Bhopal after Forty Years

THE WORST OF TRAGEDIES are often forgotten when there isn’t a constant effort to refresh public memory and to remind policymakers of the follies of the past. The fact that perhaps one of the worst indus­trial disasters in world history rarely comes up in today’s public discourse is a symptom of this failure. It began in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, 40 years ago, starting on Decem­ber 2 at the pesticide plant of Union Carbide India Ltd when methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas from a factory tank leaked, killing thousands and maiming lakhs. Lakhs more continued to suffer from ailments and health conditions due to exposure to the killer gas years later.

The saddest part is that those responsible for the accident were never put on trial, setting a bad precedent for reviewing such disasters worldwide even as justice was denied to the victims and the survivors. Warren Anderson, the former Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) chief executive, considered the villain of the 1984 accident who died in 2014, never returned to face trial after he was allowed by the Indian government of the time to exit the country under reported pressure from the Americans. Anderson merely produced a personal bond of ₹25,000 before he left India.

By the time India requested Anderson’s extradition in 2003 from the US, it was too late. Firstly, the Americans rejected the request a year later citing lack of adequate proof—thanks to the grave error of ensuring him a safe exit within four days of the accident. Since 2001, Union Carbide has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company.

In its report prepared in the run-up to 40 years of the tragedy, Amnesty Inter­national has lashed out at “the failure of … Dow to provide remedy to victims of a deadly gas leak … in India that resulted in the deaths of more than 22,000 people [and] has created a ‘sacrifice zone’ in which 500,000 more continue to suffer.” Mark Dummett, Amnesty Interna­tional’s Head of Business and Human Rights, said in a statement that the Amnesty International’s report shows how Dow, as well as the actions of the US and Indian authorities, have created a poisoned area in which half-a-million people across multiple generations continue to suffer. He added, “This catastrophe remains immediate and urgent for people whose own health is ruined, or whose children were born with disabilities or who are being poisoned now through the contaminated local soil and water.”

Amnesty explains what a sacrifice zone stands for. According to the organisation, it is an area so severely polluted or contami­nated that it has demonstrable and devastating consequences on the health of local inhabitants. The report adds, “Sacrifice zones typically involve communities living close to the fence lines of heavy industrial facilities, chemical works, or fossil fuel extraction or processing sites, and which are regularly exposed to toxic pollutants. Sacrifice zones are often characterised by low property values and disinvestment, and tend to be home to low-income, marginalised, and often racialised groups.”

Amnesty has appealed to the US government to cooperate with the Government of India to ensure that Union Carbide faces criminal charges in the ongoing criminal case in Bhopal. It also wants the US administration to engage in bilateral discussions with India to support plant site remediation, as well as all other outstanding medical, economic and social needs

Share this on

In the report, Amnesty has urged Dow to report on its responsibilities regarding Bhopal based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and to publicly dis­close its findings without delay. “It also urges the group and the US government to assist with all legal proceedings, including criminal litigation underway in India. Amnesty International calls on Dow and UCC to adequately compensate all survivors and remedy multi-generational harms. It also calls on the companies to contribute an appropriate amount towards a contamination assessment and clean-up, as well as to the provi­sion of free high-quality healthcare to sufferers, and to future health and environmental monitor­ing,” according to the report.

Meanwhile, the report has accused Dow of environmental racism, which it defines as “any environmental policy, practice, law or regulation that differentially affects or disadvantages [whether intentionally or unintentionally] individuals, groups or communities based on race, colour, descent, national and ethnic origin and minorities”. The Amnesty report adds that environmental racism often means that “racialised groups are disproportionately affected by pollution, environmental degradation and climate change.”

The report noted, and rightly so, that Bhopal is not a case of the past: “Forty years after the gas leak, survivors and their descendants still await just compensation, a thorough clean-up of their environment, adequate medical assistance and treatment, punishment of all perpetrators, and comprehen­sive economic and social rehabilitation.…The human rights abuses resulting from the gas leak and site contamination are unresolved and ongoing. Amnesty International joins Bhopal survivors and activists in demanding urgent action to address the ongoing human rights abuses in Bhopal from the govern­ments and companies alike.”

Amnesty has meanwhile appealed to the US government to cooperate with the Government of India to ensure that UCC faces criminal charges in the ongoing criminal case in Bhopal. It also wants the US administration to engage in bilateral discussions with India to support plant site remediation, as well as all other outstanding medical, economic and social needs, and make public the nature, date and content of all communications and meetings.

The collateral damage of the tragedy continues as newborns continue to be afflicted with ailments. Various reports have highlighted a high number of miscarriages and stillbirths in the decades following the disaster.

Abdul Jabbar, one of the foremost crusaders for the cause of the survivors of the 1984 tragedy who passed away in 2019, was a living example of how the disaster continued to haunt the survivors mentally and physically. Jabbar, who was in his late 20s when the accident took place and had lost his father, mother, and a brother to the man-made disaster, had suffered from multiple health issues since that December night 40 years ago: his eyesight was poor and he wheezed incessantly even in summer due to lung fibrosis.

Jabbar had said in an interview with the Telegraph that he held the Indian rulers of the time more accountable than the foreigners who came to do business in the country. When Warren Anderson died, Jabbar said in that interview that he harboured no hatred for Anderson. “He was a foreigner, devoid of emotion, and made full use of legal loopholes… I hold Arjun Singh, Rajiv Gandhi, and other key players responsible. Even the judiciary’s role has been questionable.” The gas leak caused long-term health hazards, including cancer, liver, kidney and lung diseases, besides other deformities.

The Amnesty report makes scathing remarks about people abroad and in India who have lobbied for Union Carbide and Dow. They are said to include globally renowned diplomats and captains of industry. It adds that as of now, remedy remains elusive in the case. “Legal action in the USA has proven ineffec­tive at bringing any measure of remedy and accountability for survivors, instead reinforcing unequal power dynamics and parent company impunity. Far from holding UCC and Dow ac­countable, the US government has shielded the companies from accountability, and often lobbied on their behalf,” the report adds.

The 1984 Bhopal gas leak was a crime against humanity by those in positions of power. The lesson learnt is that we must not bow to any demands by anyone, however powerful they are, and that a people-first policy is the best policy.

About The Author

Ullekh NP

•