ABSTRACT
This chapter explores India’s position in the debate about the atom bomb from the public commentary available in Bombay-based media, including views and opinions of public figures such as politicians and scientists, as well as lesser-known writers and readers. The primary focus is the window of the years between the launch of the atomic bomb into political imaginaries across the world in August 1945 and the attainment of Indian independence in August 1947, when atomic power began to be reined in by the goals of a developmentalist state. The atomic bomb became a potent cipher that encapsulated the doubts that Indians entertained towards the West which was seen as technologically progressive and admired for its scientific achievements, and yet considered amoral if not immoral, led by the destructive dictates of covetous power, and devoid of ethical principles. The atomic technology’s association with the ‘inhumanness’ of western powers meant that war and British colonialism could be lambasted with one fell swoop.
