"25 years after Bhopal leak, 7 are punished; Terms enrage survivors of India disaster" by Rama Lakshmi, Washington Post | June 8, 2010
NEW DELHI — Survivors and victims groups immediately blasted the verdict and sentence as “too little, too late,’’ and the Indian government, in an effort to avoid confrontation, banned protesters from entering the court grounds.
The protesters criticized the country’s Supreme Court for reducing the charges to negligence from “culpable homicide amounting to murder,’’ and therefore shrinking the potential sentences. Two years in prison is the maximum sentence for causing death by negligence.
“This sentence is a joke on the people of Bhopal who waited 25 years for justice,’’ said Abdul Jabbar, a victim who heads the largest women’s survivors group.
Rachna Dhingra, a campaigner for the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, said “the message of the verdict is that the corporations can come, kill, and release toxic gases and nothing will happen to them.’’
Dec. 3, 1984, when deadly plumes of the poisonous gas methyl isocyanate began leaking out of a pesticide factory shortly after midnight.
At least 3,000 people were killed immediately, and more than 500,000 people ultimately were affected by gas-related diseases.
Related: The Mumbai Myth Takes Hold
Actually, the Bhopal disaster is closer to 9/11 in many ways.
Survivors of the accident have demanded that the Michigan-based
Advocates say that thousands of residents continue to suffer from chronic illnesses such as poor eyesight and respiratory and gynecological problems....
--more--"Related:
[Any other country would have gone the extra mile to penalize the foreign corporation--not India. From Union Carbide's perspective, this massive industrial accident couldn't have happened in a better location. Only a nation which sees one class of its own citizens as "untouchables" (compared to the highest class, which produces a religious variant of the elite that are referred to as "godmen") could be counted on to defend the corporations instead of the victimized poor, in an industrial travesty of this magnitude.
India's relationship with American corporations is clearly far more important than the lives of a few thousand "untouchables."]
Front-page feature:
"For hotels, a perfect match; Recession-hit hosts embrace Indian weddings" by Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | June 8, 2010
MARLBOROUGH — Best Western is among the many hotels actively pursuing this lucrative market as they struggle to make up for last year’s recession-diminished revenues....
In the Indian culture, marrying off a child is a matter of pride, and parents spare no expense to throw a traditional wedding, said wedding planner and decorator Shobha Shastry....
“They’ve begun to realize that this is a relatively affluent community,’’ said photographer Nabil Kapasi, who worked the Patel wedding at the Best Western with another photographer, two videographers, and an assistant to capture all the action....
But Indian weddings come with many rituals, and they often require extra effort. Hindu ceremonies are conducted at what is known as an auspicious time, determined by the bride and groom’s birth dates and based on the Hindu calendar, and it’s not always convenient.
Nadine Reibeling, special events manager at the Taj, once reported to the hotel in the middle of the night to help the bride get ready. “Her hair and makeup started at 2:30 in the morning,’’ said Reibeling, who has also looked into getting an elephant for the groom’s procession, known as a baraat.
Four hours after the rowdy baraat at the Patel wedding in Marlborough, the newlyweds climbed into the back seat of an Acura sport utility vehicle....
--more--"Related: Indian Wedding Day
Also see: The Boston Globe's April Bookends From India
Must be due for some more Indian articles in the Globe soon.
