26 and counting..

We are back to the last month of the year.

Another year of the new millennium is about to make way for the next.

And once more we will be told about what happened 26 years ago in the capital of the state at the center of India.

The grief, the pain, the suffering, the accusations, the pleas for 'justice', the 'hope' never ceases to end.

The saga continues !

Many were delighted when last month Obama hinted at his willingness to support India's candidature for the 'coveted' permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council. These people claimed that the moment of India has arrived and has been acknowledged by the United States at last.

But somewhere I am a bit perplexed. How can a country which cannot bring to justice those responsible for 2/3rd December 1984 even after 312 months hope to join the 'powerful' security council as a permanent member?

The manner in which US dealt with British Petroleum for the oil spill demonstrates the power which US commands and shows how it can dictate terms to corporations doing business in the US. BP learnt it the hard way how much it 'costs' to do business with the US. Reports have suggested that BP has had to shell out close to US $ 40 billion so far to manage one of the worst oil spills in the recent history.

When one compares the above case with the way in which India has dealt with respect to the world's worst industrial disaster, one can observe the glaring differences. There is a stark contrast the manner in which the two countries dealt with the two man made disasters.It is in this light that India's claim for the permanent seat appears shallow. The Union Carbide had been acquired by Dow Chemicals and it continues to do business in India as usual. There is one difference however in the two cases, the oil spill in the US did not cause loss of human lives, while the Bhopal gas leak has led to the death of more than 20,000 people so far( even when we forget those who continue living with the scars).

Till date the area in the vicinity of the plant site has not been cleared and people are allowed to live there and drink the highly poisonous water. When the Union and the state ministers are informed about this, they come up with a response: " look I am holding the soil in my hand, did anything happen to me?" and " These people live there by will and there is no problem in that".

To say that these statements aggravate the agony would be an understatement. 

To have such statements from the ministers in a year when the issue of Bhopal gas tragedy hogged the limelight for various reasons in the middle of the year is all the more shocking.

One still continues to hope and pray that the wait ultimately result in reducing the sufferings of people.

 

25 3rd Decembers have passed, this will too !