The system needs thorough cleansing

After the much awaited bhopal gas judgement was delivered,the media is full of reports,statements,and comments of those who matter in the system criticising and condemning the total insensitivity of those in the helm of affairs about the plight of Bhopal Gas Victims.There is a lot of hue and cry about the VIP treatment given to Warren Anderson, the head of Union Carbide Corp. at the time of the gas leak and the safe passage facilitated for him. A lot of energies are being waisted on fixing responsibility for ensuring safe return of Warren Anderson to the USA.In the process what is being ignored is the reasons for this worst industrial Holocaust.It has now been established that the disaster was the result of lax safety standards or faulty plant design.The Central Bureau of Investigation also maintained that the plant had not been following proper safety procedures.

This means the foundations of this disaster was laid with the laying of the foundation of the Union Carbide India Ltd. It is high time to find out as to who was responsible for issuing no objection certificate to this factory with faulty design. Secondly, who were the people ignoring non implementation of safety standards.There were reports in the press before the disaster about its possibility.Still those responsible for ensuring safety standards were not awakened.Mere fixing responsibility for ensuring safe return, or just exploring the possibilities of bringing Warren Anderson back in the country for trial would be mere wast of energies for many reasons.First the long and complicated procedure of extradition is a big hindrance. Second USA is notorious for protecting its erring MNCs at any cost.(The CIA engineered coup in Chilli in 1970s is just one example). In case of Bhopal also we have seen that the concerned authorities were rewarded for their services to the the Union Carbide India Ltd. . Third, the trial of Bhopal Gas disaster has shown how all the three branches of the Government of India are sold to the US business interests.In such a situation the only hope lies in the robust administrative system,where the functionary fears law and resists all sorts of pressures to twist or break the laws, rules and regulations to protect and promote the interests of unscrupulous vested interests.
The reactions after the judgement has also shown lack of seriousness and empathy of those in the office to day. No political leader, administrative officer and those responsible for imparting justice felt it appropriate to admit ones mistake and apologise for it to the victims. Instead everybody was actively playing the blame game or finding excuses for ones inaction or wrongdoing.It seems all those who adorn our political, administrative or judicial posts can not commit any mistakes but the system is still rotten.The same spirit is visible in the whole exercise of providing remedial measures. It is a question of one up man ship not of repentance.The environment would have been different if both the Congress and BJP had initiated remedial measures to atone their past mistakes.Instead it is the game of symbolism.
It is pertinent to add that politics of symbolism does not remedy maladies of the system.We have seen in Jaishika Lal and priyadarshini Mattu case that after media took up these cases justice was done to the victims. But the system was not cleaned of the elements who hindered justice in these cases.Cleansing of the system is essential for preventing the travesty of justice.

it is time for soul searching not for head hunting

Shri Mohan P. Tiwari the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal has shed enough light on our corrupt and inefficient system. In 1975,before granting the UCIl licence the Government of India put safety condition and the condition of not polluting the air, water and soil of Bhopal.But after getting the licence, the UCIL flouted all the conditions that were imposed on it.The local administration, the Government of Madhya Pradesh and the GOI instead of monitoring the smooth functioning of safety mechanism looked the other side and allowed the UCIL to ignore and violate all the norms set in the agreement.Obviously this was done in a planned manner and for a consideration.It seems everybody and anybody who had anything to do with prosecuting those responsible for the biggest industrial disaster in the world was obliged by the UCIL and they sincerely protected the UCIL interest and are still promoting the interests of its successor company. Till now no body has regretted for overtly or covertly jeopardizing the interests of people of Bhopal. This makes it amply clear that there is something some where fundamentally wrong with our system which needs to be rectified. So that in future our popularly elected governments and the bureaucrats working under them serve Indian people not the transnational corporations who come here only to earn huge profits.While the guilty must get appropriate punishment and the victims adequate compensation, we as a nation need doing soul searching to find ways and means of rectifying the system. So that those who hold the rains of power do not dare to harm the interests of the country and its people.