BBC Radio 4 2016-07-20

Good morning. On Monday night prime minister, Theresa May answered: Yes, she would be willing to authorise a nuclear strike that could kill 100,000 civilians. That, she explained, is how nuclear deterrence works.

It made me wonder: under what, if any, circumstances would I be willing to press the Armageddon button. Hinduism usually advocates unity and avoiding aggression. And non-violent protest is considered the best means for ordinary people to enact social change. But, the role and qualities of a state leader are distinct. The Bhagavad-gita, describes them as: heroism, power, resourcefulness and courage in battle. Courage, of course, may also be shown by avoiding combat. And, elsewhere in the Gita, Arjuna says: why should we, knowing the evils of armed conflict, behave like those arrayed against us? It’s a perennial dilemma. In Arjuna’s case, despite his reservations, he did choose to fight.

But, nuclear capability is different from conventional warfare. It’s not designed to stop a live attack – it’s retaliation. And, it involves killing, not an army, but innocent civilians. It needs, therefore, to be justified morally by its effectiveness to reduce the chance of an attack in the first place.

There’s a Hindu fable about a cobra who underwent enlightenment and become a pacifist. When, the local people realised that this dangerous snake had gone soft, they fearlessly pelted him with stones.

The poor cobra asked his guru what he should do. And the guru replied: “Raise your hoods and hiss. If people think that, despite your spiritual devotion, you might strike if provoked sufficiently, they’ll leave you alone.”

However, the policy of deterrence assumes that those with a nuclear arsenal care for their dependents. That’s why it may be of little help against terrorist organisations; or even despotic state leaders unconcerned for collateral damage to their citizens.

There seems a contradiction that the policy of deterrence requires other nations to feel responsibility for the very people we’re threatening to destroy as a retaliatory measure; even if, at that point, it made no difference to our own survival. This week, our politicians determined that nuclear deterrence is a necessary precaution for our security. To help us move forward, Hinduism would add that we balance the lethal threat implied within this deterrence with an increased demonstration through foreign policy that we value the lives and support the security of all nations equally with our own.

Yesterday was Guru Purnima – the day many Hindus celebrate the role of their spiritual teachers. It commemorates the birthday of Vyas – the compiler of the Vedic texts.
5000 years ago, he wrote: The people in general should sleep like children on the laps of their government knowing that their leaders will never violate that trust or fail in their protection