INDIA: Hiroshima Day is observed on August 6 to commemorate the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan in 1945, at the end of World War II. An estimated 80,000 people died instantly in the blast, while the effects of radiation killed tens of thousands more in the months and years that followed.
Hiroshima Day, being observed at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan draws attention to the consequences of nuclear wars, pays respect to those who have been killed, discourages the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and promotes world peace.
A new arms race is on the rise, UN chief Antonio Guterres said in Hiroshima on Saturday, as the world remembers the horrors of the first atomic bomb attack on the 77th anniversary. “Tens of thousands of people were killed in the blink of an eye in this city. Women, children and men were burned in a hellish fire,” he said in the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
“Nuclear weapons are nonsense. Three-quarters of a century later, we must ask what we learned from the mushroom cloud that rose over this city in 1945,” the UN chief emphasized. He also mentioned the Ukrainian war that started on February 24.
“Crises with serious nuclear undertones are spreading rapidly – from the Middle East to the Korean peninsula, to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Humanity is playing with a loaded gun,” he warned.
The world has been on edge since the Ukrainian war star over fears of Russian President Vladimir Putin resorting to using nuclear weapons. The war is in its seventh month, yet there are no signs of a truce.
Taking a Look at The History of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Japan launched several attacks against the United States and British forces to control the European and American colonies in Southeast Asia and their resources. On December 7 and 8, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and British-occupied Hong Kong, causing numerous casualties and extensive damage to the US and UK fleets.
Retaliating to this, the United States secretly developed atomic bomb technology as part of the Manhattan Project, which was led by nuclear physicist Robert Oppenheimer. Eventually, the atomic bombs nicknamed “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945. Japan surrendered, ending World War II.
About 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 people in Nagasaki perished by the end of 1945. Thousands of children were later born with birth defects, while radiation-induced cancers killed even more people.
