Passing on the buck

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Ever since the court gave its verdict and the public, the press and the opposition reacted, demanding justice, Arjun Singh broke his what seemed to be a long silence this morning. "I didn't let Anderson go", he lashed out. However, the 79 year old veteran indicated that the Bhopal Gas Tragedy finds a place of importance in his biography to be released soon.   According to then deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy, Gordon Streeb, when Anderson was arrested in Bhopal he (Streeb) “immediately contacted the foreign ministry and was assured the government of India will honour its commitment to provide Anderson safe passage in and out of India”.  Then foreign secretary Rasgotra has claimed Anderson was given “safe passage” on the advice of then-home minister P V Narasimha Rao and cabinet secretary C R Krishnaswamy Rao. American secret service CIA’s East Asia brief dated December 8, 1984, declassified in January 2002, indicates the Rajiv Gandhi government had hastened the release of Anderson from house arrest and blames the MP government for the arrest.  Meanwhile, the GoM will meet again today to finalize the crucial issues like compensation and the reframing of the list of the people affected by the Gas Tragedy. An amount of Rs. 3000 crores has already been declared by the Central Government as compensation to be given to the victims apart from Rs. 982 crores declared by the Planning Commission.   What remains to seen is whether this time the actual victims are really benefitted or once again the smart and the shrewd get away with the lion's share, leaving the victims fight an endless battle for justice.