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| BHOPAL 84, ink on paper by Soumen Bhowmick |
BHOPAL 84
Luna Bose Punishing the guilty and having them face the law is extremely important for survivors to attain closure to the horrors of the disaster. And in this case its no different.
I have no sympathies or condolences for a cold, callous and uncaring CEO/Chairman's Anderson. He just passed away a month ago. He is nobody other than just a mere CEO. Why no one hold the culprit & criminal Keshub Mahindra responsible? Even you, Soumen?
Where UCIL was 51% owned by Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) and 49% by Indian investors including the Government of India. The chairman, Keshub Mahindra, and the Bhopal factory manager, J.Mukund, moved on to new positions. Most of the Bhopal plant managers left the company after the plant closed.
In June 2010, some scapegoats (former employees of UCIL), all Indian nationals and many in their 70s, were convicted of causing death by negligence and each sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined Rs.1 lakh (US$2,124). All were released on bail shortly after the verdict. The names of those convicted are: V.P. Gokhale, managing director; Kishore Kamdar, vice-president; J. Mukund, works manager; S.P. Chowdhury, production manager; K.V. Shetty, plant superintendent; and S.I.Qureshi, production assistant.
I am not a white washed person nor do I put my conscience up for sale to the highest bidder. This December will be the 30th Anniversary of the tragedy. And according to the Government of India (GOI) and UCIL, virtually all claims had been reviewed and adjudicated by 2002. A total of Rs. 1511.51 crore was paid from the settlement fund, according to a GOI Scheme (program), which established the categories of claims and amounts of compensation, and which was administered by the Bhopal Gas Victims Welfare Commissioner. UCC played no role in the distribution of settlement funds. Where is the money? Why the lives of the victims and victims family hasn't been restored? Why MP is still a backward state? Fifteen Crore is a large sum.
The plant had been constructed and managed by Indians in India.
No Americans were employed at the plant at the time of the accident. From 1980-84, more than 1,000 Indians were employed at the plant -- but only one American was employed there and he left in 1982.
No Americans visited the plant for more than one year prior to the incident. And,during the 5-year period before, communications between the plant and the U.S. were almost non-existent.
The Government of India’s (GOI) Role...
Laws, regulations and policies generated by the GOI and Madhya Pradesh State Government (MPSG) permeated every aspect of the Bhopal facility from its inception. No action of any significance was taken without the approval of the GOI or MPSG.
The GOI required UCIL to maximize Indian involvement in the design, procurement, construction and operation of the plant and to minimize foreign involvement of any kind. The GOI restricted the use of imported materials and foreign consultants, and, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit confirmed in 1987, "precluded UCC from exercising any authority to ‘detail design, erect and commission the plant."
The GOI closely monitored the progress of the plant, required detailed periodic reports and approved plans and drawings, including the MIC manufacturing facility and storage tanks, as well as the UCIL-designed waste disposal systems for the treatment and disposal of wastes, which also were approved by the MPSG authorities. The thrust of numerous GOI policies was to completely “Indianize” the project.
Now you tell me why Keshub Mahindra is above the law and is not reachable or for that matter the GOI and Madhya Pradesh State Government (MPSG)? The buck stops with them, since they were the 49% Share & stock holders.
My whole deal is Mahindra and his eight other cronies were there. One died during the trial. How come they were not convicted and liable for any compensation or clean up? How come he went building a whole empire of Mahindra & Mahindra?
If Mr. Vijay Gokhale can't be convicted and argued that he is not responsible because he was located in Mumbai then How can Mr. Anderson be convicted, living on the other side of the globe? Also voluntarily and on his own volition, Mr. Anderson did visit the scene of the tragedy. He was arrested and placed under house arrest.Most people skip town or country. But he didn't. He actually walked into the lion's den.
A couple of years ago, Mahindra was making a deal with US companies to sell their tractors and trucks. It just fell though.
Dow and Bhopal together illustrate quite vividly how the authority of nation-states and their government are being usurped by the corporations of all hues giving birth to a perverse trans-nationalism. The assault on Bhopal clearly shows the dubious intent of the current policy regime. Peace, industrial peace must be built but it cannot be done without reversing the business as usual policies which demonstrate their intent.
The government's industrial policy is responsible for the world's worst disaster. Some 14 prime ministers have come and gone since the formulation of the first industrial policy and some Nine of them have occupied the prime ministerial chair after the industrial tragedy but sadly, regimes keep changing but the order remains the same. Corporations like Union Carbide and Dow are indulging in unacknowledged warfare which is charitably referred to as pollution and contamination must be brought under strict parliamentary scrutiny but before that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the institution apparently accountable for giving clearance to Bhopal plant must be brought under parliamentary control. The nearly 15,000 dead and thousands more injured, demand it.
By : Luna Bose
Nov, 2014
*(I salute you Lunadi for this article, an eye opener for all Indians and the world at large.)
My tribute through art, to the BHOPAL GAS victims. This series is titled..."GASSED".
During the time of this monstrous killings of innocent Indians, I was a school kid in 4th standard. That soul stirring B&W cover photograph of India Today magazine still make me cry.. It was Raghu Rai's master work. Raise your voice in what ever way you can to show solidarity with the victims of BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY...I rather call it BHOPAL KILLINGS 84.
