On 40th anniversary of the gas disaster, Bhopal victims seek square deal from US prez-elect Trump

Senior Correspondent

NewsBits.in

BHOPAL: Four Organizations of survivors of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal today led the 40th Anniversary rally to the abandoned factory site on evening of December 2.

Carrying an effigy of ‘corporate crime’, the marchers denounced the regional, national and international leaders and international relief organizations for their continued involvement in denial of justice and a life of dignity for the survivors.

“Successive US Presidents starting from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama have actively protected Union Carbide and Dow Chemical from prosecution in India.” said Rashida Bee, President of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh,

“We wish President Trump puts an end to the long history of injustice in Bhopal in his effort to make America great again. We hope he takes action against Union Carbide and Dow Chemical in line with the Republican President Theodore Roosevelt’s Square Deal for regulation of oppressive corporations.”

Balkrishna Namdeo of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pensionbhogee Sangharsh Morcha said ,”In 2008, the Manmohan Singh Government accepted to set up the Medical Commission on Bhopal for long term medical, economic and social rehabilitation of the survivors of Bhopal. It was only because of the then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s opposition that the Medical Commission on Bhopal could not be set up.

“Today, all scientific studies are pointing out ongoing illnesses and continuing deaths among the half million survivors and health impacts on their children. A Medical Commission in 2008 would have prevented the medical disaster we are witnessing today. Will Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is now a minister in the Central cabinet, take responsibility for the ongoing plight of the Bhopal survivors and their children?” he asked

“Union Carbide’s owner Dow Chemical’s business in India has increased well over 10 times during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime,” said Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, “and during these 10 years, the Bhopal groundwater that should be cleaned up by Dow Chemical, according to the polluter pays principle, has moved 3 kms into the city.”

“Dow Chemical is selling Union Carbide’s properties to Indian PSUs such as IOCL, GAIL and GACL and for the last two years is claiming that US corporations are not answerable to Indian courts in the criminal case on the disaster,” she said.

Nawab Khan of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha castigated international organizations for their continued four-decade long apathy towards the injustice and misery in Bhopal.

“Had the poison in Bhopal spread due to an Act of God, international agencies such as the World Health Organization would have had set up specialized health care and long term research centres to provide relief and the picture after 40 years would have been very different. But it is clear that international relief agencies also treat victims of corporate crime in the same manner as corporations and governments -- as expendable people.”