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Bhopal, Union Carbide, and Dow Chemicals - The Forgotten Holocaust
Abhinandan Mishra
On a chilly night on 3rd December, 1984 a gas leak took place and 22000 people died in Bhopal. It was as simple as this.
24 years have passed and those who lost their loved ones still fruitlessly yet religiously take out processions demanding action against Dow, the new owner of UCC, the company which was responsible for the leak. Warren Anderson, the then head of Union Carbide, is in the United States and his extradition is constantly refused.
More than 1.5 lakh people were affected by the methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leak and now they are living their lives in complete oblivion. The same does not hold true for Dow. The US giant has been allowed to continue providing its service in India and in 2006 the Industrialist and Investment Commission headed by Ratan Tata requested the Planning Commission to absolve Dow of any liability so as to increase and strengthen the trade between the two countries. Reliance is also now working with Dow in the chemical production industry.
Another not so important fact that should be noted here is that under the Indian legal system, Union Carbide and its directors are still considered absconders. Maybe the law will acquit UCC because it has managed to achieve what no one could do: put Bhopal on the world map.
Dow is represented by Abhishek Manu Singhvi in India and just for the records the PMOs file on Bhopal gas tragedy contains legal opinions that have given by Singhvi. During my law-student days I frequently used to hear the saying " I am the jury and I am the judge". At that time these lines were too complicated for my nascent mind and it would have been more helpful if we were taught the same principle by illustrating the above example. Now I know what this 'Jury-judge' connotes.
Five years ago while waiting for my train at the Bhopal station I met a crippled man and in the course of having tea on the platform we struck a conversation. He told me that he was an unfortunate survivor of the 3rd December holocaust and he lost his wife, mother and 2 daughters on that fateful night. With moist eyes he told me that was able to survive because he was sleeping on the floor, one on which her wife had recently applied a fresh coat of dung to keep the place warm and insect -free. According to him the gas released from the dung neutralized the MIC gas. His family was not so fortunate as they were sleeping on the bed above the ground when the gas leaked.
The dung saved him, at-least that's what he believes.. He also had one more belief : America used Bhopal as a testing ground for its chemical weapon - the MIC.
In the year 1999 on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy the city of Bhopal observed a two minutes silence in respect of the departed souls. December comes every year. And every year rallies are taken out, speeches made and victims are remembered.
For many it is enough. What else do you expect for a bunch of unknown toddlers, aged-old infirm, men and women who died many years ago?
Maybe some justice, not much, but still a small token as to convey the message that those who lost their lives were not worthless and expendable.
22000 people may not be enough to bring people out on the streets of Delhi for a candle-lit protest at the India Gate. Maybe the number is not just enough to warrant a two minutes slot on the news channels.
The survivors have now accepted their fate. The Bhopal victims don't shy away from their helplessness, they have learned to love with that. Probably we all have.
But at-least we can try to delay the inevitable by 10 years. Can't we resist ourselves from inviting Dow and the UCC to India for some more years? Till the last of the remaining survivors go to a never ending sleep and never awakes to see the ignominy.
"We are not expendable. We are not flowers offered at the altar of profit and power. We are dancing flames committed to conquering darkness and to challenging those who threaten the planet and the magic and mystery of life."-- Rashida Bee, Bhopal gas
Aaman
URL
December 1, 2007
09:46 AM
IITs boycott Dow Chemicals for Bhopal Tragedy"
smallsquirrel
December 1, 2007
10:04 AM
I was under the impression that the Indian Government, long ago shamefully accepted a settlement from Dow that amounted to some pittance and absolved Dow from any further culpability... did I imagine that?
Shame on all sides here, really. The Indian Government knew that Dow was doing shady things in Bhopal and was sidestepping necessary safety. Yet they were greedy and allowed Dow to continue so they could line their pockets. And Dow functioned as a disgustingly greedy pig gobbling up resources that were not theirs to use, and eventually murdering not one, but multiple generations of innocent people.
temporal
URL
December 1, 2007
10:13 AM
ss:
I was under the impression that the Indian Government, long ago shamefully accepted a settlement from Dow that amounted to some pittance and absolved Dow from any further culpability... did I imagine that?
no you did not
somebody in the ministry agreed to fight the case in the US
IF it was dealt with in Indian Courts, UC would not have gotten off so easily
v.c.krishnan
December 1, 2007
12:44 PM
Dear Sir,
What is this hullabulo about Bhopal. India is growing at 9% and it needs to grow at a greater rate.
For Abhishek Singhi it is a "Few Dollars More". For the new generation it is all lucre, malls, jobs, new gadgets. What are a few deaths in comparison to a Billion$?
We do not care for the nevironment. We do not care for the safety of our animals, like the Tigers and Elephants. We do not care if we pollute our atmosphere and our water resources.
We do not care for our culture.
Will this current generation ever think of a few deaths?
Regards,
v.c.krishnan
Tim
URL
December 1, 2007
01:20 PM
Thanks for this piece, Abhinandan. There's a contradiction in the text that I feel needs pointing out: you say that survivors have accepted their helplessness, then quote a survivor who expresses the opposite of helplessness, never mind any acceptance of such a thing. Rashida's is not a lone voice: thousands of survivors share the same strength, determination and resoluteness. This is a fight that is far from over, and it's the survivors unyielding efforts that are keeping it that way.
bd
URL
December 1, 2007
05:29 PM
You might find couple of essays of mine relevant to this. I was there at that time.
http://piquancy.blogspot.com/2004/07/for-every-glance-behind-us-we-have-to.html
http://piquancy.blogspot.com/2004/07/land-of-hope-if-not-glory.html
v.c.krishnan
December 2, 2007
12:28 PM
Dear Sir,
May be I am provoking. Shall we say that there are two sides to a coin and I shall also play the devil's advocate!
Further to my statement above, I would like to state that the people who got affected brought it upon themselves.
I may be wrong, and I would like to stand corrected; I understand that at the time of the construction of the Factory, it was located at a place that was far away from the city and the owners at that time had advised the government that the chemicals that are to be manufactured there were dangerous and human habitation was not to be permitted for atleast three to four kilometers in radius.
Our friends, as usual used their political clout and corruptive measures to overcome the problems of setting up a human habitation very near the factory, and because of an ACCIDENT, lives were lost in the process.
Now who is to blame, the manufacturers or the persons who brought it upon themselves? We tend to break all laws at every stage and all is hunky dory until we get hurt, then we blame the system, the politicians and all, but we are not willing to accept the blame.
We tend to set up tea kiosks very near the highway and everything is fine, until one day a brake fails and we have a tragedy of some people killed. Now who is to blame, is it the person who drove the vehicle, or the person who illegaly set up his tea kiosk very near the highway?
We tend to buy firearms from dons and the underworld and when we get caught, we try to use influence, our powerful friends to escape, now who is to blame, the person or the state or others?
Let us believe in what the act of Karma states, in scientific terms, for every action there is a opposite reaction!!
I awaiting the reaction also!
Regards,
vck
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