Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Never Again

This date seventy five years ago - 6th August1945 - will ever remain

etched in the annals of human history.  It was on this date and month that the “Little Boy” and the “Fat Man”, two nuclear bombs were detonated on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6th and 9th August, 1945 respectively by the Americans, which ultimately led to the end of World War II.  As we commemorate the 75th Anniversary of this unprecedented human tragedy of the nuclear holocaust of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing, it is hearting to note that the lessons learnt from the disaster that the atom bomb can create on humanity, have helped the world leaders to see to it that this dastardly act will never ever be repeated and that whatever nuclear arsenals that nuclear weapon countries have, including India, will only continue to serve as a deterrent against nuclear adventurism.

This occasion reminds me of an exhibition ‘Hiroshima-Nagasaki Never Again’ which I coordinated and this exhibition was organised at the National Science Centre in 1998. To commemorate the golden jubilee of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the Mayor of the city of Hiroshima, with support from the Government of Japan, had decided to showcase an exhibition ‘Hiroshima-Nagasaki Never Again', in different countries and this exhibition came to India in 1998 after travelling to many other countries starting in August 1995. I had the honour to be the coordinator for this exhibition, while I was the curator at the National Science Centre, Delhi. The exhibition contained fifty six exhibitions panels and original artefacts from the bombing sites in Hiroshima, which depicted the horrors of a nuclear holocaust. The exhibition with rare photographs, original objects and antiquities, was expected to create an awareness on the dangers of nuclear weapons. An NGO from Delhi, Centre for Science and Industrial Policy Research, were the partners for the exhibition. I was responsible for communicating and collaborating with Hiroshima authorities to present this exhibition in National Science Centre, Delhi.  

I vividly remember one of the major problem that I faced during this exhibition, which I thought I must share. India was not a signatory to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. (CTBT and NPT) and therefore the Japanese were critical of our stand. One part of the exhibition, dealt with CTBT and NPT and the information contained in the section was critical,of Indians stand on NPT and CTBT and the panel portrayed as if India is against world peace and it also highlighted that it was unfair on the part of India not to be the signatories to CTBT and NPT and the information was also critical of the Government of India stand on this issue.  Coming from the background of Sainik School, Bijapur with that indomitable patriotic feeling embedded in the heart and mind, the fauji in me over came the Curator that I was and I decided to consult the DAE on the matter before permitting these panels to be displayed. The DAE too  thought that it will not be wise to display five of the panels and accordingly I prevailed over the Japanese team and the five panels which were critical of the stand of India on matters pertaining to NPT and CTBT were not included in the exhibition. 

The exhibition was inaugurated by the mayor of Hiroshima, Takashi Hiraoka, together with the mayor of Delhi, Shakuntata Arya, at the National Science Centre, Delhi in April 1998. The exhibition vividly portrayed the horrors of the atomic bomb, through panels which showed the devastation wrought by the two bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While most of the exhibition comprised familiar photographs of the mushroom cloud and the cities before and after that fateful day, it also included such objects as window glass, which had fused, coagulated pieces of mortar, pictures of clocks which had stopped to record the moment of horror, agonising photographs of survivors of the holocaust and detailed descriptions of the effect of radiation on the human body. Unfortunately during the press interaction the Mayor of Hiroshima mentioned about the panels which were not included in the exhibition. 

Next morning there was a shock waiting for us. There was an editorial coverage of this issue with the headline “National Science Centre Censors Hiroshima exhibition’. This editorial news of Hindustan Times, highest circulated news daily in Delhi  then, reached the corridors of power. The Ministry of Culture, under whom the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) functions, was then a department under Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD).  Hon’ble Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi ji was the Minister of HRD.  Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi had directed the then Secretary-Culture Shri R. V. Vaidyanatha Ayyar to enquire into the matter. Although in the history of NCSM, it was for the first time ever that any of the centres under NCSM was  mentioned in an editorial, yet the way we were portrayed as the ones who had censored the Japanese exhibition was not a pleasant experience.

