BHOPAL, 4 December 2003 — The victims of the Bhopal gas disaster, the world’s worst industrial catastrophe, were remembered here yesterday. The tragedy which occurred on the intervening night of Dec. 2-3, 1984, killed thousands of people and maimed millions.
With the passage of about two decades, the tragedy seems to have been forgotten by the common man here while the survivors struggle to live on somehow. Bhopal, now a city of about 1.5 million, hummed with activities as usual with no signs of remorse for the dead while a handful of NGOs, struggling over the years, tried to pump up the sagging spirits of the survivors not to give up but continue to strive for justice.
The day was marked by condolences, public meetings, rallies and torching of a number of effigies of Warren Anderson, the then chairman of the multinational Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), by the survivors.
The disaster occurred following the leakage of lethal methyl iso-cyanate (MIC) gas from the plant of the UCC manufacturing pesticides. Till date over 31,000 people have perished in the aftermath of the disaster for want of proper medical treatment. Another 300,000 who were maimed by the poisonous gas are struggling to lead a normal life.
Abdul Jabbar, convener of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udhyog Sangathan, (BGPMUS), talking to Arab News, lamented the neglect of the gas victims by the successive governments, both state and federal, over the years.
He bemoaned that neither the ruling Congress nor the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party mentioned a single word about the gas victims, who are leading a pathetic existence, in their election manifestoes. “Now the state is at the threshold of having a new government and whomsoever takes over the reigns of power after the declaration of results of election today should resolve to give a healing touch to the survivors and put an end to their woes before the anniversary of the disaster next year”, Abdul Jabbar demanded. He also urged the New Delhi government to expedite the extradition of Warren Anderson to India to face criminal charges pending against him in a Bhopal court.
Jabbar on the occasion of the anniversary administered an oath to the survivors to continue their struggle for justice till each and every victim was compensated adequately and the perpetrators of the heinous crime were punished.
Madhya Pradesh Governor Ramprakash Gupta led the official condolence meeting for the gas victims. Tributes were paid to those who died in the tragedy by observing two minutes’ silence.
Religious leaders read holy scriptures on the occasion. Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, Bhopal Mayor Ms. Vibha Patel and various leaders and organizations paid tributes to gas victims.
The gas victims also burned the effigy of Dow Chemicals, the company that has taken over Union Carbide in 2000. They vented their anger against the company responsible for the disaster and the failure of government authorities to provide long-term health care to them. Large number of gas victims gathered at Lily Talkies Square wearing masks symbolizing Union Carbide and Dow Chemicals and staged demonstration under the aegis of the Gas Peedit Nirashrit Morcha. Morcha president Balkrishna Namdev led the demonstration.
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila-Purush Sangharsh Morcha organized a torch rally from Bharat Talkies flyover to Union Carbide factory.
Gas survivors and supporters participated in the rally, holding burning torches. At the end of the rally there was a candle light vigil to commemorate gas survivors.
Meanwhile, considering the very slow pace at which the case relating to the disaster is being heard in a local court these days, many gas victims have given up hope of seeing justice being done in their lifetimes. The case is now being heard at the court of chief judicial magistrate, where at the most two hearings take place in as many months. Even if the case ends in the local court, it will be fought again in the Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur and later in the Supreme Court of India.
When the settlement amount for the Bhopal gas victims was fixed at $470 million in 1989 (7150 million rupees at the exchange rate prevailing at that time), the general impression was that it is a complete sell-out of the interests of the victims.
