The collision between two trains at Sainthia station was a very bad episode, which took lives of many innocent people and injured many more. But what is more disturbing is the blame game that ensued.
First, it was the railway minister herself, claiming it to be some kind of conspiracy. Then there were many more theories blaming either the signal system, or the station employees, or the signal man. And now, its the turn of the drivers and the guard, dead or living. Dead more so, than living.
When will Indians learn to keep their mouth shut, if the time is not right? Why do we, unqualified people for this kind of analysis and investigation job, jump to conclusions? Why not instead wait for the investigations to complete and then demand the dispension of justice in a right manner?
You know what my theory behind this mysterious accident it? Maoists hijacked the train at red signal, and killed the driver and the co driver in some way which will not be revealed easily. Then they started the train, and jumped off it while it was picking up speed. That can explain why the brakes were not applied even as it was speeding to ram into the other train. Far-fetched, but possible, isn’t it? But then why should I not go forward and put up this theory? Well, we still have a living guard, who can shed some light maybe.
But all said, how long will this investigation take? Will it take few more accidents of such nature to get to some conclusion as to what is causing them? Also, do we really have the necessary forensic expertise to solve such mysteries? All these questions will go unanswered, so will the question of what caused the accident. The blame will be put on the driver, and the matter will cool down very soon.
I feel sad to remind the very recent accident in aviation industry, when a plane crashed at New Mangalore airport, killing almost all the passengers. The very first reaction by the authorities was to blame the pilot, even before the black box was recovered. The investigating officials were red faced when their preliminary report, after about a month of the accident, marked the site and the runway of the accident, different from the actual location. What can we expect from such investigation teams?
Its easier to blame the dead, because they are not coming back for their self defense.