AHC: Gandhi's words are backed by nuclear weapons.

cpip

Gone Fishin'
For those of you who may not be aware, in the famous Civilization series of computer games, the first game included a glitch that the Indian Civilization, as led by Mohandas Gandhi, is a warmongering civilization that gleefully wields nuclear weaponry, due to a bug in the code.

The Challenge I lay before you, AlternateHistory.com, is to somehow, without the use of an ASB, reenact this in an ATL: an India with Gandhi alive and in some way leading the nation, and using a nuclear weapon in anger.

Obviously, for best results you'll need to keep Gandhi alive past 1948, have the Indian nuclear program develop weapons early enough for Gandhi to be alive for it (as opposed to 1974; Nehru was mentioning the prospect of an Indian bomb as early as 1946, though), and then have them use it on someone (Pakistan seems the most obvious possibility, but there's always an earlier conflict with China...).

Have at!
 
That's going to be tough.
He was already 78 when he was shot, and just how much longer could he a) survive, and b) be functional.
Note that the USSR didn't get theirs until 1949, the Brits until '52, the French until '60.
These are all major powers, relatively rich, with large educated workforces, universities, and large amounts of industry.
The first power NOT in that category was China in '64.
Now. If India had decided to go all out for nuclear power and Bombs, I imagine they could have matched China's date (although a dictatorial régime has a lot easier time diverting massive amounts of money into black programs than a democracy does).

You've also got the problem that the uranium deposits at Jaduguda mine, India's first, weren't discovered until '51, iOTL. Ah. OK, but they WERE found by an active programme of exploration as soon as India became independent in '48.

Also, Gandhi was a pacifist. I doubt he would go strongly for military weapons, especially nukes.

So...

Scenario.
Gandhi is shot in '48, as OTL, except that security (or a bystander) interrupts the assassin and Gandhi is merely wounded, not killed. Thus Nehru takes over government (as OTL), and Gandhi is sidelined from decision making. It takes him (say) 2 years to recover from those wounds, and by then it's been made clear that the Nehru clique has no place for him in terms of actual decision making rôles = but encourages him to be a peacemaking hyper ambassador, and elected President (a fairly powerless position in India, iirc). Or possibly he becomes Secretary General of the UN for a few terms. Gandhi makes trips to Pakistan and China to reduce tensions. Anyway, by the time that the Indian Bomb is ready in 1964, after a horrendously rushed and prioritized weapons program, Gandhi is (still) President at age 95. By now, he's not as competent as he used to be, and relies heavily on aides to help him get around, and prepare his speeches.

China, realizing that India's about to get the Bomb, and wanting to make border adjustments, declares war on India - so that they can force those changes before India also has nuclear weapons. (This is the '62 war, essentially, but postponed two years, due to Gandhi's peacemaking efforts AND by China wanting to use their bomb as a threat.

The government, wanting Gandhi to make statements in favour of the war, feeds him (through those aides mentioned above) disinformation about the Chinese goals and tactics. Infuriated at what he believes to be a fight for India's very existence, and being presented with evidence of (non-existent) Chines atrocities, Gandhi agrees to be the front man for war announcements. Normally, you'd expect the PM, as head of government, to make those statements, but Gandhi as President has way too much international prestige not to use him.

Unfortunately for China, the Indian programme moved faster than was publicly indicated, and so India detonates their first device, and Gandhi issues that threat.


===
All this is wildly improbable, but might, just might, be workable.

What do you think?

(edited)
 
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I think it could happen earlier if there's a sharp Mao-Stalin break in the mid-40s, so much so that they continue to recognize Taiwan as the legitimate China.

Obviously the last thing the Soviets want is hordes of Chinese troops flooding into Siberia, so he builds an anti-China containment ring, with the Soviets arming the pro-Soviet and anti-West Indians with nuclear weapons shortly after creating them to surround and contain China. In exchange, of course, are Soviet chains but he sees China as an even greater threat than the US.

Ghandi lives, but his personality is altered due to hitting his head when he fell. He's a bit erratic and also more focused on the existential threat of China and Pakistan.

Use is during a massive border war with either country out of desperation.
 
Gandhi gets shot in the head in such a way that he becomes a totally different person.

That's a start.
 

Delta Force

Banned
There were actually quite a few proposals that called for assisting India in developing nuclear weapons prior to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
 
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