Bhopal gas tragedy that
killed 8,000 within two weeks and caused debilitating injuries to approximately 5.5
lakh people, thousands and thousands of whom died an agonising death, many
suffer till date. This massacre also happened in 1984. Congress was ruling the state of
MP, and Arjun Singh was the CM. Arjun Singh’s conduct during and aftermath of
the tragedy was nothing short of criminal to say the least. Most significantly
he allowed Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson to first put up at the state
guest house and later was allowed to fly to Delhi on state plane, and then the ‘state
guest’ Anderson was allowed to get away from the country with full knowledge of
the Union government. It is difficult to even conceive that this could happen. Wonder
how much money was exchanged in the process. Subsequently Indian government didn’t
seriously pursue this matter, and people suffered. Arjun Singh in the meanwhile
brushed up his secularism credentials and continued to play active role in Indian
politics without raising an eyebrow!! It is as easy as that. Ideally this scoundrel
should have been to taken to custody.
Just four days after
the tragedy struck, Arjun Singh made a statement where he seemed to be
defending Anderson. Incidentally safety issues concerning Union carbide were
raised in state assembly of MP before the tragedy and it was none other than Arjun
Singh who assured everyone that it was quite alright, reportedly saying that he
himself had been to the factory. Did the then chief minister actually check
whether Union Carbide was following the best practices before handing out a
certificate?
“As it happens Union Carbide had similar
plants in France and in Germany as it did in India. In Bhopal the dangerous
chemical agent was stored in a single giant tank. In France it was kept in
smaller, individual cylinders. And in Germany it was ensured that the chemicals
in question could not be stored in such proximity at all, whether in one huge
chamber or in multiple containers. How many lives might have been saved had
either the French or the German example been followed?” (TVR Shenoy in an
article in 2010)
The main perpetrators of Sikh genocide of 1984
were never prosecuted and remarkably this tragedy would have lost its
significance had not 2002 Gujarat riots happened. 1984 is not only about Sikh
genocide it’s also the year that should question the culpability of leaders in their
role in Bhopal tragedy.
An utterly confident and
haughty Warren Anderson said this to Indian media before leaving "House
arrest or no arrest or bail, no bail, I am free to go home...There is a law of
the United States...India, bye, bye, Thank you."
That is about Indian
system bending over back to let a person, who was responsible for worst tragedy
of its kind, get away. Nowhere else in the world this would happen, his haughtiness
points to the pits it had sunk. The colonial gift to India the “steel frame” as
malleable as ever bends only for the powerful, it’s clear the culprit was
allowed to escape from the orders of powerful people. Wonders of world’s
largest democracy.
(due to some reason I was finding it difficult to upload pictures into this blog, it took me about an hour…Crude Woman and ZK Bazz must be
busy!! Sudharja budiya)
