The absence of real debate on nuclear issues in India , An example of suppression: The case of War and Peace

The guarantor of truth in science is multiplicity of research, free availability of information and open critical debate. It is unfortunate that in India all the three prerequisites are absent as far as the nuclear issue is concerned. 

The very foundations of nuclear related education in India were laid by Dr Bhabha in a centralized way that discouraged any questioning from outside. Knowledge about nuclear reactor operations could be obtained only at the BARC training school. Once initiated, the 'recruits' remained within one of the DAE operated organizations all their lives in a manner very similar to that of the army. Thus unlike in some other countries, we have no independent knowledge sources outside DAE control. 

This lack of independent expertise was further reinforced by a blanket ban on free flow of information in the form of the Atomic Energy Act of 1962. This act forbids any disclosure of a very broad range of information by unauthorized personnel and contains severe punitive measures for noncompliance. 

With independent knowledge and understanding nipped in the bud, it is no wonder that the nuclear debate in India has often been reduced to name calling from both sides. But even in this name calling the nuclear establishment has exceeded all bounds of decency by going so far as to question the patriotism of its opponents. These assertions sound even more ridiculous today since their proponents have had no compunctions in abandoning all claims to self reliance and going for wholesale import of technology following the Indo-US nuclear deal. 

As India stands at the threshold of a vast new effort towards nuclearization, it is high time that a real debate about its pros and cons takes place.