CNDP Statement on Nuclear Advisory in Kashmir amid War Hysteria in India-Pakistan

The Jammu and Kashmir police have reportedly issued an advisory to common citizens on do's and don'ts in the event of a "nuclear" war. Apart from creating underground bunkers, the notice advises people to store perishables and duck behind surfaces in case of an explosion.

This is a sickening reminder of the pathology of the Cold War, when a nuclear exchange was considered worth fighting and even winnable. But we know that no civil defence is possible when it comes to nuclear weapons. Hence, the advisory is clearly misleading and frightening at the same time.

This also highlights the urgent need to begin a discussion on a nuclear weapons-free zone (NWFZ) in South Asia, an agenda that the CNDP has been advocating since its inception in 2000.

This vindicates our position that far from providing security, nuclear weapons have further endangered South Asia and any conventional skirmish has the potential to lapse into a nuclear escalation. The recent turn of events leading to an unfortunate diplomatic stand-off, military build-ups on both sides, and war hysteria in sections of the media, have actually arisen out of adventurism along the Line of Control. Militaries on both sides occasionally indulge in such adventurism and ratchet up tensions to hysterical levels.

We urge the governments and people on both sides to resume dialogue and end the current escalation of tensions at the earliest. We demand that the J&K police withdraw its misleading advisory on nuclear war.

Lalita Ramdas
Praful Bidwai
Abey George
P K Sundaram