No Politics over Balasore Tragedy
Omkar Dattatray
Unfortunately the greatest and worst train accident of 21st century has shook the nation which cost the country the precious lives of 288 travelers and also wounded about 1000 persons .India and the world was grieved over the tragic rail collusion of the three trains .The train collusion of the three rails is the most unfortunate accident of the century which brought gloom and grief to the whole nation as this tragedy was unparalleled in the history of Indian railways .Government as well as the people of the country are grieved over the tragic rail accident which cost the nation heavily in terms of loss of human lives and it also injured some one thousand people and thus snatched the lives of a great number of people .While the Government is battling the worst tragedy and is yet to come to terms with the accident which is unprecedented in enormity of human and material loss ,it is doubly disturbing and unfortunate that the opposition parties are doing politics over the dead bodies which is totally unacceptable in a civilized society and our democracy .
Opposition and difference of opinion is the essence and soul of democracy but negative and blind opposition is the bane of modern democracies and it should not be resorted to .In the instant case of Balasore train tragedy the TMC ,congress and other political parties are doing politics and they do not cooperate with the government in relief and rescue measures and it is obvious that the opposition parties have no concern with the loss of the precious lives and they are politicking over the dead bodies and this is very disturbing and there should be no politics over the dead bodies but the bitter truth is that the TMC chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Benerjee is only making politics over the worst accident and tragedy of the century .The opposition parties including congress ,TMC,SP,RJD,JDU,CPIM and others should cooperate with the government in this hour of tragedy ,grief and trail but is a sorry state of affairs that these political parties are stooping very low and are only doing politics over the dead bodies which has no place in a democracy .
One fails to understand as to how has this big rail accident and collusion of three trains took place .At this time nothing certain can be said about the cause of this great tragedy as it has consumed precious lives of 288 people besides injuring 100 people and this tragedy has brought pall of gloom throughout the country and even abroad .A number of foreign countries are standing with India in this hour of grief and tragedy and they have promised all help .Mamata Banerjee and the congress leaders should realize that it is bad politics to politicize the dead bodies and the opposition parties should desist from and in fact shun the politics over the dead bodies as it is bound to backfire and is counterproductive .All the political parties of the treasury benches and opposition parties should master the art of doing positive and constructive politics and shun politicking over the Balasore tragedy and instead cooperate with the government in its relief and rehabilitation and shun dirty politicking over the dead bodies as it is not neither in the interest of the nation ,nor in the interest of those political parties who are playing politics over the Balasore tragedy .Prima face it seems that this unprecedented rail accident has happened because of the carelessness of the signal staff .
Railway board has recommended the CBI probe and investigation to unravel the whole truth and reasons which caused the great accident .The railway minister who is camping at the accident site and is himself overseeing the relief and rehabilitation has said that conspiracy and sabotage cannot be ruled out and the CBI will investigate all the angles and will bring out the truth .Prime minister Narendra Modi has taken a serious note of this railway accident and he has visited the accident spot and he has made it clear that all those whose carelessness and laxity has caused the accident of big magnitude shall not be spared and they will be punished as per the laws of the land .Therefore all those employees and officers of the Railway should be taken to task and justice should be done to the lives of the people killed and wounded .The official toll in the devastating train accident has been pegged at 288 so far with nearly 1000 sustaining injuries .
The horrific scenes of the crash site saw overturned bogies and smashed coaches with blood strained debris .The incident involving the Shalimar-Chennai coromandel express ,Bengularu –Howrah Superfast express and a goods train ,is considered as one of the deadliest train accidents in the country in over two decades .On Saturday PM Narendra Modi arrived at the scene ,talked to rescue workers and inspected the wreckage .He also met the survivors at hospitals. ,Railways minister Ashiwini Vaishnaw announced high level probe into derailment .Railway minister Ashwani Vaishnaw gets emotional while giving byte on restoring both the main rail line and says the responsibility is not over yet .Odisha chief secretary PK Jena said his government has no intention to hide the deaths in the Balasore train crash and the entire operation was being conducted in full public view .Telangana BJP spokesperson hits back at the opposition over Odisha train accident by saying it is no time for doing politics .Hitting out at the opposition for demanding the resignation of Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the wake of accident in Balasore ,Telangana BJP spokesperson NV Subash said that it is not the time tom play politics over such a tragic incident .Instead all political parties should come forward and extend their support in rescue and relief operations .Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that politics should not be done at the moment and politicians should understand their responsibility .
Railway minister said driver error rule out and possible sabotage will be probed and he said that people behind the criminal act identified .Although CBI enquiry has been sought ,the inquiry by the commissioner of railway safety –CRS would continue Senior BJP leader and union minister Ravishankar Prasad criticized the opposition parties including the congress and RJD for engaging in political maneuvers over the tragic Balasore train accident .He said PM Modi ‘lives for people’ and lauded the premier for himself visiting the accident site in Balasore .Expressing condolences over the tragic incident he said the centre is engaged in relief and rescue work in collaboration with the Odisha government .As opposition leaders demanded the resignation of rail minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the aftermath of the triple train crash in Odisha’s Balasore which killed 288 people besides injuring about 1000 people ,BJP advised the opposition not to politicize the tragedy as it is neither in the interest of the country nor in the interest of the opposition parties .To conclude it can be opined that the tragedy should not be politicized by the opposition parties as it pricks the conscience of the people and politicians if they have one.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist)