 

Unfortunately, Shri P. K. Bhaumik, the then Director of National Science Centre, Delhi was on leave and the then Director General of NCSM (Mr. I. K Mukherjee) was not in headquarters in Kolkata and was on tour to North East Zone. The Ministry had tried to contact the Director General in Kolkata and in his absence and in the absence of Director of our centre they contacted the Administrative Officer of our centre and informed him that the Director of NSC Delhi must immediately meet the Director and JS Culture in the Ministry to clarify the matter and why we we had made the Japanese to remove five panels.

During those days a peculiar system existed in our centre.  In the absence of the Director the a Ministry always contacted the Administrative Officer and not the Curators.  Although, I was hierarchically No. 2, in our centre and also the curator for the exhibition, yet the Ministry preferred to call Mr. Bandyopadhyay, the then Administrative Officer for the clarification. Mr. Bandyopadhyay, unfortunately was an armchair Administrative Officer and was not knowing anything  about the exhibition and therefore, he had no way but to request me to accompany him to the Ministry.  We first went to the Office of the Under Secretary, who had called our AO, by then, the matter had already heated up and there was commotion and as soon as we reached, the Under Secretary’s office, he immediately took us to the Office of the then Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture.  One of the greatest insult/embarrassment awaited me in the Office of Joint Secretary.  There were three chairs in front of the Joint Secretary. The Director Culture occupied one chair, Under Secretary occupied second and the Under Secretary asked made the Administrative Officer, Mr. Bandyopadhyay to occupy the third chair and I was made to stand behind.  The then Joint Secretary started asking the Administrative Officer regarding the exhibition. She also informed our AO that the matter is very serious and has gone to the notice of Hon’ble Culture Minister and therefore, Secretary wanted a report on this matter urgently. Mr. Bandyopadhyay, was unable to address any of the questions of JS and he was repeatedly looking back towards me whenever he was asked a question by JS. Soon the Joint Secretary noticed this and asked him why is he looking back at me. Mr. Bandyopadhyay answered that I was the curator of the exhibition and that he is not in the know of this matter. She asked Mr. Bandyopadhyay to get up and I was offered that chair. I answered all her questions forthrightly and gave the reasons why we had not included five panels in the exhibition.  It appeared that she was partially convinced and she immediately called the Secretary-Culture and took an appointment to meet him. I was given two hours time to prepare a noting on this for meeting the Secretary-Culture.

 

We immediately rushed back to the Office and I prepared an elaborate note on the circumstances under which I had taken the decision to not to include five panels. With this note, with no lunch, I immediately rushed to the Ministry and with Joint Secretary we met Shri R. V. Vaidyanatha Ayyar, the then Secretary-Culture.  This experience perhaps was one of the best experiences that I have ever had dealing with the top Bureaucrat.  Shri R. V. Vaidyanatha Ayyar, JS and I had long discussions in his office on the matter and the Secretary also read my note and after about 30 minutes of discussion, Shri Ayyar took me to the then Hon’ble Culture Minister.  There again we had discussion on the issue and I clarified the reasons why we did not include five panels in the exhibition. The best outcome of the meeting was that Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi appreciated our stand and even praised me for the stand that I had taken not to include those panels, which were definitely not in the interest of the Government of India. In my 34 years of service in NCSM,  this will be one of the best moment, which I will cherish. My learning from this experience is that, if as a Curator, one has a conviction that the decision he or she takes is in the larger interest of the organisation, irrespective of what difficulty one faces, he/she will ultimately prevail. 

On the occasion of the seventy five years of the Hiroshima bombing I am reminded of the exhibition and those objects which were witness to the deadly nuclear holocaust continue to remain etched in my memory even today. May the world never ever face such a situation again and may the nuclear energy be used only for the good of humanity be it for the purpose of energy or health, which is what we use the nuclear energy for in India. 

In the seventy five years post the bombing, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have completely transformed themselves into modernity yet the scars of the holocaust will continue to live on and remind us of the terrible consequences that the nuclear weapons can cause. May no other cities or place ever face what Hiroshima and Nagasaki encountered on 6th and 9th August 1945.