On this date, seventy-two years ago, the United States of America turned thousands of thinking, living, breathing human beings into ash. Millions more were to be the object of unspeakable horrors of after effects of the fallout that followed.

Almost all of us now know, at least the bare minimum of what the nuclear attack on Hiroshima and later Nagasaki meant for the people and the land. But it is seen only as an article with historic importance which has no more relevance to our lives today than, say, the French Revolution. For the people of this nation, which stood on the brink of a nuclear “war” (there are no nuclear wars, only nuclear annihilations) with Pakistan in 1990, this perception could not be any more further from the truth. The situation in 1990 was objectively more critical than the Cuban Missile Crisis. We still live under the shadow of what happened on the morning of 6th August 1945 in Hiroshima.

The movie below depicts the plausible scenario of a nuclear exchange between NATO forces and USSR in 1980’s from the point of view of a young couple living in Sussex, England. The level of response by authorities in England in 1980s is in some measures comparable with what India’s would be today. But in many other respects India is far worse prepared for a nuclear exchange or even a nuclear accident. In India the medical response will be far worse, the food distribution almost nil and radioactive water more abundant.

I do not wish to recall the facts of what happened on that shameful day in Hiroshima here. I rather want to bring the readers attention to the unspeakable human suffering, and catastrophic effect on the planet that sustains us, caused by nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons should not be seen as means of security, but rather as a sickness that infects this planet. This sickness will sooner or later catch us all. They violate all humanitarian laws and quash the prospect of peace in the world. Nuclear weapons must be abolished if we want to do justice to the victims of Hiroshima and to the future generations that will inhabit this planet.

For: Bhopal Peace and Eco-Justice Action Committee