Shaping Peace Together with Sudhakar Solomonraj (Report)

Shaping Peace Together 

with Sudhakar Solomonraj

Peace Day idea goes back to 1995, in commemoration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1945 nuclear bombings.

Session: Shaping Peace Together 

Speaker: Sudhakar Solomonraj

Date:  6th August  2021  (76 years since the nuclear attack: Hiroshima Bomb)

Time: 5:00 to 6:30pm IST

Moderator: Atharva Kanthi 

The PSA observed 6th August as  Peace Day by hosting a session with Sudhakar Solomonraj a professor at Wilson College, Nature Educator & Conservationist. He represented Western Region as part of the Indian team at the Silver Jubilee celebrations of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) International at Asissi, Italy. He has been associated with the Silent Valley Movement and the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Sanctuary Asia awarded him the ‘Green Teacher’ award in 2010 and he is the author of the book ‘Living Nature'.

As per Mr.Sudhakar, "The world has enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world for 35 times. Russia began the world's biggest nuclear weapons. The NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) 1967 represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States. 172 countries signed the non-proliferation treaty, including the then five nuclear-weapon States. India didn't sign the non-proliferation treaty. Because the blatant unfairness was against India's interests.”

India first tested a nuclear explosive device in 1974. That test spurred Pakistan to ramp up work on its secret nuclear weapons program. India and Pakistan both developed nuclear weapons in 1978. India and Pakistan both publicly demonstrated their nuclear weapon capabilities with a round of tit-for-tat nuclear tests in May 1998. 

About the 1960s both the USA and USSR developed multiple ballistic missiles. Almost all of the longer-range ballistic missiles, and several types of land-attack cruise missiles, carry nuclear warheads. India dearth multiple ballistic missiles. India's ballistic missiles are of short and medium range. Nuclear missiles are weapons of mass destruction. Even North Korea has ballistic missiles that target the western pacific, Japan, and America. From 1945 till now the problem has increased.

Is the use of nuclear weapons a crime against humanity?

There will always be moral and ethical debates about the use of nuclear weapons. It causes the genocide of a large number of people. Hiroshima is a reminder of what goes wrong with the use of nuclear weapons 76  years ago. In the years 1941 and 1942 Germany bombed London, United Kingdom. In 2005, the survey on weapon systems US and China had 30 - 32 %, India and France have 58 %. 

In World War II, the three great Allied powers—Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union—formed a Grand Alliance was their key to victory. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty(CTBT) is a multilateral treaty that bans all nuclear tests, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments.  The USA claimed that nuclear weapons are not explosive but are devices. 

According to the speaker, "to shape real peace we must have an understanding of real politics. We have built bias against others in our consciousness which is one of the main reasons for hatred against other countries. Peace is not abstract.”

We all can contribute to the creation of Peace in an underdeveloped country. "

Geriatric Peace Theory says at one stage, the country's population will be too old to fight a war. Geriatric Peace theory is constantly multi-dimensional.

“To ensure peace in the world we must establish the ideology of -vasudhaiva kutumbakam- the world is one family.” 

Start to connect with people to convey peace throughout the world. Understanding others and respecting others is also an important part of Peace.

Reported draft by Yamunadevi Gupta, SYBA Interim committee.