NEW YORK, Sept 26, 2013 – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today urged the world leaders to renounce nuclear weapons, saying that nuclear disarmament is crucial for the survival of humanity and the only living planet.
She termed the honing of nuclear weapon as a suicidal psyche and sought security and prosperity through empowerment of the people.
“Nuclear weapons are still being polished to make them more deadly and still being stockpiled in large numbers. So, nuclear disarmament is crucial for the survival of humanity and only living planet,” she said.
The Prime Minister was addressing a High-Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament organized by the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) at UN Headquarters here.
She said living in close proximity to three nuclear powers, Bangladesh has good reasons to worry about these vicious weapons. “We believe that nuclear weapons cannot guarantee ultimate security and peace,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina said the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki shook the conscience of mankind and led to the adoption of the first UN resolution on nuclear disarmament. But, a suicidal psyche seems to possess a large number of people without any thought of their progeny, she said.
“Could we for a brief moment ponder a world that we wish to leave for our children and grandchildren? If we do, a universal and spontaneous response would be to do for a nuclear free world,” she said.
She said, “We have to decide whether we would move towards a world haunted by the fear of decimation or towards a world of peace, security and socio-economic development enriching human civilization with our knowledge and discoveries.”
She said the 185 non-nuclear weapon countries are unanimous in opting peace. Yet a handful of nuclear weapon states, insensitive to the security of the majority, tragically continue to choose the path of destruction, she said.
Sheikh Hasina said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with many world leaders realized the danger of nuclear weapon. That to why, in his historic speech in the UNGA in 1974, Bangabandhu appealed to all to spare the world from the scourge of nuclear war, she said.
The Prime Minister said the Conference on Disarmament (CD), world’s only permanent multilateral disarmament treaty negotiating body, remained deadlocked for decades.
“Now it can move forward easily to conclude a non- discriminatory, internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production and possession of fissile material for nuclear weapons.
Sheikh Hasina said the CD also could take another step to create a universal legal instrument to codify assurances against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states. “These steps could stop nuclear weapon proliferation and rid the risk of them falling in the hands of terrorists,” she noted.
Another step, she said, should be the establishment, as an interim measure, of nuclear weapon free zones as in South Asia and the Middle-East. It’s possible with the ratification of the related protocols by the nuclear weapons states, she said.
The Prime Minister said a world of contented and happy people would outright reject the acts of aggression, discover unity in their diversity, and embrace the culture of peace and fraternity.
Out of this belief, she said, Bangladesh has been tabling a resolution on ‘Culture of Peace’ in every UNGA session, she said.
Sheikh Hasina said there is no doubt that a price has to be paid for the promotion and the maintenance of peace. “But, it is much less than that of making nuclear weapons and fighting a war,” she said.
Source : BSS
