This year, the anti-nuclear campaign is being orchestrated under the shadow of the Pokhran nuclear tests in May. ``This year is different because of the blasts,'' said T K Somaiyya of the Sarvodaya Mandal, which organised processions from Azad Maidan to Mantrayala on August 6 every year. This year, though, due to the high court ruling, the rally will be terminated at Hutatma Chowk.

``A peace march, whose participants will wear white ribbons as a symbol of peace and solidarity with the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, will leave Azad Maidan and walk to Hutatma Chowk,'' informed Malvika Chari, an activist of an umbrella body called the Citizen's Committee for the Commemoration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The committee's members includeCardinal Simon Pimenta, Shyam Benegal, S P Godrej, Usha Mehta, Nalini Malani, Alyque Padamsee, Anand Patwardhan and Lalit Chari, as well as organisations like the Rashtriya Ekta Manch, Stree Mukti Sanghatana, PUCL, Rotary clubs and the Humanist movement. Trade union groups will take out a similar march from August Kranti Maidan to Raj Bhavan and present a memorandum to the Governor.

As a run-up to the August 6 event, anti-nuclear films are also being screened in colleges. The Raheja School of Architecture has organised a poster contst and activists will grapple with whether nuclear disarmament is a fallacy in today's scenario at the SNDT University's Department for Students' Welfare. The Indian Society for the Mentally Retarded have also organised a function at the Mumbai University's Kalina campus, to be presided over by the varsity's Vice-Chancellor Snehalata Deshmukh and the Consulate General for Japan, after which the students will present rakhis to the Consulate General.

But the most vocalplea for peace will be belted out at the `Peace Together' concert, open only to students, at the Andheri Sports Complex on Friday. The day-long concert, which is touted as Mumbai's reply to the memorable Woodstock music festival in the sixties in the US, was originally scheduled for August 6, at the St Andrew's School ground. ``But due to the tremendous response from the artistes, most of whom are performing free, the concert was resheduled to August 7,'' said Shaina Anand, an organiser. And like Woodstock, this concert, organised by the Indian Peoples' Media Collective and the R D National College, Bandra, is free. Students will have to collect their passes from various colleges.

The concert will feature some of India's top crooners in pop like Pentagram, Mehnaz, Shaan, Anaida, Vikas Bhalla, Nitin Bali and Sagarika. The celebs include Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Pooja Bedi, Jaaved Jaffrey and Milind Soman. ``We have organised concerts before but the difference this time is that we didn't have to look forsponsors,'' said one of the event managers, according to whom everything just fell into place for the event. The equipment and lighting for the concert have come free, while a cola giant will cover the remaining costs.