Congressman Frank Pallone Jr's Prognostications: The Nuclear Genie and Karma. Quem deus vult perdere, dementat prius :Fire in N-hub: 2 researchers burnt alive in BARC lab

What goes around, comes around...or is it Karma? 

 "In contrast to the situation in Pakistan, I wanted to take a moment to highlight India's nuclear program. In reflection of what I saw earlier this month during my visit to India, I applaud the government for maintaining an open nuclear science program. The three most important ways in which India's program is a model to be emulated by Pakistan are the following: India's program is defensive in nature, civilian-controlled, and technology is shared in accordance with international nuclear transfer laws.

"As a result of India's nuclear policies, India has a strong defense relationship with the United States and a strong science partnership with the United States. In fact, a recent agreement between the U.S. and India would call for increased exchange of scientists particularly in the area of nuclear technology. Moreover, as part of a new space and nuclear cooperation agreement between the U.S. and India, the two countries will work as partners to bring stability to South Asia and the world, including efforts to end proliferation of weapons of mass destruction." CONGRESSMAN FRANK PALLONE, JR. Sixth District of New Jersey, Februaru (Please note this spelling mistake was in the original press release of the Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr.) 2, 2004

Congressman Pallone surely has a blind spot for India. His obsessive focus is the safety of the Pakistan Nuclear Program, which to the credit of Pakistani nuclear scientists and engineers has been one of the safest nuclear program in the world, including that of the U.S., Russia, and Britain. The kernel of Pakistan's nuclear program lies in its key objective. Pakistan's nuclear program achieved its objective; that is a defensive response to India's nuclear explosion, the "Smiling Buddha." Due to the proximity of India's nuclear explosions to Pakistan's Tharparkar border in Sindh province, the leaked radiation, jeopardized the lives of people.  Not only the Pakistanis were exposed to high levels of background radiation from a jerry rigged Indian atomic device.  Its crude design and proximity to the surface of the Thar desert, resulted in exposure of a vast majority the voiceless poor of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and whole of Indian Maharashtra.

An Affront to Buddhist of the World

"Did you know that India's first nuclear test explosion, in 1974, was code-named Smiling Buddha? A God complex exists at the level of national leadership that knows no religious or moral restraint "The Smiling Buddha." Robert Koehler, an award-winning, Chicago-based journalist, is an editor at Tribune Media Services and nationally syndicated writer.

The name itself was a mockery to the message of the Bodhisattva (an enlightened being who devotes himself or herself to the enlightenment of all beings) is to voluntarily return, life after life, to our world of suffering to teach the Way to permanent inner peace, which is the only way to true peace in the world.

 It is an affront to millions of Buddhists around the world.

A Deviation from Gandhian and Hindu Scriptures 

Mokshadharma explains the Samkhya follower as:

Unselfish, without egotism, free from the pairs,
having cut off doubts, he is not angry and does not hate,
nor does he speak false words.
When reviled and beaten,
because of his kindness he has no bad thought;
he turns away from reprisal in word,
action, and thought, all three.
Alike to all beings, he draws near to Brahma (God).
He neither desires, nor is he without desire;
he limits himself to merely sustaining life.
Not covetous, unshaken, self-controlled;
not active, yet not neglecting religious duty;
his sense-organs are not drawn to many objects,
his desires are not widely scattered;
he is not harmful to any creature;
such a Samkhya-follower is released

Mokshadharma in Mahabharata 12:295:33-36 quoted in Larson, G.

But, the Indians, who in their early scriptures described "karma," should have been the last people on this Earth to deploy nuclear technology for warfare (the word, karma is derived from the Sanskrit kri, "to do". All action is karma. Technically this word also means the effects of actions. In connection with metaphysics it sometimes means the effects of which our past actions were the causes. - Swami Vivekananda).

