‘Use money spent on nuclear weapons to remove poverty’

Over two lakh people died instantaneously and several more were injured and burned to different degrees,as per the testimonies by Hibakusha,survivors of the event.

The deadly effects of radiations can still be seen with offsprings of victims being born with various genetic defects.

Even after several international treaties,over 23,000 nuclear weapons are still present in the world. These are enough to cause extinction of mankind.

Nine countries already possess weapons of mass destruction and many more have the potential to acquire them at any given time.

India and Pakistan are supposed to have 100 and 70 nuclear warheads,respectively.

According to a hypothetical study,a nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan could kill 1.2 crore people in both countries and trigger a nuclear winter with serious impact on the flora and fauna.

Nowhere in the world does the medical profession have the capability to provide healthcare needs to people in such an eventuality and that too on such a large scale.

World military expenditures in 2008 were over Rs 20,000 crore per day with the US spending nearly half of the amount.

In contrast,the latest UNICEF report states that 30,000 children die of poverty and related causes everyday in the world.

South Asia is one of the most deprived regions of the world with very low human development indicators (HDI). We need to spend more on health and education to bring our population out of abject poverty but unfortunately due to ongoing external and internal tensions,we are the biggest buyer of arms to the benefit of lobbies that invest in arms trade and make profit over the death and misery of others.

A concerted effort on part of the governments and citizens of the world is needed to ameliorate the situation.

Mistrust among nations has to be removed.  Peace activists have to do research and work overtime. We do not have to get swayed by narrow nationalist and parochial slogans and a constant effort is needed to build strong public opinion through different means: lobbying with governments,encouraging and organising people-to-people exchange programmes between nations and laying stress on the need for resolution of conflicts through dialogue.

A nuclear weapon free world is the only answer because even if states decide not to use arms,its use by non-state actors or in the event of a natural and man-made calamity can lead to catastrophe.