Wednesday, June 17, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 7
Column
Recent nuclear testing sparks differing opinions
The day after Pakistan tested five nuclear devices last month, U.S. media headlines read "Pakistanis jubilant over nuclear testing" and "Pakistani parade in streets." These headlines implied that the Pakistani masses were senseless warmongers and puppets of the government.
Obviously that is not true. But in an impatient society where readers skim news stories, many Americans did not grasp the valid reasons behind these irrational-seeming nuclear tests. Once again, brief sound bytes of U.S. government reactions and potent images of fervent Pakistanis dominated the layman's opinion of this "international crisis."
I often rely on the U.S. media for
the analysis of international affairs. Thoughtlessly disregarding bias and political manipulation, I automatically assume that the U.S. stance is the correct one. In reality, we often apply double standards in our criticism of other nations.
In the midst of the nuclear hurrah, I received e-mails from friends in America that read "Have fun with your nukes" and asked "How does it feel to be in the country where the apocalypse will begin?" These were obviously jokes, but they revealed an average American college student's assumption that the Indian and Pakistani governments were playing with nuclear toys with the consent of their own people.
Contrary to popular belief, the
two countries were not randomly detonating nuclear weapons. This is where the void in thought between the average American and average Pakistani is apparent. Regardless of who is right, most Americans do not seem to understand the reasoning behind risking a nuclear arms race in South Asia.
There is little U.S. media coverage of Pakistani opinion, and what filters through gets overshadowed by the commentary of President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. We are not exposed to the motivation behind the iubilance in Pakistan.
Young and old Pakistanis alike agreed with the decision to test nuclear devices. But the consensus did not stem from a desire for regional unrest or the notion of nuclear prowess as a panacea for the country's problems. Instead, it was representative of a display of integrity and self-defense against India's security threats and historical U.S. imperialism.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's decision was not a blatant disregard of U.S. advice, but it was an inevitable reaction to serious political and military threats. Ultimately, Clinton experienced a hushed international humiliation because of diminishing U.S. influence.
A CNN analyst hit the nail on the head when stating that the United States was the first country to drop an atomic bomb and progressed beyond the need to test nuclear devices and asked the rest of the world to halt nuclear development.
It is amazing that millions of Pakistanis lack basic amenities yet are eager to buckle down in the face of economic sanctions, accepting the suspension of their rights under a state of emergency. That is loyalty
Pakistan
M. D. Bradshaw/KANSAN
and national pride.
So we again arrive at the basic question: Why is there such a gap between Western and Eastern thought? The most obvious answer seems to be the substantial difference in development and political and economic power. And when an outside group threatens that power, we tend to do things such as brand Pakistani nuclear power part of the "Islamic bomb." Yet nothing was said of a "Hindu bomb" after India's recent tests.
Pakistanis understand the grave implications of an Indonesian/Pakistani nuclear conflict and acted accordingly. But many Americans, bombarded with U.S. political reaction and headlines, believe the tests were rash and senseless. I might have assumed the same if I were in America during the testing. But I escaped the media hype by viewing firsthand the striking difference between Pakistani and American impressions. After all, what good is freedom of the press and freedom of thought if we don't raise questions.
Mustafa is a sophomore in pre-journalism.
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