Dear All/ Amitabh, I dont know how much understanding folks have of the Bhopal RIP off. I was one of the gas recepients on that night in 1984. I filed for a claim but due to my being settled in US then, I did not pursue too much.
Later, I realised that claims are being sold for 5k by the lower judges (or their agents) and 10k by likes of Indian services and 20k by politicians. Then came NGOs. The owners of most prominent ones have become quite rich while victims have remained poor. After all analysis, I think that Anderson's crime ( one where you cant say with certainty if it was intentional or due to greed and hence criminal punishment is restricted) was much lower than what happened or was done subsequently by politicians, judiciary and red tape subsequently. The money distributed first time was enough to take rich care of victims in their lifetime but it was all wasted or eaten up while distribution. For each 20k given to victims, the bribery was around 5k. Secondly , if you look at the arguments in the case , the erstwhile UC (criminals) never even questioned the role of civil administration in allowing population around it in the master plan. They never spoke about the various safety licences granted and the monthly factory inspector audits and the fact that they had cleared them every month. The guilty in the local court case have long ago bought peace and prosperity with politicians, red tape , NGO heads and judiciary. The mess is very deep. After my return from US, I started setting up our own businesses. But held some principles of not giving bribes etc. Soon from a small TI (thana incharge) to small corporators were upset. Later a big goon MLA (SP, now in congress) was upset as he wanted his name on our premises. What followed was a complete destruction of everything we had built . When help was required, my own IIT and IIM folks who were in Civil services were either looking away or had no say. It took us 4 years of bitter war to get our lives and what we owned back and get a sense of justice. But it happened because even after complete loss, we were alive and had brains and knowledge to guide (in darkest period, in order to know a way to fight the demons created by the system, I read every good guide from Gandhi to Lord of the rings to Godfather and coldly followed the lessons) But gas victims have no such guide or a hope for one. They are in clutches of everyone from politicians to red tape to NGOs and judiciary. They will be in their clutches as long as a lot of money can be earned by using them. Warm Regards Sandeep MD, 7Avenues Cell: +91-8109595175 www.7avenues.com, www.7to9retail.com ________________________________ From: Amitabh Thakur <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wed, June 23, 2010 8:44:02 AM Subject: [bm] Bhopal- RIP "Why don't these activists just let Bhopal disaster rest in peace. Let bygones be bygones."- quoted from "Warren in Wonderland". Bhopal- Rest in Peace There was a time when we knew Bhopal, as the newly assigned capital of Madhya Pradesh, it soon emerged as an important city, and certainly a decently big one. But the city was to hit infamy, not because of the deeds of its people, it were to be some outsiders, who would made it known world-wide. It was Sunday, the night of 2nd December, the people in India were sleeping, and so was Bhopal, the poor workers of Union Carbide, as also the ordinary folks living around, tomorrow was to be Monday, yet another day for the struggle to survive, the daily churning of life to live alive. Destiny seemed to be thinking otherwise, it had decided to play some real dirty mischief, and lo, it got ample support from human frailities, of lust, of desire, selfishness, hankering and unending thirst. The die was cast and the situation favourable, it needed only a little spark, Methyl Iso cynate came forward to volunteer, the rest is history of death and destruction, of poor men dying the most horrible deaths, being accompanied by their wives and children, and fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters, it was a case of absolute equality, MIC didnot distinguish them on caste and religion, shrieks and wallows, yellings and cries, loud rendering of screaming screech, getting mixed in the putrid tin of death, formed a rancid cocktail of evelasting destruction, one that many did not heed to, one that got ignored in other important compulsions, one that ranked rather low on parameters of importance, one that could be "managed" in ways intelligent, and so the story meandered through, its ghost still popping up now and then, would have gone back to slumber in the den of death, in the absence of obstinate, unyielding and dangerous creatures, the likes of Jabbars and Sathyus, Rachnas, Jayaprakash and Irfans, they are the real sores, the hell-raisers, who would not let the sad history die down, and let it Rest in Peace (RIP) happily for ever. Amitabh Thakur IIM Lucknow # 94155-34526
