Struggle of a Courageous women.

AGAINST NUCLEAR RADIATION

STRUGGLE OF A COURAGEOUS WOMAN OF HIROSHIMA

-DR. M.K. Pandhe , President, CITU

A visit to the museum in Hiroshima which depicted shocking picture of the nuclear holocaust on 6th August 1945 makes one’s blood boiling with anger against perpetrators of the inhuman crime killing over one lakh innocent men, women and children at a stretch. The atom bomb was thrown at a time when Japanese imperialist forces were on the retreat and the war would have won by allied forces without throwing atom bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But U.S. imperialists were determined to create a reign of terror. Hence, the heinous crime was committed without giving any notice. Knowing full well the impact of the nuclear bomb U.S. imperialism was determined to resort to mass murder. The unimaginable sufferings of the people of Hiroshima only partly reflected in the museum. The agony and cries of the dying human beings could not be recorded due to suddenness of the attack.

Basudeb Acharia, Vice President of CITU and myself after seeing the pictorial presentation on 30th August 2009 had a sense of deepest sorrow at the plight of the helpless people. Our minds could not show any expression of feelings at the ghastly tragedy for quite some time.

We had an occasion to hear the personal experience of the courageous woman who personally witnessed the acute sufferings of the people affected by the explosion of a nuclear weapon over the city of Hiroshima.


Yano Miyako, an elderly affectionate woman greeted us and reported about her experience after the explosion of the Atom bomb over the city of Hiroshima. She was born in 1931 and was 14 year old girl when Atom bomb raised the entire Hiroshima city to the ground. She was a second grade student and was doing voluntary labour in some construction project. Due to some domestic work, she took a day off from Hiroshima on the day of blast and she was saved from the disaster. She could witness the impact of the atomic explosion from a distance. She was extremely shocked to see the total destruction of the city and was aghast to learn that all 50 of her classmates died in the tragic incident.

Yano’s family consisted of her father, mother and two elder sisters. No one was injured during the atomic bomb blast since they were 4 kilometers away from the epicenter of the nuclear blast. Their family decided to help the victims of the nuclear explosion. They thought that they were free from the effects of nuclear bomb but they were greatly mistaken.



The residence was near a shrine and they housed the people who survived the bomb blast but were seriously affected.

The nuclear explosion generated heat of several thousand degrees and the bodies were practically charred and mutilated due to acute eruption of their skin and even some body parts were affected. Immediate medical treatment was not available. Children’s’ cries asking for water were often heard every where.

The severe blast destroyed the houses, even the steel frames were bent severely, and several people died after fall of roof and disposing of dead bodies was a big problem. Smell of burnt flesh was felt everywhere and it took days to clear the debris. Some of the bodies were so much burnt that the persons were practically dead or waiting for death to occur.

Supplying food for the victims was a big problem. Burning of the dead bodies was a stupendous task. Human life became vulnerable to so many diseases.

Nobody could imagine the impact of radiation – water and food were affected by radiation. Trees, debris and everything were affected and nobody knows how to save themselves from radiation.

Yano heard the news of surrender by Japan but no one was in a position to react to it. Prior to surrender, however, there was a scare that another bomb may be thrown and people did not know where to go to save themselves.

Surprisingly, all members of Yano’s family affected due to radiation. Her elder sisters suffered from high fever, her parents suffered from bloody diariaha. Absence of sanitation in the city worsened the health condition of the people beyond imagination.

Yano’s sister who was 17 years old and suffered from Amnesia. There was acute inflammation of her mouth. She went to the hospital, but could not get proper treatment. White cells in her body were destroyed due to radiation. Her sister is still alive but is getting treatment as a survivor of the holocaust.

The Government of Japan recognized as survivor of the nuclear attacks only if the residence was within 2 Kilometers of radius form the Epicenter of the bomb explosion. Since their house was 4 kilometers away from the epicenter, they had difficulty in getting medical insurance as a survivor of the bomb explosion. It was only after passing away of several years; their family could get recognition as a survivor of the nuclear explosion and got medical insurance though all members of the family were victims of radiation.

Yano lost all her teeth. She felt that she would not live longer. However, she decided to work for the benefit of the nuclear holocaust survivors. When she gave birth to a boy, there was a tumor on her head at the time of his birth and with great difficulty he could get treatment and survived. He had a brain cancer surgery. Even now he is suffering from Amnesia though he is now 50 year old.

Yano’s father died 13 years after the bomb explosion while her mother died 20 years after the explosion. Both of them died due to cancer.

Her two sisters are still alive but suffering from various ailments. They are having pace maker for regular heart beating. Yano herself is even now suffering from the impact of radiation. Her organs are suffering from malfunctioning due to the impact of radiation. The suffering cannot be reduced and she is going to suffer throughout her life.

After the Second World War, the U.S. Government established an institution namely, “Radiation Effects Research Foundation”. When she approached the institution and explained how her internal body organs were affected by radiation, the Foundation did not admit that the radiation would affect the organs of the body. She was surprised to see how U.S. Government was trying to conceal the internal effects of radiation. Her entire family suffered but practically no treatment could give adequate relief to the affected victims.

She decided to devote her entire life in support of the worldwide campaign demanding total destruction of all nuclear weapons and creation of a nuclear weapon free world! She expressed her shock that the Government of Japan has accepted nuclear umbrella of U.S., a country which destroyed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. She also decided to join the campaign all over Japan opposing nuclear umbrella of U.S. Government.

In the end, she expressed the hope that the peace loving people of India which join the campaign for a nuclear weapon free world. We assured her our full support to this campaign