Dubai doctor talks about the dangers of excessive cell phone use at Mumbai event

A Mumbai non-profit called, 'Citizens For Tomorrow' held a talk on the 'The Scientific Foundation for Concern about the Health impacts of cell phones and wireless technology' by Dubai's Dr Vikas Nehru on Tuesday at the Press Club at Azad Maidan.

Activists Prakash Munshi and Juhi Chawla Mehta flank Dr Vikas Nehru at the meet yesterday at Press Club. Pic/Suresh Karkera

The Citizens of Tomorrow, a Mumbai non-profit started by actor Juhi Chawla Mehta, who now wears another hat as activist, after work on the anti cell tower movement in Mumbai, is about preserving the environment and eco-sensitivity for future generations.

The fresh-faced Chawla showed some sensitivity for the waiting journalists when she apologised for being late to the meet. She also somewhat ironically (this meet was about the dangers of radiation, including cell phone radiation) told people there to whip out their cell phones, "and give a missed call for the rally for rivers cause."

Also read - Mumbai: DoT's mobile radiation monitoring site a sham, says, activist

Some amusement later, Chawla also said quoting somebody that, "whoever controls the media controls the mind." She told the journalists gathered there that, "you have a lot of power."

The actor then added, "somebody has also said that news is what somebody wants suppressed, everything else is advertising," in the context of the media, obviously alluding to soft pedalling pieces in the media these days.

A bit of history
After that media wisdom from the actor it was time for Dr Nehru, who is on a two-day visit here to speak about radiation dangers, which he illustrated through a slide presentation. Dr Nehru's presentation was a trifle complicated and seemed disjointed at times, though he made some interesting points about the upcoming 5G technology. Said Dr Nehru, "Post World War II was a watershed time for technological advancement. I think a lot of technological progress was spurred on because of Adolf Hitler's monstrous agenda."

Also read: Maharashtra govt to pull plug on cell towers if they breach radiation norms

Misplaced priorities
The specialist veered off from World Wars to talk about 5G ruing the "misplaced priorities of politicians across the world, where the accent is on developing this technology, even in our country, instead of 'bijli, sadak, paani' because of course, profits from these companies are more important for our politicians and so-called leaders rather than concentrating on giving people the necessities of life." The doc said that 5G radiation will impact the "skin very significantly." He said that the buzz right now is about 5G, but "not too many people know that 5G technology has been used by armies even 10 years ago, in something called the Active Denial System (ADS) which is used a means by security forces to control mobs. They fire non-lethal weapons in these situations which have been developed through 5G technology."

What you can do
Yet, when asked whether mobiles are a way of life and clamouring for faster technology like the 5G was inevitable, the doc did agree. "I do think people will hanker for faster technologies, there will be more use of gadgets. Yet, it is up to the media to expose nefarious designs of our power leaders who refuse to try for safer tech like alternatives to cell towers for instance, because they are not as profitable as these," he finished to a barrage of questions about what ordinary people could do even with some experts warning of dangers on one side and others, dangling the lure of a nippy, zippy digital age.

Also view - Honeypreet Insan: From Ram Rahim's 'Angel' To Haryana's Most Wanted