Although people, both religious and non-religious, have learned that two individuals (like Adam and Eve) are enough to cause division, what is currently happening in Greece between the relatives of the victims of the train tragedy in Tempi is almost unthinkable.
When that terrible incident occurred a year and a half ago, with 57 dead, mostly students, no one could have imagined what is happening today, which only brings sorrow.
For days now, a conflict has been raging, with two parents at the center: a father who lost two children and his niece, and a mother who lost her only daughter.
The mother, Maria Karystianou, took the lead from the beginning, starting a fight to ensure the event would not be dismissed as an accident and forgotten, but fully investigated, with accountability for those responsible.
As part of this, she has been constantly in the public eye, receiving both criticism and applause, as the Tempi tragedy, like many others, has taken on political dimensions with opposing camps. However, what is happening at this moment goes beyond party lines.
Karystianou, with the association she founded not for the sake of holding a title but to give her cause some weight, decided to organise a concert with a €15 ticket fee to cover the costs of the international legal proceedings they intend to pursue. Logical, understandable, and respectable.
Nikos Plakias, the father of the twin girls who were killed, disagreed with the ticket fee. He does not oppose the concert or the artists who have agreed to perform without charge (Foivos Delivorias, Thanasis Papakonstantinou, Tania Tsanaklidou, Sokratis Malamas), but he disagrees with the fee in the name of his children, as he explains. This too is understandable and respectable.
Although both may be right, the discussion escalated with insinuations, accusations, and legal notices. The debate turned into a battle, involving other relatives, while TV shows eagerly fueled the fire, showcasing one side, then the other, and the issue has spiraled out of control.
The artists, for their part, expressed respect for all the parents but clarified that they would participate if the concert takes place, supporting the fight for justice and understanding that a long legal battle entails enormous expenses that the families cannot, and should not, be expected to bear.
This small civil war reveals something fundamental about human nature. It was in similar ways that the great civil war of 1946 broke out after the liberation, in similar ways that Kapodistrias was assassinated, in similar ways that “with fire and sword, the world always moves forward.” Unfortunately.