Friday, March 9, 2007

The mushroom hysteria


I heard the earth thundering below our feet and rising ahead of us in terror. It was a beautiful sight.

- Dr. Abdul Kalam Azad, President of India. (May 1998)


The radiance of a thousand suns…burst into the sky.

I am become death. The destroyer of worlds.

- J. Robert Oppenhiemer, principal architect of the world’s first nuclear explosion. (16th July 1945)


The most terrifying monster lurking in the darkness of Hiroshima.

- Kenzaburo Oe, Japanese writer.


The whole mountain turned white.

- Pakistani government, June 1998.


The nuclear tests have been hugely popular, particularly among the urban middle class.

- Pankaj Mishra, security Advisor, India.


The tests have divided the country more deeply than ever.

- Amitav Ghosh, novelist.


Our cities and forests, our fields and villages will burn for days. Rivers will turn into poison. The air will become fire. The wind will spread flames. When everything there is to burn is burnt and the fires die, smoke will rise and shut out the sun.

- Arundhati Roy, Author.

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