Loud Thinking

Archive for the ‘My Views’ Category

A ferocious tsunami unleashed by Japan’s biggest recorded earthquake slammed into its eastern coast Friday, killing hundreds of people as it carried away ships, cars and homes, and triggered widespread fires that burned out of control.

An 8.9 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Northeast Japan spawned a ferocious tsunami that’s caused massive destruction; flattening whole cities, starting raging fires, and killing hundreds.

Nearly 88,000 people are reported missing, according to the official Kyodo news agency. Nuclear experts said the solutions being proposed to quell radiation leaks at the Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima were last-ditch efforts to stem what could well be remembered as one of the world’s worst industrial disasters.

Situation has turned so grave that workers were ordered to withdraw briefly from a stricken Japanese nuclear power plant on Wednesday after radiation levels surged, Kyodo news reported, a development that suggested the crisis was spiraling out of control.

Now it is high time that world must wake up for launching a campaign of getting rid of ALL nuclear reactors from the face of the Earth, before another major catastrophe hits in some other country after Japan.

Now this issue has become a matter of life and death for the humanity. UN Secretary General must immediately summon a meeting of the Security Council to chalk out a unified strategy to combat the menace of nuclear radiation from destroying the life from the face of the Earth.

In this regard, as a first step towards making planet earth safe and free from accidents at nuclear reactors, which produce electricity using uranium/plutonium as a fuel, the world leadership must also look into the possibility of using ONLY thorium, as a fuel for producing electricity from nuclear reactors.

Unlike current nuclear power stations, that use uranium, the thorium plant won’t use a material that can be weaponised. It would also mean there is much less danger from a meltdown. Thorium is also more abundant than uranium, so it will be cheaper and easier to supply.

The safer material means it can be supplied at a lower cost with far fewer security needs. Security measures are actually the most expensive part about building current nuclear power stations. Thorium reactors, on the other hand, don’t require special containment buildings and can even be set up in normal structures.

The proposed thorium reactor is made to run by itself without any need for intervention. It will only need to be checked by a person once every four months.

Since thorium reactors are far safer than current nuclear reactors there has been talk of miniaturising them so a $1000 unit could power a ten house street for a lifetime.

The recent statement of US ambassador to Pakistan that :(ISLAMABAD: US ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter has said that the United States has right to interfere in Pakistan’s economic and governance affairs as the former provides funds to it, Geo News reported.

Addressing a ceremony here, Cameron said that the United States provides largest aid to Pakistan, therefore, it has right to interfere in economic and governance affairs.http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=8937)  has clearly laid bare the American mind set towards Pakistan.

Although, US president calls Pakistan as an enormous country and an ally of America, who has given tremendous sacrifices in fighting the menace of terrorism, yet, Mr. Munter has the audacity to tell us that America has a right to interfere in our internal affairs, just because we are receiving their aid. By this analogy, can the US ambassador to Israel, give the same statement, because that country is the biggest recipient of US aid?

I will ask Mr. Munter, if helping another country is the criteria for interference in its affairs, then Pakistan has all the right to meddle in the affairs of your country. Hope, you remember our greatest favour,   in making America the sole super power. So, before uttering such statements, just weigh our favours to America in monetary terms, and calculate how much you still owe to us, in return of Pakistan’s just one favour to America.

Mr. Munter,  should also know that there is a long list of our favours to his great country, starting from permitting U-2 flights over USSR, facilitating Kissinger’s visit to China, saving American soldiers’ life in Somalia etc. He should not force us  to think that to  call him and his country a friend, is a mistake. Perhaps, he only understand one language taught  by the brave people of Vietnam, Iraq & Afghanistan. True friendship, has no meaning in any of his dictionaries.

The government of Pakistan must immediately take notice of this blatant interference in its internal affairs by the American ambassador and send him back to his country. This punishment will restore the sanctity of our integrity and shall be remembered by Munter, throughout his life. This will also send a message to the world, that Pakistan is an honourable nation and it will not offer other cheek, if slapped on one.

Actually, every individual and nation must understand that, one can only be insulted to the extent, it is permitted. In other words you can’t be insulted, more than you allow.

Soft copy of translation in easy urdu of letter of Dr. Iqbal (click here)

English translation of the above mentioned letter courtesy my friend Mr. Ijaz Chaudhry, world renowned international sports journalist, is also given below.

“My dear,

Salaam.

Your journal, “Arabic Tibb” is very interesting.

Till today, no one in the Islamic world paid any attention to the Islamic medicine and history.

The European languages have a number of books on every topic.

The late Professor Brown’s four lectures on the “Arabic medicine” delivered in English, which were published in his life time, are really interesting.

I think research is required to find how much the Muslims utilised the benefits of experimentation in medicine and other fields of knowledge.

Sincerely

Muhammad Iqbal

22 August, 1926″

For the benefit of the lovers of historical items, I take this opportunity to post the pictures of a  historic letter dated 22 August, 1926 written by the great poet of the East, Sir Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal, addressed to his friend, Hakim Khawaja Shams Uddin Ahmad ( my maternal grand father). I am lucky to be in possession of both the original letter and the envelope.

The other interesting features of these historic documents are as follows:

1. The letter was posted on 23 August, 1926 in Lahore and delivered in Lucknow on 25 August, 1926. (As is evident from the post office seals on the reverse of the envelope). What an efficiency of the British Post 83 years ago.

2. Moreover, there is no address written on the envelope except, Lucknow and Hakim Khawaja Shams Uddin Ahmad. Now, here again, we must appreciate the efficiency of the post office staff of the then British Post at Lucknow and the confidence reposed in their working by Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal ,or may be he was sure that he was sending a letter to a very famous person in Lucknow, whose address was not much required on the envelope.