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Indian politicians urge Vajpayee to show Clinton the door

The majority of Indian politicians, even the 'secularists' who cannot meet the Bharatiya Janata Party eye to eye, have supported Atal Bihari Vajpayee's decision to put on record India's nuclear prowess.

Many, like former defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and Janata Dal chief Sharad Yadav, feel that India should not sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

In Madras, Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress leader Vazhapadi Ramamurthy, a BJP ally, welcomed the nuclear tests. He said this proved that India was on the path of the developed countries.

"It was a great achievement by the scientists," he said.

Former prime minister V P Singh (who is in London), too, congratulated Vajpayee for the tests. He said the country should remain united at this hour.

From Gangtok, Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling was all praise for the prime minister's ''bold decision.''

Meanwhile, five religious scholars and social activists urged the Vajpayee government to do its best to reassure the people at home and abroad.

Maulana Wahiduddhin Khan, Swami Agnivesh, Dr Manohar Singh, Dr A K Merchant and Valson Thampu expressed concern that the test marked a wide departure from using nuclear energy for peaceful and developmental purposes. They said they felt very strongly that the nations that sit over enormous nuclear stockpiles had no moral right to impose sanctions on India.

"We value and respect international opinion. But we don't believe that a few nations can be the keepers of global conscience, simply because they happen to be mightier than others," they said, "It worries us that the likely geopolitical fallout of this event can be counterproductive. This could involve us in a costly and crippling arms race. It will be a pity if we are to become confused about our priorities. Surely, eradicating poverty, disease ignorance, exploitation, and unemployment has to be a greater priority than perfecting the technology for mass destruction.''

From Jalandhar, former Indian Youth Congress President Maninderjit Singh Bitta cautioned political parties against deriving mileage out of the tests.

Criticising the US and Japan for imposing economic sanctions, he said he would lead deputations to the missions of these countries in Delhi to lodge formal protests against their reaction.

In Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde said the economic sanctions would not have any serious impact on the country.

The country under Vajpayee's leadership, he said, was prepared to face any threat -- economic, political or military.

India has emerged as the sixth superpower in the world by conducting the nuclear tests which, Munde said, had boosted the country's prestige and enhanced the people's confidence in the BJP-led government.

UNI

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