‘Rich people always get away’

Hysterical chants of “Phansi do, phansi do (hang them, hang them)” reverberated within the premises of a local court here that was set to pronounce its verdict on the Bhopal gas tragedy on Monday. Timeline | Worst industrial disasters

Hysterical chants of “Phansi do, phansi do (hang them, hang them)” reverberated within the premises of a local court here that was set to pronounce its verdict on the Bhopal gas tragedy on Monday.

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Victims and activists had turned out in large numbers despite prohibitory orders being clamped around the court premises. But the gates were locked and no one was allowed entry.

Anger soon turned to despondency and disappointment as soon as they learnt that the court had handed two-year sentences to eight senior executives found responsible for the world’s worst industrial disaster that left 15,000 dead.

“This is a travesty of justice. It sends a wrong message to the MNCs. ‘Come, set up units, kill and leave the place without any criminal liability,’ we seem to be telling them,” said Shamshad Begum, 48.

Begum lost her mother-in-law and son in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. The surviving members of her family suffer from respiratory diseases that prevent them from undertaking even minor work.

“Three of my daughters — Shanno, Tasneem and Tabassum — are married. But the youngest one Noorjehan, who was born after the tragedy with severely damaged lungs, lives with me,” Shamshad told Hindustan Times.

The charges pursued against the executives were reduced by the Supreme Court in 1996 from culpable homicide to death by negligence — the local court could only hand down a maximum sentence of two years in jail.

But the survivors, who have been through a painful struggle of 25 long years, are feeling a sense of anguish and depression.

“We were demanding justice, and look what we have got,” said Savitiri Mahe, standing outside the court holding a picture of her daughter who died in the gas leak.

“For 25 years we waited and now after two hours this morning these men have effectively been set free,” Mahe said.

Fifty-year-old Raeesa Bi, who lost her husband, children and father-in-law, is disillusioned. “This is an insult. The punishment has shaken the faith of the victims in the country’s judiciary system,” she said.

Many are convinced that if you don't have money, you suffer.

“Rich people always get away and we poor keep fighting till we die,” said Raghu Jaydev, 36, who lost his parents in the tragedy.

With agency inputs