Vande safety.

"On 2 June 2023, three trains collided near the city of Balasore, in the state of Odisha in eastern India." wikipedia. "At least 275 people were killed and more than 1,175 others were injured in the crash." "Railway officials said preliminary reports suggest the crash was the result of a signal fault and a 'change in electronic interlocking'. In railway signalling the electronic interlocking system sets routes for each train in a set area, ensuring the safe movement of trains along the track." BBC. What does "change" mean? A fuse blowout, rats chewing through wires or system failure because old parts have not been replaced? Within a day, India's Railways Minster, "Ashwini Vaishnaw later said the cause and people responsible for the deadly three-train crash in eastern India had been identified but did not elaborate." Nudge, nudge, hint, hint: Someone did it. So what can we do? Almost immediately, "People found guilty over a deadly rail accident in eastern India will be 'punished instantly', the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said." BBC. "In an unusual move, the Centre on Sunday (4 June) announced a CBI probe into the rail accident in Odisha," as the minister Vaishnaw, "Describing as 'criminals' the persons who according to the preliminary probe, could have interfered with the points and electronic interlocking system." Right. Crime decided, criminals identified, now all we need is to charge them. All within 2 days. This, in a country where the Supreme Court had to instruct Delhi Police to file charges of sexual assault against Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who happens to be a BJP MP. TOI. Instead the wrestlers were arrested and manhandled into vans by the police and have been ejected from the protest site. BBC. So what can we expect with the train accident? Find a fall guy, charge him under the draconian UAPA law (wikipedia), deny him bail for as long as it takes and by then the general election, in which "Narendra Modi and his coterie clearly intend for him to remain in power - as prime minister or, as the chatter goes, president - for the rest of his life" (The Wire), will be over. The conviction rate for arrests under UAPA is a pathetic 2.8%. The Scroll. Clearly, it is to silence people. However, in this case, "After a Balasore-like tragedy was averted this year due to an alert locomotive pilot," "the then principle chief operation manager (PCOM) of South Western Railways had warned Indian Railways against the alleged bypassing of the electronic interlocking system." ET. In 2022, a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) highlighted the lack of attention to safety. ET.  Safety is a lack of accidents which every passenger expects as standard. You cannot wear a fancy headgear and give a speech if a train arrives safely. It does not get votes. Mr Modi has been flagging off Vande Bharat Express in Bhopal on 01 April, in Kerala on 25 April, in Odisha on 18 May, in Uttarakhand on 25 May, in Guwahati on 29 May and was to do so in Goa on 2 June. Just a few days back, on 24 April, Indian ministers were furiously denouncing the German magazine Der Spiegel for a cartoon which showed an unsafe, overcrowded Indian train. BT. Furious indignation. Not righteous, was it?