The apocalyptic demon should have been, better left in the pantheon of Hindu mythology.  But, it was not to be. As a result of catering to jingoistic brahmanic ruling megalomaniacs, the nuclear demon was given life in the BARC nuclear laboratories of Trombay. The demon has now become a predator on the womb, which gave it "janam," or birth. Now, it has taken two young lives, Umang Singh of Mumbai and Partha Bag of Kolkata. "The timing of the accident is also coincidental -- it happened during the concluding phase of the birth centenary celebrations of Homi Bhabha, considered to be the father of India's nuclear programme. However, a former BARC employee said that too much could not be read into an accident of this sort. How ironic, what else he/she could say?

Quem deus vult perdere, dementat prius[1].

The rest is Karma...

Fire in N-hub: 2 researchers burnt alive in BARC lab

Vijay Singh & Srinivas Laxman, TNN 30 December 2009, 1

MUMBAI: A fire broke out in a chemistry laboratory in India's top nuclear zone, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), at Trombay on Tuesday, afternoon, killing two PhD students who were at work. Experts have ruled out any danger of radioactive radiation following the accident.

The researchers who died were Umang Singh of Mumbai and Partha Bag of Kolkata, both around 25. They were the only two researchers in the lab when the incident occurred; usually there are seven. The bodies were badly charred by the time BARC firemen managed to enter the modular laboratory on the third floor after extinguishing the fire in about 45 minutes.

Teams from BARC and the police are investigating the cause of the fire. Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) spokesperson S K Malhotra was emphatic that there was no "reactor, radioactivity or radiation" involved in the accident.

Despite the statement, and top scientists insisting that it was only an accident and nothing else, the mishap -- viewed against the backdrop of a recent Intelligence Bureau alert which said that India's nuclear facilities could be under a terror threat -- triggered considerable speculation among staffers.

This is the third time in the recent past that a nuclear establishment in India has hit the headlines for the wrong reason. The first incident occurred at the Kaiga Atomic Power Station in Karnataka where a staffer allegedly tried to contaminate drinking water with heavy water. Investigations have been in progress for the last two months but not much headway has been made.

The second incident occurred at the Tarapur Atomic Power Station where CISF personnel nabbed several people attempting to smuggle out some computer-related parts. Atomic energy officials refused to call it a security breach.

Former nuclear chief P K Iyengar told TOI that he could not recall any such serious accident at BARC in recent times. "I do remember that several years ago, an employee died as a result of a crane accident at the central workshop of BARC. But I do not remember any serious accident in the laboratories that proved fatal like today. Yes, there were incidents now and then, but they were of a minor nature," he added.

Another official of the nuclear establishment said the laboratory room, in which a number of analytical instruments such as spectro-photometers were kept, was badly damaged. "But the overall working of the department itself and BARC as a whole will remain unaffected," he added.

The official admitted that this accident -- despite being the first of its kind at the centre and despite the excellent safety mechanisms in place -- would undoubtedly be a serious blow to its image. Asked whether any changes would be introduced in the working of the chemistry laboratory, he said it would be decided only after the safety review committee completed its investigation. He said this was the second major accident at an Indian nuclear establishment, the first one being at the Narora Atomic Power Station two decades ago.

The timing of the accident is also coincidental -- it happened during the concluding phase of the birth centenary celebrations of Homi Bhabha, considered to be the father of India's nuclear programme. However, a former BARC employee said that too much could not be read into an accident of this sort. "Such accidents cannot be ruled out completely if scientists work with solvents. Students can sometimes be careless too. I am absolutely convinced that it was an accident, possibly the result of a little carelessness," he said. 

Pakistan's people would like to know whether, the Honorable Congressman Pallone, still wants Pakistan to "emulate," India's [nuclear] Program[an unmitigated safety disaster]?" We hope not.

[1] "Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad" (Latin: Quem deus vult perdere, dementat prius) appeared originally in the Greek play Medea by Euripides, the play describes Medea's descent (and her awareness of this descent as it occurs) into self destructive madness where she kills her own children in order to hurt her ex lover.