3rd December 1984, Bhopal
A cool December evening in Bhopal slums, infants sleeping, children playing under the watchful eyes of their parents, old people gossiping over a cup of chai, these people seldom know that this day will change their lives forever.
A dense cloud of poisonous gas is slowly settling down on these dimly lit streets, helped by the wind slaughtering people as they sleep, by morning 8,000 dead and still counting.
The Union Carbide Pesticide Plant was the silent assassin, killing innocent lives in cold blood, till today the death toll has been 15,000, yet the victims and their families have not received any justice.
Eight of them responsible for this heinous crime have been given a jail term of 2 yrs?? What is the difference between these people and Kasab? This is sheer injustice, a slap in the knuckles is not what Bhopal needs, Bhopal needs to drain its river of blood that has been flowing and flooding in a steady stream for the past 25 yrs and it needs Justice to wipe away tears of all those families who have lost their loved ones. It’s unacceptable to even imagine that it has taken 25 yrs to bring these iniquitous individuals to justice and then give them a term of 2yrs in jail, this is beyond my imagination it’s appalling how inapt the Indian judicial system is.
The scars of that night are still raw the site of the pesticide plant is now abandoned, taken over by the government. Poison is still found there.
Bhopal has an unusually high incidence of children with birth defects and growth deficiency.
Cancers, diabetes and chronic illnesses are reported to be high...
The main Accused Warren Anderson has not been charged, none of the US executives have been charged and all the 8 accused are former Indian employees and one was convicted posthumously!
