DATE=5/14/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-232191
TITLE=PAK / NUCLEAR / PRESS / L-O
BYLINE=SARAH HORNER
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: PAKISTAN'S MEDIA HAS TAKEN A KEEN INTEREST IN NEIGHBORING
INDIA'S SERIES OF NUCLEAR TESTS. AS SARAH HORNER REPORTS, THERE
IS MOUNTING PUBLIC PRESSURE ON THE GOVERNMENT TO CONDUCT ITS OWN
TEST.
TEXT: ONE LEADING PAKISTANI NEWSPAPER -- "THE NEWS" -- HAS AN
ADVERTISEMENT ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THURSDAY'S EDITION INVITING
READERS TO PHONE IN THEIR VIEWS ON PAKISTAN CONDUCTING ITS OWN
NUCLEAR TEST.
REASONS GIVEN BY THE NEWS FOR VOTING FOR A TEST INCLUDE:
COMBATTING THE INCREASED THREAT TO PAKISTAN'S SECURITY; RAISING
THE MORALE OF PAKISTANI PEOPLE; AND OFFERING AN APPROPRIATE
RESPONSE TO INDIA.
REASONS GIVEN AGAINST TESTING INCLUDE: PAKISTAN'S SHATTERED
ECONOMY COULD CRASH IF SANCTIONS ARE IMPOSED AND AN
ECONOMICALLY-STRONG PAKISTAN COULD BETTER COMBAT INDIA. THE NEWS
ALSO SAYS PAKISTAN COULD OBTAIN DIPLOMATIC AND ECONOMIC
ADVANTAGES BY NOT TESTING -- INCLUDING THE WRITING OFF THE
COUNTRY'S MASSIVE FOREIGN DEBT.
JOURNALIST SYED TALAT HUSSAIN -- A WRITER ON THE "NATION"
NEWSPAPER AND A TALK SHOW HOST -- TOLD V-O-A ABOUT THE GENERAL
REACTION OF PAKISTAN'S MEDIA TO INDIA'S SERIES OF NUCLEAR TESTS.
// HUSSAIN ACTUALITY //
THE KEYNOTE OF THE REACTION REALLY IS WHAT INDIA HAS
DONE PAKISTAN HAD ALWAYS BEEN POINTING TOWARDS, AND THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY REFUSED TO LISTEN TO PAKISTAN'S
POINT OF VIEW. THE OTHER UNDERLYING THEME IS THAT IF
THERE IS A TIME TO GO NUCLEAR, THIS IS THE TIME TO DO
THAT.
// END ACTUALITY //
MR HUSSAIN SAYS POPULAR SENTIMENT AND THE MEDIA MAY INFLUENCE HOW
THE PAKISTAN GOVERNMENT REACTS.
// HUSSEIN ACTUALITY //
IT DOES HAVE A SUBSTANTIVE EFFECT IN SITUATIONS SUCH AS
THESE. NORMALLY, PERHAPS WHAT APPEARS IN THE COLUMNS OF
THE NEWSPAPERS MAY NOT HAVE THAT KIND OF INFLUENCE ON
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DOES OR SAYS. BUT, IN SITUATIONS
LIKE THIS, WHEN EMOTIONS ARE RUNNING HIGH... WHAT
APPEARS IN THE PRESS DOES BECOME A REFLECTION OF THE
POPULAR MOOD AND AT THAT SOME TIME ALSO BEGINS TO
REINFORCE THAT.
// END ACTUALITY //
// OPT // MR, HUSSEIN SAYS INDIA'S CONTINUED TESTS WEDNESDAY
HAVE INCREASED THE IMPACT IN PAKISTAN.
// OPTIONAL HUSSEIN ACTUALITY //
ONE, IT WILL ONLY REINFORCE THE SENTIMENT THAT HAS BEEN
REFLECTING IN THE NEWSPAPERS AS WELL AS IN THE
POLITICAL AND STRATEGIC COMMENTARIES THAT ONE HAS BEEN
HEARING ON RADIO AND TELEVISION. SECONDLY, IT WILL BE
USED AS FURTHER PROOF BY THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE WRITING
THESE ARTICLES AND HOLDING THESE OPINIONS THAT INDIA IS
JUST IN THAT STATE OF MIND WHERE IT IS NOT WILLING TO
LISTEN TO ANYBODY -- BE THAT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA, OR JAPAN. A THESIS CAN BE BUILT THAT
THIS IS THE TIME FOR PAKISTAN TO REALLY WATCH OUT WHAT
INDIA DOES AND ALSO DO WHATEVER IT CAN TO STRENGTHEN ITS
DEFENSES.
// END OPTIONAL ACTUALITY //
AFTER INDIA'S WEDNESDAY TESTS, PAKISTAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER TOLD
V-O-A INDIA HAD -- IN HIS WORDS -- GONE BERSERK.
SO FAR, PAKISTAN'S OFFICIAL RESPONSE HAS BEEN TO CONDEMN INDIA
AND SAY PAKISTAN RESERVES THE RIGHT TO PROTECT ITS OWN NATIONAL
AND SECURITY INTERESTS. (SIGNED)
NEB / SLH / WD / WD
14-May-98 5:33 AM EDT (0933 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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