IF retired Gen Pervez Musharraf is unable to resist commenting on Pakistani politics and his time in office, politicians are unable to resist responding to Musharrafian provocations, large or small. On Wednesday, the Senate resounded with speeches denouncing the former military dictator after he spoke yet again, carelessly and glibly, in the media about the A.Q. Khan nuclear proliferation saga that became public on the general’s watch. The former army chief’s comments were neither wholly new nor surprising. The episode was deeply humiliating for the country and personally embarrassing for Mr Musharraf, who had cast himself then as a strongman in total control and alone in a position to put the country on the path of progress and good global standing. Unhappily, greater considerations of the national good continue to escape Mr Musharraf, who speaks in an off-the-cuff manner about issues that could have unpleasant ramifications for the country he once led.

Certainly, a more open and frank national conversation on a dark chapter in the country’s history is needed. In one sense, the state’s claims that it has tightened the safety and security of the nuclear complex to world-class standards that make accidents or deliberate mischief unlikely in the extreme is borne out by the fact that there have been no publicly known incidents of attempted proliferation since the network was dismantled. Surely, given the hostility and suspicion with which the Pakistani nuclear programme is viewed by much of the outside world, if there had been a breakdown in safety and security measures it would have been used to heap further pressure on Pakistan. But the senators’ fulminations on Wednesday point to an uncomfortable reality: the political class is unwilling and unable to seek greater input on nuclear matters; at most, the issue is used as a means to politically attack perceived opponents. Nuclear safety and security are matters of national security and should be treated as such, but that should not preclude civilian input.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2017