What was not to have happened has happened. Now we have to think of the future. - Maulana Azad on Partition.

Exactly the same memories also fuel those of us who believe the opposite. The knowledge of what we have proved capable of in the past now inspires in us the deepest dread at the possession of the power to do even worse. We recall also that Partition exacerbated the very problems it was claimed to solve and, indeed, sapped the will of the people to fight them. In this we see a parallel to our current issue. Like Partition, nuclear weapons are supposed to solve the problem of peace. Like Partition, they are a surrendering of the hope that peace will arise from our common humanity. Like Partition, they embody the fantastic hope that to make a situation better you have to make it worse.

What was needed to avoid Partition, or the paranoia that led to it? There can be little doubt that this paranoia was artificially created. Therefore one can only conclude that the fight for the alternate vision of a common struggle for a better India was not fought with sufficient vigour or focus. It is futile, and even incorrect, to blame those who carried on this fight. They gave their all; and none since then have given more. The question now is - What are we to do? How shall we ensure a happier outcome?

Although the urge for nuclear weapons is itself a disease, it is even more a symptom of deeper lying diseases. It would be a mistake therefore to fight for nuclear disarmament in isolation.