After covering a distance of some 3500 kilometres through the length and breadth of the country, a 'flag march' organised by the youth wing of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League reached Chaghai, the site of the Pakistani nuclear tests, on 16 December. The aim of the march was to get the nation to carry on celebrating what the government terms as its greatest achievement, although for all practical purposes the party has long been over.
For the last few months, the discourse has resolutely shifted to the ruthless world of economic realities. Even the Urdu press, known for its rancorous sloganeering over non-issues, has been writing endlessly about the imminent economic collapse. Interestingly, the only one who is not talking about money matters is Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the very man who won an unprecedented electoral victory in 1997 on an economic agenda which promised to turn the country into another Asian tiger.
This gloomy atmosphere is a far cry from the euphoric days that followed the tests in mid-1998. The government initiated a campaign of celebrations to mark Pakistan's becoming the seventh declared nuclear weapon state and claimed that Pakistan now belonged to a different club altogether.
Euphoria suddenly changed to rage with the US missile strike on Afghanistan and Sudan in August. People were once again on the streets. This time accusing the government of conniving with the US against the mujahideen in Afghanistan because the missiles had passed through Pakistani airspace and also because an American general was having dinner with Pakistan's army chief when the missiles were flying over Pakistan. Religious parties, which had been in the forefront of the nuclear celebrations, bombarded Sharif with death threats and fatwas.