Wednesday, December 2, 2009

5 Past Midnight in Bhopal

03.12.1984

Something happened 5 past Midnight in Bhopal, the capital of the Heart of India, Madhya Pradesh which left it's most bloody imprints on the face of mankind.
The Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

03.12.2007

I was in the final year of my engineering in NIT Bhopal, when I heard the name Warren Anderson, seriously, for the first time in my life.
Out on the streets of Bhopal, there were ghostly creatures, for they looked too special to be part of the same brethren of mankind to which I belonged. One fellow had joined limbs, another one had the face that would have given the Marsians a run for their money and what not.
Yet, they had that peculiar syndrome of mankind, pain, agony and disgust.
Anderson ko waapas lao, Anderson Hatyara Hai
Gas Peedeton ki Madad Karo
Bhopal awaits for Justice
It could have been you!!!
Slogans such as these could be heard across whole of Bhopal, be it MACT square, Mata Mandir, Topn Town, Railway Station, Lake.
Stirred by curiosity, I turned to the doors of the sacred British Library of Bhopal for help.
And then, Eureka, I found it!!
Five Past Midnight in Bhopal, by Dominique Lapierre.

After I finished reading the book, I wished it was fiction, I was not ready to accept that it was not a Ghost story of our childhood, but a glaring account of the genocide of about 5000 innocent Indians by a corporate, and of the millions of survivors by the petty system of our country.

03.12.2009

The memories of reading about the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, meeting it's survivors last year in Bhopal, and the pathetic state of the government authorities in dealing with the whole matter remind me of the fact, it could have been me too, it's just chance that I was not one of them.
But Yes, today, I can be one of them, stand with them, for them, for myself, for our common shared future.
As a responsible citizen of India, I will strive towards bringing justice to the victims and ensure that the lessons of Bhopal are well learnt and we should lobby in favour of stricter safety norms for our industrial as well as civic safety.

And as an informed and active citizen, I will strive towards exposing and filling the loop-holes in our system.

2 comments:

Ananya's Quill said...

We want answers for 26/11 incident, and forget in between dat graver issues have been silenced by time. Bhopal gas tragedy which led to many more deaths than the terror attack, till date grapples to attain justice.

The world's biggest industrial disaster took place at very own soil. First the victims faced the direct brunt of the disaster, and continue to get fresher wounds due to the complete ignorance and negligence shown by the government. Also, all the disabilites still being faced by young children, adults and animals comes as a blast from the past. The highest level of laxity is that still a lot of dangerous material like Lime sludge etc continues to be on site.

India needs to address such issues, and indians need to follow 'Not to forgive and not to forget' attitude.
Can't we do something?

Unknown said...

Seriously , the laid back attitude we have , just unite for a candle lite walk but dont come to vote on election day, let ppl just divide on base of cast, religion , and now states...its too mch ...Gas tradegy left the scar on Indian faith on Goverment...and how we make issues of this scale just a thing to talk on only on its anniversaries...Wake up..Ppl.