Hiroshima Atomic Victims Remembered: Ten years in the past at present on Wednesday sixth August 2014 I used to be in Tavistock Sq. for a ceremony near the Hiroshima Cherry Tree on the 69th anniversary of the primary use of an atomic bomb remembering the victims previous and current of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
I hope to be there once more at present, as I’ve been in most up-to-date years. The roughly hour-long ceremony organised by London CND begins at midday and follows kind of the identical sample every year. Everyone seems to be welcome to attend and for those who missed it this yr you’ll be able to put a reminder in your diary for subsequent. And if you’re not in London, there are different occasions in different cities and cities internationally – and a few additionally in different components of London.
The dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki marked the start of a brand new age the place the USA confirmed it had the ability to unleash unprecedented ranges of dying and destruction. Another nations had been fast to develop their very own atomic weapons, together with our personal and naturally the USSR, and all developed bombs of a lot higher energy than the 2 which devastated the Japanese cities.
At present 9 nations have nuclear weapons: america, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel. When the USSR was break up up, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine transferred the nuclear weapons on their territory to Russia, however aside from this just one nation, South Africa has really given them up.
Wikipedia quotes the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute as estimating in 2023 that the nuclear weapons states held a complete of 12,119 whole nuclear warheads. Excess of can be wanted to destroy the planet, or at the least human life on it.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was adopted by the UN in 2017 and got here into pressure in 2021. By January 2024 of the 197 states recognised by the UN, 97 nations had signed the treaty though 27 had nonetheless to ratify their signatures. Not one of the states which maintain nuclear weapons have signed.
In Tavistock Sq. there have been songs, speeches, prayers and performances launched by Islington MP Jeremy Corbyn and messages from Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been learn.
In addition to remembering the numerous victims of the bombs we additionally had been reminded of peace campaigner Hetty Bower, who grew to become a pacifist throughout the First World Conflict and attended many of those ceremonies and different peace occasions and had died earlier this yr.
The occasion closed with two minutes of silence for the victims of the assaults on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and all victims of struggle, throughout which individuals got here as much as lay flowers and wreaths on the foot of the Hiroshima cherry tree.
You may learn extra in regards to the occasion – and see extra footage on My London Diary at Hiroshima Atomic Victims Remembered.
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