So yesterday the final verdict of Bhopal Gas Tragedy came in. The media went crazy (as usual) saying a lot of gibberish that didn't make any sense. I don't want to make any comments about what was right or what was wrong. I've not been familiar with the entire score of the happenings, nor do I want to pretend that I know. My family came to Bhopal about six years after the mishap, and therefore it never really touched me.
But something about all the proceedings that went on yesterday made me sad. I started to read a bit about it, some people were crying foul, some said the case wasn't strong enough, blah blah blah. But nothing made that feeling any better.
The thing is this, how much do you pay for your life? What do your lungs cost? Have we ever thought about it? The newspapers said that 470 million dollars have been paid for damages. The number of people affected is approximately around 5.72 lakhs. I'm not even assuming that the actual victims will get the money, or if the number of them is higher or not. Even with the same number, it's somewhere around forty thousand rupees per person. Forty thousand for your eyes, your kidneys...your organs.
If that still means nothing, think of the people who are still suffering from the side effects. What do they consider as a punishment for people responsible for it? Do parents who see their children suffer every single day consider two years (and actually just 2 hours, they got out by bail) enough for them?
Again I have to say that I'm not pin pointing on anything, not the judiciary, not the system or the case or whatever. I consider these discussions endless and nothing ever comes out of it. I'm just feeling sad and trying to get this out of me.
