What was inside the “top secret” letter by Jawaharlal Nehru to Oppenheimer? The subject of Christopher Nolan’s latest film, Robert J Oppenheimer, was an American physicist known as the “Father of the Atomic Bomb.”
With the release of the film, there has been renewed interest in the scientist’s life.
In addition, according to a recently published book, Mr. Oppenheimer was invited to immigrate to India and settle down.
Bakhtiyar K Dadabhoy made the revelation while writing a 723-page biography of Homi Jehangir Bhabha, which was published in April of this year.
What was inside the “top secret” letter by Jawaharlal Nehru to Oppenheimer?
The book discusses Mr. Oppenheimer and Mr. Bhabha’s friendly relationship.
“In all probability, Bhabha met Oppenheimer after the war had ended and the two became good friends. This was hardly surprising since Oppenheimer like Bhabha was a highly cultured man. He had studied Sanskrit and was also conversant with Latin and Greek,” Mr Dadabhoy said in the biography ‘Homi J Bhabha: A Life‘, according to New Indian Express.
According to the BBC, Mr. Oppenheimer was shaken after the atomic bomb he designed was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII.
During the development phase, he assuaged his colleagues’ ethical concerns about developing the powerful bomb by stating that they were only doing their jobs and were not responsible for decisions about how the weapon should be used.
However, once the deed was completed, the physicist argued against the development of additional weapons, particularly hydrogen bombs, which his work had paved the way for.
According to the BBC, Mr. Oppenheimer was investigated by the US government in 1954 and had his security clearance revoked, and he could no longer participate in policy decisions.
Also read: Sex, Bhagavad Gita and Oppenheimer
It was against this backdrop that he was offered Indian citizenship by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on the insistence of Mr. Bhabha, as per the book.
“When Oppenheimer lost his security clearance in 1954 it was presumably on Bhabha’s intervention that he was invited by Jawaharlal Nehru on more than one occasion to visit India, and even immigrate if he so wished,” Mr Dadabhoy said about the issue.
But the physicist declined, as per Times of India, because he felt it would not be proper for him to leave the US until he had been cleared of all the charges.
“He feared that permission would not only be refused but also that it would only increase suspicion about him,” it quoted Mr. Dadabhoy’s book as saying.
