Harsha Prabhu
On the eve of Australian PM Julia Gillard’s visit to India to sign a deal on uranium sales, it’s time to consider some sobering facts:
More than 60 per cent of Australians oppose the sale of uranium to India, according to a recent opinion poll by Australia’s Lowy Institute, a conservative think-tank.
Indian protests
And tens of thousands of people in India are protesting even today against the setting up of nuclear power stations by the Indian government and corporations.
Now, from Byron Bay, Australia’s most easterly point, comes this anti-uranium message: Uranium: it’s not cricket!
Cricket is a game that prides itself on fairness and sportsmanship. Playing with uranium is clearly not fair or sporting.
Uranium is one of the most deadly substances known to man and the whole uranium cycle – from the dangers of mining uranium ore, to leaking nuclear power stations, to nuclear weapons proliferation, to unsafe disposal of nuclear waste – is an unsustainable business.
And uranium’s toxicity lasts thousands of years, exposing future generations to unacceptable risk. Leave it in the ground where it belongs, as Aboriginal elders have been saying for years. Cricket is one passion that unites Australians and Indians, but it’s just not cricket for our politicians to play with the lives of everyone, including the unborn!
