International community should raise voice against use of Depleted Uranium: Justice Jain

AMRITSAR: The international community and all citizens of the world must raise a unified voice against the future use of depleted uranium and force those nations that have used depleted uranium munitions to recognize the immoral consequences of their actions and assume responsibility for medical care and thorough environmental remediation.
This appeal was made by Justice Vijender Jain, Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court, Chandigarh while inaugurating the National Seminar on Depleted Uranium: Environmental Hazards.
This seminar was jointly organised by the Departments of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Human Genetics and Physics of the Guru Nanak Dev University here Saturday .
Prof. Dr. Jai Rup Singh, Vice-Chancellor welcomed the learned speakers and the delegates. Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, Ex-Chief of the Naval Staff presented the keynote address.
Continuing his address, Justice Jain said that Depleted Uranium (DU) is a deadly toy in the hands of the ruling bloodlines. A particle of DU ingested or inhaled cause one or more of the 90 plus seriously debilitating diseases.
He said the half life of DU is 4.5 billion years, and it could destroy living things and the environment; most importantly it could destroy perfectly healthy lives, he added
He said the growth of industry, nationally or globally, would be meaningless if we could not provide security to the human being. Security to human being includes freedom from hunger and fear.
Never before in the history of this world, the individual has been threatened on account of ecological degradation than today.
Justice Jain said despite 9% ecological growth of the last four years, 25% of Indian population lives below the poverty line and 35 % still waiting to be literate.
Talking about India, he said the entire north-western region, including the Himalayas is affected. All perennial rivers flowing from the Himalayas into the Gangetic plains (the Ganga and Yamuna with hundreds of tributaries) and into Pakistan (the five rivers: Indus, Satluj, Jhelum, Ravi and Chenab), would contaminate the largest and oldest food growing area in the world.
He said this region as a high livestock population that supports India's and Pakistan's fuel, food, and farming needs.
Justice Jain said the air we breathe is contaminated with Depleted Uranium and it is killing healthy people over the world. A WHO report says in the 20th century approximately 100 million people died world over from tobacco-associated diseases like cancer, chronic lung disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Prof. Dr. Jai Rup Singh in his address said the technology has to be used for the welfare of man and not for his elimination.
He called upon them to debate over the issue about the use of such lethal weapons for short end gains but long term losses.
Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, former Chief of the Naval Staff in his keynote address said the use of Depleted Uranium in Afghanistan affected the life and the habitants up to 1000 miles radius of Kabul which encircled Punjab, Delhi, UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat and some parts of Maharashtra.
Admiral Bhagwat said the increase in incidents of cancer is not only because of pesticides but due to the low radiation nuclear warfare. The burden of cost would result in breakdown of health budget, more at the government and the individual levels and it would in fact break the health system of the country, he added.
Dr. (Mrs.) S.B. Roy, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay; Dr. Shakeel-Ur-Rahman, Secretary, Indian Doctors for Peace and Development and Arun Shrivastava of CMC, New Delhi, Prof. Raghbir Singh, Dean Academic Affairs, Prof. G.S. Virk also expressed their views about the deadly effects of Depleted Uranium.
JAGMOHAN SINGH Saturday, 05 April 2008
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