TOKYO: It is 76 years since the United States dropped the world’s first nuclear bomb in two cities of Japan that had killed more than 0.2 million people mostly civilians.
On the completion of almost 7 and a half-decade, Japan marked the 76th anniversary with low-key ceremonies in wake of the ongoing Covid pandemic.
Survivors and relatives marked the blast anniversary with a minute of silence however they expressed disappointment over a refusal by Olympics organizers to hold a minute’s silence.
Nagasaki pauses to pray for the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing and hibakusha who have recently died.https://t.co/NvP2sWuK2N pic.twitter.com/5NnjsN8jpG
— The Japan News (@The_Japan_News) August 9, 2021
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also attended a memorial commemorating the 76th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
United Nations chief António Guterres also promised that the UN will continue to be fully committed to the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world, saying ‘such tragedy must never happen again.’
Hiroshima’s Mayor Kazumi Matsui while addressing the first explosion of a nuclear weapon in wartime urged the international community to commit to nuclear disarmament with the same efforts as they tackle the ongoing pandemic that the world leaders recognize as a ‘threat to humanity.’
Matsui added, “Nuclear weapons, developed to win wars, are a threat of total annihilation that we can certainly end if all nations work together”.
Let it be known that the United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb codenamed ‘Little Boy’, on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killing 140,000 citizens. The bomb, detonated with an estimated 15,000 tons of trinitrotoluene, destroying five square miles of the city.
In subsequent years, cancer and other long-term radiation effects spiked the fatalities number.
The US then dropped a second bomb named ‘Fat Man’ three days later on Nagasaki, killing another 70,000, and the East Asian Island country on August 15 surrendered, ending World War II.
Meanwhile, there are reportedly 13,400 nuclear weapons in existence across the globe and brazenly most of them belong to the United States – the country that is responsible for one of the darkest events in the history of mankind.
Furthermore, Russia remained runner-up with more than 6,000 nuclear weapons. Recent years have also seen mounting threats among the many countries including the US, Russia, North Korea, and China. Pakistan and India, countries with smaller arsenals, have also increasingly been at odds at times.
Despite all the consequences, the United States has committed more than $1.7 trillion to upgrade its warheads, much like Russia.
