith of Islam that preaches equality and social justice. They practice an ideology that believes in persecuting those who do not share their philosophy. The fundamentalists found a ready support in an oligarchy that lacked legitimacy. This oligarchy too was in need of a weapon to perpetuate its rule. They knew that the allegiance of all the citizens cannot be won without establishing a system of social justice, which they did not want. So they opted for a system that has always been the choice of the totalitarian minds. Religion was used to enslave different ethnic and linguistic groups in an artificial unity. Pakistan was declared an Islamic state.

Oligarchy's dependence on religion to sustain their rule forced them to depend more and more on radical Islamic groups. It presented itself as the champion of all Islamic causes. Every issue was now cast in a religious light and the world was either green or ungreen. Although this "Islam" failed to fool the minority groups, it did succeed in winning the support of fundamentalists and religious fanatics from all over the world. From Palestine to Paris, from Indonesia to Indiana and from Kashmir to Karbala, wherever there was religious terrorism, Pakistan found herself defending it. That's why when Pakistan decided to have a nuclear bomb of its own it touted it as an Islamic bomb.

In 70s when Pakistan's then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto launched his campaign to win funds for the nuclearization, he sold the idea to Libya, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Iran as an Islamic project. All these Muslim countries supported the project whole heartedly. Pakistan never faced any shortage of funds as far as her nuclear ambitions were concerned. And therefore it feels obliged to share the technology with other Muslim countries.

There has always been a tacit understanding that Pakistan's bomb will be used to regain the glory of Islam and defend the "rights" of the Muslims wherever they are persecuted by infidel powers. This was truly an Islamic bomb. On the one hand it strengthened the autocratic hands of the oligarchy and allowed Pakistan's armed forces to rehabilitate themselves after the humiliating defeat in 1971 and on the other hand it allowed Pakistan to gain a very profitable position within the Muslim world. It was felt that Pakistan's nuclear capability served as a morale booster for the entire Islamic world. Foreign Minister of Iran expressed his joy and pride and said that the nuclear test by Pakistan has strengthened the confidence of the Muslim world in the face of the nuclear threat from Israel.

Other Muslim nations were equally proud of Pakistan's achievement. "No more shall the West humiliate Muslims," thundered the Imam of Al-Aqsa mosque who saw in the explosion of the Pakistani bomb "the beginning of the resurgence of Islamic power." Sheikh Ahmad Yasin, the leader of the Hamas thought that the Pakistan nuclear bomb was a shot in the arms of the Arabs who had failed to produce even a single tank. The Saudi King Fahd and the Crown Prince Abdullah also expressed their satisfaction over Pakistani detonation of nuclear device and thereby strengthening the defense of the Islamic world. The UAE president too described the Pakistani nuclear response fully justified in the face of serious threats to its security. The Egyptian Mufti called upon the Muslims to rally support for the nuclear blast by Pakistan.

The detonations, which, according to Christian Science Monitor "transformed the global balance of power setting the pace for remaking the world order," were according to the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mian Nawaz Sharif were the results of an inspiration he derived from the holy book - Quraa'n. After conducting the nuclear tests, he proclaimed to the nation on May 28 that in resolving the dilemma "to explode or not to explode" he ultimately turned to the Holy Quran (Muslim holy book) for guidance and he came upon the divine commandment "always to keep your horses ready."

The relevant verse of the Holy Quran is as follows:
" Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, (steed of war will mean the latest war technologies in the present context) to strike terror into (the heart of) the enemies of Allah and your enemies and others beside whom you do not known but Allah doeth know, whatever ye shall spend in the cause of Allah shall be repaid unto you and ye shall not be treated unjustly" (VIII: 60)

Islamists quote another verse of Quraa'n, to define the faithful and the enemies of Allah, "Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah and those who reject Faith (Kafroon) fight in the cause of Evil (Taghoot). The concept of Ummah under which all Muslims are like the parts of one body, does make it an obligation for every Muslim to fight in defense of other Muslims. That's why the Muslims in Indonesia feel their responsibility to come to the defense of Palestinians. And that's why it is not a surprise if the ISI and the radical Islamists in the Pakistan armed forces and other sensitive establishments do not feel it inappropriate to help Iran, Libya or Saudi Arabia to attain the nuclear power or other weapons of mass destruction. A prominent political analyst in Pakistan wrote, ". . . the Ummah as a whole must keep itself ready with the state-of-the-art weapons and the latest war technologies and never to relent. And whatever spent on it would be recompensed by Allah."

Islamists want Muslims to conclude from the verses of the Holy Quran that the nuclear capability acquired by Pakistan should not be deployed only for the defense of Pakistan but also for the defense of the entire Islamic world. It should be used against the Judeo-Christian powers to re-establish the Khilafah. Muslim street is made to understand that the world of Islam has common enemies and they have common ideological frontier to defend. Therefore it will always be justified for Pakistan to share its nuclear secrets with the those who are willing to fight the Judeo-Christian powers.

The fall of Saddam Hussein and the establishment of a democratic and true Muslim government in Iraq will change all this. The radical Islamism will have a hard time to find governments ready to share their technologies with them to defeat freedoms.