One of the worst disasters in the world which accounted for over 20,000 lives and maiming for the entire life of lakhs of others occurred in Bhopal on 3rd December 1984. The entire world was shocked at the ghastly tragedy, but the powers that be in India were concerned with the safety of the perpetrator of the genocide, Warren Anderson when he visited Bhopal on 7th December 1984 he was arrested but within hours released and sent to Delhi by the special plane of the Chief Minister. Within 2 days, he was allowed to go to USA under heavy protection after meeting the President and Home Minister of India.
The Congress governments at the Centre and Madhya Pradesh were totally unconcerned at the violation of safety norms. The leakage of tonnes of deadly Methyl Iso Cyanate gas was not a problem for the Congress Government; protection to Anderson was a more important task than attending to sufferings of the working class population living around the Union Carbide factory. The legitimate anger at the acute suffering of the people was characterised as a law and order problem. In the darkness of night, several thousands of rail passengers, in their sound sleep, inhaled the killer gas; thus people from all corners of the country continued to suffer for several years. The government, however, never felt the need to attend to their problems. The government of India’s main concern was how to ensure the safe passage of the worst criminal of the year.
HONOURABLE EXIT OF A CRIMINAL:
The hypocrisy of those who now talk of extradition of Anderson for trial stands fully exposed by the permission granted to him to honourably leave India. The people of Bhopal in agony can be ignored but how can a representative of MNCs, that too from USA, be antagonised? If Anderson would not have been permitted to leave India, US multinationals may not invest in India. Those who talk of extradition of Anderson fully know that the Uncle Sam would never agree to this and there is no question of his coming to India for trial. The statements are made only to hoodwink the gullible!
Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily candidly admitted that the verdict was at par with a minor truck accident. The Supreme Court deleted Section 302 from the chargesheet and only Section 304, which is generally used for a road accident, was made applicable. The Supreme Court Judge who showed this favour to Union Carbide became chairman of the hospital complex of Union Carbide. It is a clear case of judicial impropriety but the Union Law Ministry never interfered in this glaring case. His call for extradition of Anderson is meant only for public consumption.
Dow Chemicals was allowed to escape any liability for rehabilitation of the gas tragedy-affected persons. A Singhvi, a prominent Congress leader, was its lawyer. This underlines the closeness of the MNCs with the ruling party representatives. It is reported in the press that several political leaders of the ruling class have benefited from the largesse of Union Carbide. This explains the vested interest of the ruling classes to protect the Union Carbide management.
The Lok Sabha Committee on Government Assurances, which included members of all major political parties in 2003, noted, “ The Committee are of the firm opinion that involving such a great industrial disaster involving a foreign company, the State Government could not have taken a unilateral decision on arrest and release of Anderson.”
The panel, therefore, held both the governments in the state and the centre equally responsible for the drama. The observations of the Parliamentary Committee were curtly ignored by the UPA Government when it came to power in 2004.
RELEASE AT US DIKTATS:
The CIA documents which have been declassified recently admitted that the government of India under Rajiv Gandhi had taken expeditious steps to release and send back Warren Anderson to USA. P.C. Alexander, the then special secretary in the Prime Minister’s Secretariat has noted that US Government’s pressure was responsible for the release and return of Anderson to USA. All attempts by the spokesmen of the Congress party to deny US pressure is only making the people convinced that US Government’s diktats were responsible for the freedom given to an accused responsible for this mass genocide.
The victims who survived after the gas leak failed to get proper medical treatment. The hospitals meant for their treatment were giving only prescriptions to the patients who did not have money to buy those medicines. Several victims had to go to private practitioners to get treatment. Many persons died due to want of medical treatment but they were recorded as natural deaths. The actual number of victims who died due to gas leak is much more than what is mentioned in the official statistics.
The water in the nearby locality is still contaminated and unfit for drinking. Many workers are suffering from water-borne diseases and are not considered as victims of the gas tragedy. I had an occasion to visit Bhopal on the occasion of 25th Anniversary of the gas tragedy and several workers told me how they have been suffering due to contamination of water. But who cares for them?
For the Government of India and the Supreme Court, the value of human life in India is negligible. The amount of compensation was brought down to a ridiculously low amount of $500 providing relief, not to the victims, but to Union Carbide, making it a mockery of the very concept of compensation. Several persons seriously affected by the gas leak found it extremely difficult to prove that they were victims of this tragedy. The official rules were made rigid only to favour Union Carbide. How many kickbacks were received by bureaucrats and politicians in this shady deal will perhaps be never known to the public.
COMPLICITY OF CONGRESS & NDA GOVERNMENTS:
BJP leaders today are criticising the Congress Party for its complicity in the tragedy of great magnitude. But when they were in government they never made any serious attempt to get Anderson extradited and tried in the court of law. They meekly accepted the US government’s refusal to accept his extradition. CBI continued the policy of protecting the interests of Union Carbide. The BJP Government in Madhya Pradesh failed to provide adequate medical relief and rehabilitation to the gas victims. The crocodile tears being shed by BJP leaders now is only an attempt to cover up their failures.
The indecent haste being made by the UPA government to get the Nuclear Liability Bill, which exempts the foreign supplier of the nuclear equipment in the event of a nuclear disaster, only exposes its servile attitude towards MNCs. It is a part of the commitment given by the Manmohan Singh Government to US imperialism. Instead of adopting a policy of self-reliance, the UPA government is succumbing to the pressure of diktats by the MNCs and damaging the interests of the country and its people.
After one week of heated debate all over the country, the Prime Minister of India suddenly woke up to ask Group of Ministers under the Chairmanship of the Home Minister to give a report within 10 days. The unwritten directive to the GOM must be to give a clean chit to the then Prime Minster, Rajiv Gandhi. However, can an accused be allowed to leave the country after his arrest without the knowledge of the Prime Minister, one may ask?
The suffering of the people of Bhopal has no parallel in history. The culprit going scot free without any punishment will also have no parallel in history. And now the efforts to cover up such a criminal act also probably will have no parallel in history!
Source: www.citucentre.org
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