"Parliament, governments let victims down"
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that there was no record of who from the Union Home Ministry made calls to the Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary for letting off Warren Anderson, then chairman of the Union Carbide Corporation in December 1984. Mr. Anderson was arrested as soon as he landed in Bhopal on December 7, 1984, three days after the toxic gas leak from his factory killed thousands.
Expressing a “deep sense of guilt,'' the Minister admitted that Parliament and successive governments had let down the victims of Bhopal. “Everything was abdicated to the judiciary.''
He said that in the light of the fresh evidence that had been added to the record, a curative petition on criminal liability was being filed and the Ministry of External Affairs was working on seeking the extradition of Mr. Anderson.
Replying to a short duration discussion on the gas tragedy, he rejected the demand raised by CPI(M) member Brinda Karat for reviewing the categorisation and classification of deaths as, she said, 22,000 people had died, not merely 5, 295 from gas leak and 10,047 from severe injuries, as officially maintained.
The victims, who needed treatment for many years to come, would continue to get free medical aid for life.
Mr. Chidambaram countered questions from Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley on who ordered the release of Mr. Anderson and whether [the then Prime Minister] Rajiv Gandhi had a role in the release of the top U.S. executive of the killer factory by saying that the Opposition should not be “selective'' in quoting from Mr. Arjun Singh's intervention made in the House on Wednesday.
“The fact is that records are not there. Therefore we have to rely on contemporary media reports,'' he said, and quoted G.K. Reddy's report in The Hindu on December 7 that said, “It is quite possible that Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was not aware of the safe passage given to Warren Anderson.''
On the issue of clearing up toxic waste, an Oversight Committee with representation from the Centre and the State will decide on how best to tackle the 1.1 million tonnes of toxic waste lying at the site. “If we do the clean-up, we will claim restitution from Dow Chemicals, Union Carbide and Eveready either separately or collectively after their liability is fixed,'' said the Minister.
Keywords: Bhopal gas tragedy, Warren Anderson issue, P. Chidambaram, Arjun Singh
Its very easy to make a statement, coz none of urs where involved in it but truth remains there.
A matter which is over a quarter of a century old. For what god forsaken reason dig up this matter now and flog it in public like a corpse? As if there is no other important or urgent matters to pay attention to.
The worst ever industrial accident takes place in the Bhopal factory of the Union Carbide Corporation resulting in large scale human suffering all around and yet the Prime Minister of the day had no role in taking a major decision such as releasing the Chairman of that Company who had earlier been arrested and allowing him to leave the country! Except Congress party members, nobody will else believe this.
A clerk in the Ministry of Home or External Affairs could say with certainty and authority that no records are available with regard to who talked to whom for safe extradition of Warren Anderson. So the vibrant 'clarification' of a person of P. Chidambaram's stature in the Parliament is sterile. Statements of politicians these days that law would take its own course, that the criminal would never be let off or that no record is available to this effect, are stereotyped and empty of content. What must have transpired a quarter century back can be inferred with certainty by any sensible person. High police officials cannot see Anderson off at the airport without direction from the top.
Home minister's statement is unnecessary for it is obvious that Anderson was let go scot free with the knowledge of the government.
He should, instead of making such statements, strive hard to get compensation from Union Carbide to pay to the victims of the tragedy.
This is what people expect from him.
Mr. Chidambaram might not know but rest of the world knows. The fact is that same excuses were made about Bofors scandal and Sikh murders in 1984. It is a fallacy to say that the PM of India did not know what was happening when nothing moves in Congress without the permission of Gandhi family.
Lies. Do Indians believe that our Central Government works in this fashion? Congress stop fooling people. You claim to be followers of Mahatma.
Please Email the Editor