Damning Indictment

Damning Indictment It has been written before and it will be written again in the years to come: If Union Carbide is squarely to blame for killing thousands, it is the Indian state with all its institutions which must take responsibility for the agony of those who have died in Bhopal in the years since. With each passing month evidence accumulates pointing to the culpability of the government and raising serious questions about the credibility of premier scientific and medical institutions funded by public money, leave alone their efficiency or capability. The minority report of the Committee for Bhopal Gas Victims appointed by the Supreme Court is not only a comment on the impotence and the loss of direction of most of the research and medical institutions involved in Bhopal but also highlights a more fundamental issue: the growing signs of an erosion of the authority of the judiciary and a disregard for legal processes.