The Bhopal Tragedy Continues

Indra Sinha is an award-winning Indian-born British writer. Currently he is based in southern France. His book Animal’s People won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for the best book in the Europe and Asia region. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2007. The book is based on the real-life tragedy that occurred before dawn of December 3, 1984, in Bhopal, India. Thousands were killed immediately and thousands still continue to suffer.

Indra Sinha continues to be passionately involved with the victims who have been abandoned to their miserable fates and existence due to lack of compassion and compensation by those responsible for the horrendous incident, namely the Indian government and the US Corporation Dow Chemical. When such a heinous disaster occurs you expect at least those in your country to be on your side, to help you survive. The last thing you expect is to be ignored by your very own people, your own country. Such an act which would have never been taken lightly in the US or any other developed country. The perpetrators would be duly punished. Such an industrial disaster would never have occurred in the US.

But how does one punish the politicians of the country one lives in? Especially when one can no longer see, or has a high rate of respiratory, skin, eye, and abdominal disease, or has barely survived, or has lost almost everything?
On April 11, 2008, the Guardian published an open letter by Indra Sinha to India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging that Dow Chemical be brought to court to face serious criminal charges, in spite of its continued refusal for the past 16 years, and justice be served. The letter implores the prime minister and his politicians to provide healthcare and monitoring of those affected by the leakage of methyl isocynate (MIC), a poisonous gas, by Union Carbide, as promised by the government a couple of years ago. The letter pleads with Manmohan Singh to obey the Indian Supreme Court’s 2004 order to provide safe drinking water for communities whose water is poisoned, and not to have business dealings with Dow Chemicals or its subsidiaries while the contempt of court continues.

The letter was signed by at least 100 artists, including the 1997 Booker Prize winner writer Arundhati Roy.
Since this issue has not been publicized broadly in the US and partly due to my own not keeping close tabs on Indian politics, the Bhopal incident slipped my mind until serendipitously I happened to visit Indra Sinha’s website as I was researching on a completely different topic.
Reading Indra Sinha’s letter to the prime minister and government of India reminded me of the many years ago 10-minute presentation I had given as part of my US undergraduate biology class final grade.

Before preparing for my talk, I had been plagued with uncertainty as to why would my American classmates care about what happened miles away in India? What did it have to do with them? Since the company was in part Indian, wouldn’t they think “it must be just as much India’s fault?” So I kept going through more newspapers and magazines to look for some other subject, but nothing else moved me. This was before the internet age.

On the day of our presentations, by the time I stood I was nervous. Since my hands were trembling quickly I put the piece of paper with notes in my pocket. When I was done, I still remember one of the questions asked, “How is it that a pesticide factory was allowed in the heart of the city? Is everything under control now?” My response had been, “the situation is under control.”

Even my classmates wondered “did the people and livestock in Bhopal not matter?’

In the background I heard my American classmates whispering, “Union Carbide is also owned by us.” I could see shame written all over their faces. It was as if they felt responsible, at least to an extent.

Everyone knows such a tragedy would never occur in USA because of laws, rules, and regulations, and the right of the people to sue and be reimbursed, to be duly compensated, or else the system would collapse. Not that anyone can compensate for the loss of life of a loved one, but those still alive and permanently injured do need to be looked after.

Some said the Bhopal tragedy occurred due to cost-cutting, others speculated it was sabotage. Regardless, people in Bhopal are still suffering and still need help.

As a result of that catastrophe, the resulting incomplete assistance, and basic negligence thousands have permanent injuries/chronic illnesses. Many promises were made not too long ago, but few kept.

In 2001 Dow Chemical bought Union Carbide for $11.6 billion making Dow Chemical one of the largest chemical companies in the world. Union Carbide is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical. However, Dow Chemical does not feel responsible to make any payments for all the suffering because as the corporation says it did not own Union Carbide in 1984.

Events relating to the December 2nd and 3rd of 1984:
Outside Union Carbide

22.30 First sensations: suffocation, cough, eyes, vomiting.
1.00 Police alerted. People escaped. Union Carbide-director denied.
2.00 The first people reached Hamidia hospital  half blind, gasping for air, frothing at the mouth, vomiting.
2.10 The alarm was heard.
4.00 The gases reduced.
6.00 The police's loudspeaker: "Everything is normal."
On the morning of December 3, 1984: Thousands of dead bodies and hundreds of dead cattle lying on the streets.
Reports state that the gas leakage killed at least 4,000 people immediately, and injured around half a million. Other reports state 40 tonnes of MIC and other lethal gases were released into the densely populated area.

Continued contamination of the environment has killed another 15,000 people and affected the health of a further 25,000, according to estimates. Thousands of children are born with congenital disorders and continue to suffer.

Now almost a quarter century later I find out that people in Bhopal are still suffering and still need help. Their very own government, the politicians seem to have abandoned them, police beat them for protesting outside of their offices after a long walk (padyatra) from Bhopal to Delhi.

On May 30, 2008, after several protests that their grievances be addressed immediately and after the activists were arrested outside of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence, the Indian government seemed to have accepted to look into setting up a special empowered commission to carry out medical, economic, social, and environmental rehabilitation of the gas victims, but it seems to date nothing has happened.

Earlier that month, round 80 people lay on the hot Delhi ground when police tried to forcibly take them away. On April 16, 2008, one of the victims sent a handwritten note to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with blood drawn from victims for one hour of the Prime Minister’s time to discuss the issue. Soon notes were faxed from almost 3000 people followed from 18 other countries for a meeting with Manmohan Singh to address the survivors’ grievances.

Those protesting point out that no one has come forward to clean up the chemical mess. On the contrary police beat up the protesting men, women, and children, who as it is were hot, starving, and already suffering.

On June 10th a global hunger strike was called to bring justice to Bhopal victims and put the wrongdoers, namely the corporation Dow Chemical, to shame, since many feel that the Indian government does not seem to be doing its job.

Several global reports state that on June 12, 2008, Indra Sinha has joined in the indefinite hunger strike to ensure that victims of the large industrial tragedy get due attention, compensation, and rehabilitation.

What Indra Sinha and others want is for the Indian government to force Dow Chemical to clean up Bhopal as has been advised to Manmohan Singh even by the Indian law ministry. Indra Sinha alleges that Manmohan Singh’s ministers are appeasing Dow, which has offered to invest 1 billion US dollars in India if freed from its Bhopal liabilities.

Again, it is shameful to see almost a quarter of a century later that the government of a rapidly developing country such as India cannot get its act together faster and do something about the suffering of the Bhopal tragedy victims. In the US wrongdoers would never be let off the hook. The victims would have made sure the culprits paid, no matter who the perpetrator was.