New Delhi:
The US wishes the Bhopal gas tragedy victims well and hopes there is closure for them. In Bhopal, the victims describe Monday's verdict of a two-year sentence and bail for the accused as mockery of justice.
There are many who have grown old just waiting to see those they hold responsible punished. And now are dismayed by the lack of accountability.
At Ground Zero, in a locality adjacent to the Union Carbide pesticide plant that leaked the lethal methyl isocynate in 1984, every family lost at least one member. Those who did not die, are still suffering.
Aliya Bano was 55 when the Bhopal was poisoned. She lost 16 members of her family, including her husband, three sons and their wives. Aliya Bano was blinded and her lungs were damaged. All she can say is, "Insaaf nahi hua, galat hua. Unko chodhna nahi chaiye tha hamara dil bahut gabratha hai, rote rahte hai. (This is no justice, this is wrong. They should not have been let off. My heart weeps)."
Most of the victims of the gas disaster were poor, illiterate people. Many did not even know that the charges in the case that was decided on Monday were merely for criminal negligence.
Far from bringing closure, the verdict has sent Bhopal's survivors into a second phase of grief.
There are many who have grown old just waiting to see those they hold responsible punished. And now are dismayed by the lack of accountability.
At Ground Zero, in a locality adjacent to the Union Carbide pesticide plant that leaked the lethal methyl isocynate in 1984, every family lost at least one member. Those who did not die, are still suffering.
Aliya Bano was 55 when the Bhopal was poisoned. She lost 16 members of her family, including her husband, three sons and their wives. Aliya Bano was blinded and her lungs were damaged. All she can say is, "Insaaf nahi hua, galat hua. Unko chodhna nahi chaiye tha hamara dil bahut gabratha hai, rote rahte hai. (This is no justice, this is wrong. They should not have been let off. My heart weeps)."
Most of the victims of the gas disaster were poor, illiterate people. Many did not even know that the charges in the case that was decided on Monday were merely for criminal negligence.
Far from bringing closure, the verdict has sent Bhopal's survivors into a second phase of grief.
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