In case we forget, August 6 this year is the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima in which more than 140,000 people died in a blink of an eye. And 3 days later, on August 9 a second nuclear bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Six days later, Japan surrendered, thus ending World War 2.
Hiroshima remembered this event in a ceremony marking the 64th anniversary of the bombing. At precisely 8:15 a.m on August 6, the time when the atomic bomb exploded, there was a minute’s silence.
Japan became the first country in the world to suffer a nuclear attack. Thankfully, since then no other country has suffered a similar attack. That is not to say that there are no dangers of a nuclear war in the future. Indeed since the end of World War 2, more countries have joined the nuclear club. The latest is North Korea, but before that India and Pakistan also joined the nuclear club. And there is always the fear that some terrorist organizations may get their hands on nuclear bombs.
But Japan has stuck to its 3 non-nuclear pledges – not possessing, not producing and not allowing nuclear weapons. Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba delivered a peace declaration at the ceremony marking the 64th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, saying: “The year 2020 is important as we want to enter a world without nuclear weapons with as many hibakusha as possible. We call on the world to join forces with us to eliminate all nuclear weapons by 2020.”
Think about it. Can there really be a nuclear free world? Would the existing nuclear powers be prepared to destroy its nuclear arsenals? Would the nuclear aspiring nations stop trying to join the nuclear club? Would terrorist organizations be prepared to give up this weapon of mass destruction?
What is the possibility of a nuclear free world? Or is a nuclear war a more likely scenario? At the North Garden of the United Natons Headquarters there is a bronze sculpture entitled “Let Us Beat Our Swords into Ploughshares”. This was a gift by a nuclear power – the Government of the USSR – given on December 4, 1959. This sculpture symbolizes man’s desire to convert the weapons of mass destruction into tools to benefit mankind. Wouldn’t it be nice if there is someone who can bring world peace?
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