DO WE NEED NUKE WARS?

(The award-winning docu-drama "Threads" screened recently by the Movement Against Nuclear Weapons - MANW - Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai, to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the tests at Pokhran, India, focussed on the dangers posed by a nuclear holocaust. The following is from a report by Savita Gautam, published in "The Hindu", Metroplus, dated 16-5-2002)The two-hour long docu-drama that was produced by BBC World Enterprise, won an award in 1984 for its powerful anti-nuke message. The story of a nuclear holocaust, "Threads" tells the tale of a young, pregnant girl who is a victim of a nuclear bombing of her small town in England.

The bombing leaves in its wake destruction and disease. People die of starvation and chemical poisoning. Diseases spread like wildfire. And there is no medical aid. Homes are razed down due to fires. The chemical dust takes months to settle, leaving little scope for agriculture. Babies are born deformed. And bodies rot for want of proper burials. It's Doom's Day, all right.

The fine thread that holds together different aspecsts of society can be destroyed with a single explosion. For what and at what cost? That's the question the film throws to the audience.

There has been much protest against nuclear weapons worldwide ever since the discovery of the bomb in 1930s. The Hiroshima-Nagasaki incident shook the world at that time but that seems to be a thing of the past.

The after-effects of the nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island in Pennyslgania and Chernobyl in Russia are still evident.

In fact, such accidents are believed to have led to a rise in the incidence of cancer and other incurable diseases.

But all that does not seem to deter nations, which are gearing up for a nuke war.

Is the common man aware of the repercussions of such a war? It is here that an organisation like the MANW plays its role.

An umbrella of about 33 people's groups and organisations such as the PUCL, the JNW and the ISANW, the MANW has for the past four years been working towards creating awareness by holding exhibitions and slide shows, trying to educate students, office-goers and even slum-dwellers.

In fact, it recetly spoke to the stone quarry workers in Trisulam on the issue.

Protest marches and anti-war slogans are still the order of the day. People are aware of the outcome of war. To what extent, is the question. Are the stark realities of war being spelt out? Only time will tell.