When Imran Khan talks about the horrors of a nuclear war, my mind instantly goves back to the introduction William J Shirer wrote for his famous book “The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich” He ended this introduction with these lines: “This will be the last real war in the history of mankind in which millions and millions perished on both sides. The next war if fought will be initiated by madmen pushing buttons that would set off a cycle of destruction in which there will be no victors and no vanquished, and that will leave the planet earth with human limbs littered all around and the environment filled with deadly smoke and heat.”
Subsequently wars were fought but never between two nuclear powers. Today two of the world’s known nuclear nations stand facing each other in a mood that is pregnant with deadly possibilities.
If the words of the Quaid that “Kashmir is Pakistan’s lifeline” have any meanings, India’s constitutional annexation of Kashmir is nothing but an act of war. This act of war is supplemented with nearly a month-long curfew in Kashmir during which atrocities that can make even the stone-hearted shudder, have been committed. Pakistan till now has responded only with words and some symbolic moves in the realm of diplomacy.
There is a deadlock. A stalemate.
And it is here that the three-letter word MAD comes into mind. It is actually an abbreviation of Mutually Assured Destruction Will Modi exercise this option if Pakistan decides to confront him with this ultimatum: WITHDRAW OR FACE WAR.
MY BET IS THAT AFTER SOME BRINKMANSHIP HE WILL SAY NO TO MAD.
And if there is a conventional war the losing side is likely to go for Samson’s option, which leads to Mutually Assured Destruction.
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