Modi's statement on N-weapon button mindless, disturbing: CNDP

By A Representative

The Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) has said that it is with "shock and dismay" that one takes note of the Indian Prime Minister's "public nuclear sabre-rattling" on April 21, 2019 in Barmer in Rajasthan, when he "mindlessly and sarcastically" declared that India’s nuclear weapons were not for celebrating ‘Diwali’.
Signd by Anil Chaudhury, ND Jayprakash, Sukla Sen, Lalita Ramdas and Achin Vanaik, a CNDP statement said, "To speak so casually about the possible use of nuclear weapons and that too for the purposes of winning votes through arousal of hatred and by promoting an ugly, masculinist militarism, is deeply disturbing."
It added, "The very least that is demanded from nuclear armed governments is that their leaders should display some sense of responsibility and sobriety in what they say and do. That Prime Minister Modi has disregarded all this only goes to reinforce the view that South Asia is potentially the most dangerous place in the world."
Calling upon the Prime Minister to immediately stop fuelling and inciting reactions in such a manner, CNDP said, "This is not just a further debasement of our public political discourse but such cavalier boasts and threats may provoke a war of words leading to an unwanted and unwarranted escalation of inter-country tensions which in turn can set off a very dangerous dynamic."

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