Japan ravaged by Disaster, UPA by Wikibomb

The offshore earthquake (measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale, one of the largest ever recorded) near Japan’s eastern coast last Friday, March 11, 2011—that unleashed a ferocious tsunami slamming the coastal areas in the east, killing countless people while sweeping away boats, cars and homes and causing widespread fires burning out of control—has brought untold misery in that highly developed nation always prepared for natural and manmade disasters. But what is of more serious concern and anxiety is the nuclear crisis that has gripped the country with the possible rupturing of a second reactor unit at the already stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in northeastern Japan thereby releasing radioactive steam. This development at the No. 3 reactor unit worsened the already perilous conditions at the nuclear plant on Wednesday, March 16, a day after officials informed that the containment vessel in the No. 2 reactor had also cracked; as a matter of fact it was reported by the media on March 15 that “emergency operations to pump seawater into the crippled reactor (No. 2)†having failed, the “risk of an uncontrolled release of radioactive material†had increased, according to officials.

As per latest information, Japan’s radiation had reached Russia’s Vladivostok area; all workers from the Fukushima nuclear plant had been withdrawn due to the unacceptably high radiation levels; and the number of those dead and missing due to the quake and tsunami had exceeded 11,000—this has been announced over Japanese TV.

The Japanese Government and people, as mentioned above, are always prepared for all even-tualities—after all, it was the only state in the world to have withstood the brunt of a fullscale nuclear attack in August 1945 that took such a heavy toll of lives besides maiming numerous citizens. Yet the enormity of the disaster caused by nature’s fury has been such that even the Japanese authorities were overwhelmed by the scale and magnitude of the calamity. It is indeed a tragedy of unprecedented dimension and hence allout help and assistance to the affected populace, already promised from all corners of the globe, do not brook the slightest delay. As for Indians, the imperative necessity to stand by our Japanese brothers and sisters in their hour of trial does not bear repetition. Yet this needs to be nevertheless underscored as a moral obligation on our part, particularly when Japan is racing against time to prevent the meltdown of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

But one shudders to even imagine how we in India, totally unprepared for a disaster of the kind that has struck Japan, would have coped with such a crisis had it enveloped our country.

In the wake of the Japanese crisis, the issue of vulnerability of nuclear plants in India has legiti-mately acquired prominence. An SMS by an activist doing the rounds reads: “Say NO to Jaitapur, Haripur and all other proposed nuclear power plants. And demand an immediate moratorium on all the existing plants in the country. The nuclear demon must be forever banished from the face of the earth.†This view is not shared by many. However, the PM has, instead of remaining silent, responded to the Japnese events and addressed Parliament to assure the nation that India’s nuclear hubs are safe; it has also been promised that the nuclear establishment would undertake technical reviews of safety systems. And The Times of India; while rejecting the call to impose an indefinite moratorium on nuclear power, has come out with the following observation:
What happened in Japan was freakish: the most powerful earthquake in its history followed by a tsunami that was the main cause of the crisis at Fukushima Daiichi. The right lesson to be drawn from events unfolding there is that even the freakish must be planned for where nuclear energy is concerned.

Nonetheless such observations are presently overshadowed by the general public sentiment against opting for nuclear power on account of the hazards the nuclear plants pose even if they generate “clean energy†. The Japanese crisis on this front has doubtless strengthened this view among the people at large everywhere and India is no exception in this regard.

Meanwhile, The Hindu’s coverage of ‘The India Cables’ (accessed by the newspaper through the WikiLeaks) has caused uproar in both Houses of Parliament. On March 15 and 16 there were detailed accounts of various aspects of India’s foreign policy as well as the pro-US tilt in the reshuffle of the Union Cabinet as available from the cables sent out by the US ambassador in New Delhi to Washington. But it was on March 17 that the issue of cash-for-votes in ‘The India Cables’ (specifically Congress leader Satish Sharma’s political aide Nachiketa Kapur allegedly having shown to a US embassy official ‘two chests containing cash’ to be used as ‘pay-offs’ to MPs for voting in favour of the government in the 2008 confidence vote taken in the aftermath of the Left parties’ withdrawal of support to the Manmohan Singh dispensation on the issue of the Indo-US nuclear deal), splashed in the daily on the front page, rocked Parliament and disrupted the proceedings of both Houses with the Opposition (from the BJP to the Left) demanding not just clarifications from the government but its resignation on moral grounds. Despite a spirited rebuttal by the Leader of the House in the Lok Sabha it was obvious that once again the UPA Government was placed on the defensive and this time it is facing a much more potent threat than in the recent past when it had to encounter major scams.

Whatever the arguments (based on technicalities) that the Congress stalwarts, notably Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, may give, those fail to carry conviction. What is more, the UPA II’s moral authority to govern has definitely been severely dented, and it remains to be seen how it manages to counter the Wikibomb that has struck it with the ferocity of a tsunami.

The Manmohan Singh Government’s woes seem to be unending as of now.

March 17 S.C.