27 Stagnant Years - Dow shall pay!

- Tears keep rolling

“It was the fateful days of 2^nd – 3^rd December when I cried incessantly. Ever since, I have lived the life of the dead. These two days, 27 years ago, brought with them the message of death. The time stood still and with that my breath. The first rays of the morning Sun fell on thousands of my dead sons and daughters. I could see them blurred through my tearful eyes and hear their deafening screams. Vultures eclipsed some of those rays that investigated the corpses. I wish that day never came. I wish I had much more than just a name. I wish I was capable of action.”

- deranged Bhopal

I think in attempting to personify Bhopal, I have not done even an iota of justice to the indignation that she shares along with her residents. However, can anyone? The purpose of this piece is not get into statistics (for we all know the officially we lost about 3000 lives, in reality there were more than 20000 or how many can never walk or talk or anything, plus the etceteras). I want to highlight the challenges that we face as a nation owing to the inexplicable soft stance of the government. I read the ticker of a news channel informing that Dow chemicals told Supreme Court that it won’t pay any more compensation ( Invigorated for their website mentions “Dow to receive 2012 Green cross for safety medal” – safety?). Now that’s some mettle! ([Offline] Much to the chagrin of the victims of the tragedy and of compassionate minds, Dow is the sponsor of the London Olympics. [/offline]) . Whereas our needle has not moved in getting Warren Andersen extradited (come on, don’t blame the government. Cut that old man some slack The Hindu life also believes that the age of renunciation should go peaceful. Hail Congress!).

What angers many like me is not that calamities happen, but that they can be avoided, with practically efforts no more than normal sanity checks. Hurts. The dead bodies piled exponentially in matter of hours that day – intelligent humans and not so wise animals alike.Add to it , the dismal past we have for truthful honest professionals. Rajkumar Keswani , an efficient journalist had foreseen this catastrophe and warned the government time and again. An excerpt from one of his interviews I paste below:

“I started working on this story in 1981. That was the time when my friend Mohammad Asharaf was working in Union Carbide India Limited. He died due to exposure to phosgene gas. I had an idea that some hazardous chemicals are being used in the Bhopal factory. I reported on his death and then worked for nine months on knowing about the factory. I reported my first story in September 1982. In October that year I ran a series and wrote weekly reports against Union Carbide and the possibility of risk to human lives due to the chemicals in the plant. People treated me like a crazy man. They used to tell me, 'Arre aisa kabhi hota hai kya? Aisa kabhi hua hai kya is duniya mein?' (Do things like this happen? Have such things happened anywhere in the world?)”

Source: http://news.rediff.com/interview/2010/jun/11/interview-man-who-warned-of-the-bhopal-gas-leak.htm

He posted his last article in October of 1984 warning the stubborn government. Needless to say, we had other things to look at.

However, we can’t repair the past. What are we doing now? We have thousands of people protesting for what should be their right. They have not received adequate compensation. Octogenarians in the street, suggests how much we respect our elderlies. (age of sanyasa/ renunciation – peaceful at that? Shameful). The lack of cooperation from US raises some doubts. Whilst , in the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, BP was given stern warning from the US government and it had to set aside multi-billion dollar fund to cover the cost of current and future losses (3 people died and It almost degenerated into a political war between the US and the UK), in case of India there we thousands who perished, but for our lack of conviction and loss of respect for each other, we are still no where. May be we can do some good by respecting people (beyond the days of voting).

Hope there is some divine intervention that makes the government realize the pain of its masters (the masses). Pro- activity can help save the day. We do not lack funds, just a dearth of empathy. I refuse to believe that while they can flaunt 3 crore rupees (per MP) in Cash-for-vote scam in a display shaming parliamentary democracy , they can’t take care of those who need them dearly ( to make a glaring contrast you can add the money involved in 2G , CWG etc etc scams). Classic case of Policy Paralysis. Whatever be the outcome of the court hearings, the government should help the victims and the family with their funds (may be scale down on their scams for funds!). I think the Kamal Naths, the Sharad Pawars can come forward and donate some sum out of their paltry accruals as politicians ( As citizens , we should too) to help the needy. A simple gesture to come in support would at least help bring a smile on the faces of those who have forgotten the meaning of good healthy life.

From

- 'Lucky'- not-to-be born in Bhopal