In a Culture of Fear

Human interest stories are important when tragedy strikes

- Abhik Bhattachary

SHOWN above is a smattering of headlines from a few mainstream news media in the immediate aftermath of the disastrous train accident on 2 June that took around 300 lives and left more than a thousand injured in Balasore, Odisha. The word that repeatedly comes up in all of them is 'sabotage.' According to Merriam-Webster, the word is defined as the "destruction of an employer's property (such as tools or materials) or the hindering of manufacturing by discontented workers". But its popular meaning points to a "deliberate subversion".

Etymologically, the word finds its roots in the French saboter that means 'to bungle' or 'to botch'. Interestingly, an oft-repeated story attached to the origins of the word takes it back to the days of labour unrest in early nineteenth century France. To disrupt production work, the story goes that labourers would wear wooden shoes known as sabots and walked noisily, suggesting that 'sabotage' carries with it an intent to causes harm to the progress of either the state/employer or anybody who holds power.

Given that the CBI has already taken up the investigation to find the root cause of the train accident, a look at the preliminary reports could be useful. Within 12 hours of the accident, a joint-inspection team noted that prima facie, there was a signalling error that led to the incident. As per media reports, a green signal was given to the Coromandel Express but was soon taken off. However, within that gap, the train had already entered the loop line and rammed into a stationary goods train and got derailed.

The Making of 'Sabotage'