As the name suggests, Weapons of Mass destruction (WMD) are lethal weapons that can cause severe damage to large numbers of people and/or property.
This includes nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
According to the United Nations, WMDs are weapons that can, ‘’produce in a single moment an enormously destructive effect capable of killing millions of civilians, jeopardising the natural environment, and can fundamentally alter the lives of future generations through their catastrophic effects.”
Weapons causing death or severe injury through toxic chemicals, the use of microorganisms to harm or kill people and nuclear explosives that can destroy whole cities and alter nature are classified as WMDs.
Use of WMD
Though the term WMD is said to be first used by Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury during the Spanish civil war (1936 – 1939), it has been widely used with reference to the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War 2.
In the 21st century, the term was popularised by former American president George Bush Jr during the Iraq invasion. Sadam Hussian, the then leader of the country was killed on grounds of possessing WMDs that were never found.
WMD and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act
India recently amended the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act to “prohibit financing of any activity in relation to weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.”
The act allows the government to, “freeze, seize or attach funds or other financial assets or economic resources for preventing such financing and prohibit making available funds, financial assets or economic resources for any prohibited activity in relation to weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.”
The bill was introduced by external affairs minister, S Jaishankar, during the Budget session and was passed in the Lok Sabha and is currently pending in the Rajya Sabha.
