Surprised by the furious public response to the verdict in the case of massacre of people of Bhopal by Union Carbide the politicians are energetically trying to protect the Congress. It is not just the Congress and its allies in government that are engaged in this exercise to confuse, dilute and prolong the issue long enough for the public to forget and focus on another outrage which, unfortunately, is a common event in India but also the politicians of the parties in opposition. Our most revered Law and Justice Minister, Veerappa Moily has accused the judges of reducing the gravity of the charges against Union Carbide and its chief, Andersen. The opposition BJP is training its guns on Arjun Singh who was chief minister of MP at the time but are not asking whether he had his orders from the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi who had his orders from US President, Ronald Reagan. Seems that when the BJP was in power some five years ago they were not interested in focusing on the case just as they did not want to focus on Bofors. Even more deafening is the silence of the champions of the poor and minorities, the Communists and Ms. Mayawati who has donned the mantle of the Queen of Dalits. One would have expected them to rush to Bhopal and show solidarity with the victims and demand explanations in strident terms but nothing. When everyone is a criminal it is wise to protect your opponents when you are in power because tomorrow you may need the same service. If things get really sticky we expect Mr. Arjun Singh to suddenly develop chest pains and be admitted to hospital and then go abroad on taxpayer money for recuperation until the uproar has died down.