Violence is the Language of Insanity!

In case of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, there can be only one winner; death and destruction!

It all seems very exciting on the big screen; the explosion, the sound effects, the magnanimity of impact, Booooom!!!!!!!!!! the bomb goes and you get an adrenaline high as there is an outburst of colours, fumes and fire.

That is how a bomb blast is captured in a movie and yes, that is how violence is glamorized and sold, and even unconsciously, encouraged perhaps, nothing to matter more than winning and conquering.

Multiply this with the impact a nuclear bomb can cause and the figures will astound you. Yet the recent tension between India and Pakistan has once again raised the topic of nuclear weapons as a means to threaten and establish dominance of one country over the other. While it may appear to some naive people to be a very courageous or patriotic stance by either party, it is quite the contrary an emotional call, neither wise nor sensible.

In case of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, there can be only one winner; death and destruction.According to estimates, such a war would result in so much smoke that global temperatures would fall below those of the last Ice Age, One “average” nuke dropped on a major city would vaporize everything within 1.6 km, and kill 12 lakh people in the first 24 hours, with significantly more deaths from radiation exposure and injuries in the following weeks. Why is it that such facts are not taken into considerations before making such statements, or are they conveniently overlooked to play with the sentiments of the naive public, fooling them into falling for their 'brave' leaders?

Who doesn't know what a bomb blast does to a person, a family, a nation? Unfortunately, we have accounts, witnesses and victims of even an atomic bomb, whose mere photographs are enough to give us the shivers. 

The atomic bombing on Hiroshima directly killed an estimated 70,000 people which, due to injuries and radiation, reached to 90,000-166,000 by the end of the year. In the words of one survivor,' There were people crying out for help, calling after members of their family. I saw a schoolgirl with her eye hanging out of its socket. People looked like ghosts, bleeding and trying to walk before collapsing. Some had lost limbs.'

''There were charred bodies everywhere, including in the river. I looked down and saw a man clutching a hole in his stomach, trying to stop his organs from spilling out. The smell of burning flesh was overpowering.”

Yet, despite these frightful accounts, we so conveniently discuss the possibility of a nuclear attack on another country, maybe because it appears to be the 'easy-way' out instead of acting like grownups, who can talk, negotiate, be fair and resolve their differences through discussion.

In order to highlight the graveness of the present tension between India and Pakistan and to bring a human element to all this atmosphere of hate and accusations, last week, over a hundred and fifty activists in India and Pakistan took part in a photo campaign to call on world leaders to never use nuclear weapons. From New Delhi to Islamabad, Bangalore to Karachi, Amritsar to Lahore, Global Zero volunteers took photos saying “Don’t Nuke Us, PM Sharif and Don’t Nuke Us, PM Modi” with the hashtag #NoRedButton. 

The objective of such a campaign is not only to promote peace, but to attempt to build regional solidarity in the face of war, working to eliminate nuclear weapons forever. As long as we live in an undemocratic system that gives one person absolute control over mass destruction, we can never be safe.We must demand our leaders say 'No to the Red Button' for the world is a safer place without nuclear weapons, not with them.

As I worked on this piece about nuclear weapons, I frightfully realized that there aren't many images left anymore that would shake our souls and brim our eyes with tears, for we have seen too much destruction, pain, death and turmoil in the last few years! It is extremely disturbing and shocking. The photo of a small child covered in blood and crying, alone, helplessly doesnt do much to generate an action, a movement, a call out; you can easily swipe it away to the next image!

How can the image be gripping and engaging enough for viewers to be moved to the core!!!

Pain and agony doesnt grow less by increasing in magnitude, destruction everywhere does not make destruction acceptable!
Every bullet hurts, every life counts, every step matters!

At the end of the day, in our vision to look at the bigger picture, we should never consider overlooking the little details, for in the little details, lie the signs of life, the smile of a child, the joy of a mother, the fragrance of a flower!

source for the quote:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/31/japan-atomic-bomb-survivors-nuclear-weapons-hiroshima-70th-anniversary