I knew this hullabaloo would die as fast as it was raked up.
Less than a month back, when the courts announced their verdict on the Bhopal gas tragedy, there was a great deal of public anger on what had (not) happened and why.
The media played a grand role in whipping up passions.
For nearly two weeks, all we heard were views and discussions on the matter ad nauseum. There were demands for extradition of Warren Anderson, the then head of Union Carbide in India, etc. etc.
It beats all logic to get Warren Anderson extradited. What punishment can a court mete out to a senile 90-year old? If at all a conviction is carried out, won't it be as bad as justice denied?
Another raging controversy is British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill threatens the fragile ecosystem of the Gulf, but did not claim thousand's of lives.
The Obama administration's response was swift and brutal.
British Petroleum has been forced to escrow USD 20 billion as a spill response fund to deal with the ecological disaster that adversely impacts the marine life and the fishing industry. The fallout could be fatal for British Petroleum - it has been forced to sell its oil fields in Alaska and itself could be bought out by Exxon-Mobil.
Compare this with the pittance of a compensation thrown out to the victims of the Bhopal tragedy.
Perhaps, the life of each fish or bird or shrimp in the Gulf of mexico is more valuable than that of each human victim in Bhopal.
Such is the irony.
Had a disaster of half the magnitude of Bhopal happened in China, the United States would have been forced to pay up.
The blame lies with our politicians of 1984 and those of today. Despite prolonged suffering of our people, Manmohan Singh did not do any tough talking with Obama on Bhopal.
Just today, there was a leakage of chlorine into the atmosphere in Sewri, Bombay. Over a hundred people had to be hospitalised.
How can hazardous industry be allowed to operate within municipal limits in a megapolis like Bombay. I know for a fact Delhi and Calcutta are no different.
Perhaps, a hundred Bhopals are waiting to happen and our government will again be caught napping.
Less than a month back, when the courts announced their verdict on the Bhopal gas tragedy, there was a great deal of public anger on what had (not) happened and why.
The media played a grand role in whipping up passions.
For nearly two weeks, all we heard were views and discussions on the matter ad nauseum. There were demands for extradition of Warren Anderson, the then head of Union Carbide in India, etc. etc.
It beats all logic to get Warren Anderson extradited. What punishment can a court mete out to a senile 90-year old? If at all a conviction is carried out, won't it be as bad as justice denied?
Another raging controversy is British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill threatens the fragile ecosystem of the Gulf, but did not claim thousand's of lives.
The Obama administration's response was swift and brutal.
British Petroleum has been forced to escrow USD 20 billion as a spill response fund to deal with the ecological disaster that adversely impacts the marine life and the fishing industry. The fallout could be fatal for British Petroleum - it has been forced to sell its oil fields in Alaska and itself could be bought out by Exxon-Mobil.
Compare this with the pittance of a compensation thrown out to the victims of the Bhopal tragedy.
Perhaps, the life of each fish or bird or shrimp in the Gulf of mexico is more valuable than that of each human victim in Bhopal.
Such is the irony.
Had a disaster of half the magnitude of Bhopal happened in China, the United States would have been forced to pay up.
The blame lies with our politicians of 1984 and those of today. Despite prolonged suffering of our people, Manmohan Singh did not do any tough talking with Obama on Bhopal.
Just today, there was a leakage of chlorine into the atmosphere in Sewri, Bombay. Over a hundred people had to be hospitalised.
How can hazardous industry be allowed to operate within municipal limits in a megapolis like Bombay. I know for a fact Delhi and Calcutta are no different.
Perhaps, a hundred Bhopals are waiting to happen and our government will again be caught napping.
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