Just say sorry, and pay up!

It’s a tale of two tragedies, both man made disasters barely separated by month, which shattered the nation 25 years ago.

Two tragedies – The Bhopal gas disaster & the anti-Sikh riots. One happened in Bhopal & other in national capital. Both claimed approximately an equal number of lives- 3,000, though Bhopal toll grew in leaps & bound to touch 20,000 figures.

But that’s not all it’s also a tale of a blundering system, which failed to deliver adequate judgment…. even for tragedies of this magnitude. Despite the scale of tragedy, we failed to render justice to the victims in both the cases even after two & half decades.

Delhi massacre which was the consequence on Sikhs after Indira Gandhi was shot dead by one of her Sikh bodyguard. Bhopal tragedy on the other hand, was due to the leakage of deadly Methyl isocynate gas from Union Carbide Corp.

None of the leaders & officials accused of complicity in Delhi violence has been convicted. All that they did was created a sorry figure & moved ahead…. Only 20 people were convicted in mass murder held in the capital. Still that is more than what could be said about the Bhopal incident, where trial is supposed to be still going on.

So, as there are several similarities in both the case…. In terms of... Lack of judgment, Scale of the disaster, Minority involvement….. But all similarities vanishes when it comes to compensation for victims of the two man made disasters. While victims of anti- Sikh riots received Rs 7 lakh those of Bhopal disaster got merely Rs 12,410 even though data shows that the incident claimed 20,000 deaths & even today many are still suffering.

Is this the law of the land, where most of the time government has only one thing to do, Just say sorry and pay up. And trust me its not just government....we common people… have we ever thought of our responsibilities as an Indian, as a Human. If not, then just think… Is there nothing beyond power, money, and selfishness? Do you think in any way our acts as a society are justifiable in the court of humanity?


Jyoti

Ref: TOI