Bhopal: Is the Long Wait for Justice Over?

It’s a relief to see a little justice being meted out over Bhopal, only 20 or more years too late. The long-standing avoidance of justice is a major stain on the PR industry, bearing in mind how integral PR was in keeping the case out of the courts over the last 25 years.

The Indian unit of US chemicals firm Union Carbide has been found guilty of negligence and seven former employees have been fined and jailed for two years, although it’s all too little too late for the families of those affected by the gas disaster.

The PR companies who have charged huge fees to help cover up the worst effects of Bhopal’s toxic spew should be glad they are all a couple of continents away from the families of the affected Indians, some of whom are calling for the former workers to be hanged.

Decades of successful delay have made the Bhopal disaster feel like ancient history and if it weren’t for satirists and seekers of justice keeping on campaigning, the victims and the people who helped keep them that way may have been forgotten.

Certain affiliates of the circle of PR hell responsible need to hang their heads in shame. Bhopal is one of its biggest black marks – the small measure of closure afforded the victims’ families in the Indian courts is a start, but it’s only a beginning, given the amount of reparation needed.

I guess dirty corporate laundry usually results in costly stain removal. What price, then, for a clean conscience?