They are an identity. They speak of a tragedy that got its brand name for its scale, the kind of people who got killed, the iconic hotspots of a big Indian city that got affected, and also the industrial big name associated with it.
On December 3 last year, thousands went on the first of its kind unorganised marches, to the Gateway, after the terror attack. The figure of deaths: 172. Compensation track record: dismal, pathetic. Conviction: lone terrorist Kasab is under trial in the super publicised event that we love to want to remember.
Interesting that the same industrial house that runs the Taj Palace would not mind influencing a government's `going easy' on Union Carbide plant that killed 10,000 people.
Compensation track record: the biggest joke.
The year it happened: 1984. Twenty five years.
The two events had a primary difference. One was about blatantly criminal negligence by a chemical plant. Another was about terrorists from an enemy country going on rampage in the heart of Mumbai.
Twenty five years. Not a long time. For millions born after the tragedy, life is everyday death.
Yet, our public consciousness has wiped the Bhopal Gas tragedy away, while we make every effort to preserve the terror-victim identity through branding, diplomatic hob-nobbing and political dialogue.
Read this piece by Sunil Jain:
One only wonders if we deserve the governments that rule us:
Carbide refuses to accept any kind of responsibility or show any remorse, other than: “The 1984 gas leak in Bhopal was a terrible tragedy that understandably continues to evoke strong emotions even 25 years later.”He continues his argument against the blatant human rights violation in his piece further.
Various government reports, however, have given Carbide a clean chit. A report by the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) at Gwalior said the site’s waste had less toxicity than table salt. Another, by the Gandhi Medical College in Bhopal, acknowledged a four times higher rate of sickness among residents of areas closer to the Bhopal factory, even in those born after the accident, but said “there was no evidence to suggest that any toxic substance present in the Union Carbide factory so far has reached the ground water and then to the human body”.So Kasab is the all important hero who we need to nail to balm our bruised national consciousness, while Union Carbide, the foreign plant that refuses responsibility, gets bailed out blatantly over the years, in spite of an entire new generation born with deformities.
We have our favourites with terrorism, tragedy and numbers don't we?
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