BP Oil Spill and Bhopal Tragedy

Dear God,

The quantum of publicity that the BP Oil spill is garnering is truly amazing. There are days when Anderson Cooper opens 360 with a "Day 70 and nothing has moved.." or "Despite repeated efforts, Tony Hayward refuses to make an official statement". CNN dedicates a good half-hour dose of the very latest as I tune in at 7.30 am.

Also amazing is how Plaquemines Parish President Bill Nungesser openly criticises the Obama administration for their lackadaisical approach to the disaster. Jimmy Buffet, Bob Redford, Bill Maher have been working hard and have been equivocal following BP's so-called "90% clean up". Today, Sanjay Gupta filled in for Anderson and he was equally vocal about the way treatment was meted out to the animals (mute sufferers of the tragedy). Every show makes you sit up and take serious notice, you just can't avoid following the developments once you have had a taste of it. Now that's journalism, responsible, in-the-face (I know, I know but excuse me for once) and powerful.

And all in all, CNN has with poignance conveyed the urgency, a sense of war-time. This is an episode in history that is hard to forget and will make generations to come cite as a major milestone.

A sharp contrast is the Indian Press and its shoddy coverage of the Bhopal Gas tragedy. 25 years and hence, we have seen the issue come up either when there was nothing as hot or when it was truly motivated from some quarter. How many news channels have reported so rigorously and religiously from Ground zero? How frequent?

Worse still, I am surprised that a disaster of such magnitude continues to escape headlines on International news channels like CNN. Seriously, a damp squib when compared to the due coverage BP Oil Spill has received. Isn't IBN a partner channel with CNN? Why can't the "Great" Rajdeep Sardesai put in a word and follow up consistently on projecting it across the globe? That is responsible journalism too, isn't it?

That may not be the solution, there are challenges I agree. Fine, but if we got swift actions on issues like the "Death row penalties", compensations for the tragedy etc, it is all credit to journalism. Why then, did we slip here? Should it have taken 25 years and should the result have been so meek? We are all equally responsible, we are all equally answerable to you, Dear God.

Forgive us for we know not what we do....