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Apathy towards Bhopal victims a sin: Lapierre

By Our Staff Reporter

Dominic Lapierre — Photo: T. SIngaravelou

PONDICHERRY, DEC. 12. "Pondicherry too is my city of joy," says Dominic Lapierre, the author of "The City of Joy."

But don't be mistaken by Mr. Lapierre's comment, for he is not making any parallels between Kolkata and Pondicherry when he termed the latter as his second city of joy.

"It is one of the most beautiful places in the world. More than its landscape, what is more beautiful about this place is that two different cultures exist in harmony. That is the beauty of this place and it too is my city of joy," Mr. Lapierre told The Hindu in an informal chat here today. He is on a short visit to Pondicherry — his second in the last four years.

Mr. Lapierre said Pondicherry is about the France of yesteryears and the India of today.

Mr. Lapierre does not favour the idea of renaming places. "I find in Pondicherry many streets named after French rulers. It is good to see that those names are still maintained. These are cults of the past," he said.

Mr. Lapierre, who recounted the horrifying tales of the 1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy in his latest work — "Five past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster, — said the entire royalty from his work would be spent for the living victims. "Already I have started my work there. The work for constructing a gynaecology hospital in Bhopal is fast progressing and it would be ready by March," he added.

Mr. Lapierre said if the Government does not help the victims towards getting compensation, they would be committing another sin.

`Benefited a lot'

About his love for India, he said, " I have benefited a lot with my association with this country. This country has tremendous future. But I don't want to see two Indias, where one segment of the population has all the privileges and another segment, which is the majority, living in utter poverty."

He further added that his next work would be about the life and living conditions of people living in the Sunderbans in West Bengal.

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Apathy towards Bhopal victims a sin: Lapierre

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