Few months back in this blog we had a blogpost titled 25 Years of Unabated Trauma and Denied Justice at Bhopal. Now that the court verdict on Bhopal gas tragedy is out, it is imperative to revisit the subject. After 26 long years the verdict has come, but it was inadequate at best, outrageous at worst. Eight people convicted were sentenced for 2 years in prison as they were held guilty under Sections 304-A (causing death by negligence), 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 336, 337 and 338 (gross negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.
The sentence given to the accused is disproportionate when compared to the magnitude of their crime that killed over 15000 people. Justice has not been done to the victims of the mishap who have suffered immensely and are still suffering because of the toxic waste that still remains in the area and generations inheriting various disabilities. Predictably the civil society is outraged at the inadequate sentence given. Moreover the convicts were given bail immediately on surety of Rs. 25000 and the main accused, the then Chairman of the Union Carbide Warren Anderson is still at large. It is now a common knowledge that the government of India secured a safe passage for Mr. Anderson to leave the country and from then onwards he has been declared an absconder by the Indian judiciary. It is a pity that Indian Government has never made sincere efforts in extraditing Anderson from the United States, where he is a living a quiet, retired life.
Bhopal gas tragedy is a result of gross corporate negligence in the part of Union Carbide Company. They stored dangerous materials in bulk without adequate security, they had no systems in place to warn local community about gas leaks and they had no emergency plans if some disasters occurred. This at a time when they had all safety measures and emergency plans in place at the factory site in the United States. The old imperialist attitude of considering lives of people in weaker countries to be of less value was very much evident in the actions of the Union Carbide Company.
Government of India is also accused of being appallingly negligent in the way they coalesced with Union Carbide in contravening rules and regulations. The government gave permission to start the factory at a densely populated area even when they knew that it handled poisonous gases and did nothing to make sure that safety measures are followed by the Company. Even after the tragedy struck, the Indian government did little in providing comfort to the victims of the tragedy. The compensation that was promised to the victims hasn’t been given till now. There have been no efforts in fixing the accountability of the disaster to Union Carbide and to make them pay for the destruction caused. Adequate measures to address the long term impacts of the gas leak, including cleaning up the site, remediation of the factory, regular supply of safe water and economic rehabilitation, haven’t been done till now.
The ministerial panel on the Bhopal tragedy has recommended that the government set aside Rs. 1500 crores as relief package to the victims of the tragedy. However this will be paid from the Indian taxpayers’ money and not from Dow Chemicals, who at present owns Union Carbide. Systematic failure of the Indian administration to hold Union Carbide accountable for the disaster is again on view here. In a mad chase for bringing more and more foreign companies to India, it seems the government is giving little consideration to the safety of the common man and to his basic human rights.
The US government and the Obama administration have some answering to do on their double standards on dealing with environmental disasters. While Obama speaks about keeping his “boot on the throat” of BP for the oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico, he remains silent on Warren Anderson, who is the prime accused of the Bhopal tragedy. When it is understandable for the US administration to shield one of their citizens, what is a matter of disgrace is the inability and palpable indifference of various Indian governments to pursue Anderson.
The inadequate judicial verdict on the Bhopal gas tragedy shows that there is a lot of discrepancy in our judicial system when it comes to giving justice to the victims of industrial disasters. It is up to the jurists, the Law Ministry and the Indian judicial system as a whole to make amends in the existing law so as to bring more accountability in the system and to make sure that justice is done to the victims of industrial disasters by giving adequate punishment to the culprits. Human rights organisations and the civil society have to campaign strongly for bringing justice to the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy. Amnesty International supports this campaign for justice and you can also take part in this effort by taking action. Please click on the below mentioned link to be a part of this effort.
The sentence given to the accused is disproportionate when compared to the magnitude of their crime that killed over 15000 people. Justice has not been done to the victims of the mishap who have suffered immensely and are still suffering because of the toxic waste that still remains in the area and generations inheriting various disabilities. Predictably the civil society is outraged at the inadequate sentence given. Moreover the convicts were given bail immediately on surety of Rs. 25000 and the main accused, the then Chairman of the Union Carbide Warren Anderson is still at large. It is now a common knowledge that the government of India secured a safe passage for Mr. Anderson to leave the country and from then onwards he has been declared an absconder by the Indian judiciary. It is a pity that Indian Government has never made sincere efforts in extraditing Anderson from the United States, where he is a living a quiet, retired life.
Bhopal gas tragedy is a result of gross corporate negligence in the part of Union Carbide Company. They stored dangerous materials in bulk without adequate security, they had no systems in place to warn local community about gas leaks and they had no emergency plans if some disasters occurred. This at a time when they had all safety measures and emergency plans in place at the factory site in the United States. The old imperialist attitude of considering lives of people in weaker countries to be of less value was very much evident in the actions of the Union Carbide Company.
Government of India is also accused of being appallingly negligent in the way they coalesced with Union Carbide in contravening rules and regulations. The government gave permission to start the factory at a densely populated area even when they knew that it handled poisonous gases and did nothing to make sure that safety measures are followed by the Company. Even after the tragedy struck, the Indian government did little in providing comfort to the victims of the tragedy. The compensation that was promised to the victims hasn’t been given till now. There have been no efforts in fixing the accountability of the disaster to Union Carbide and to make them pay for the destruction caused. Adequate measures to address the long term impacts of the gas leak, including cleaning up the site, remediation of the factory, regular supply of safe water and economic rehabilitation, haven’t been done till now.
The ministerial panel on the Bhopal tragedy has recommended that the government set aside Rs. 1500 crores as relief package to the victims of the tragedy. However this will be paid from the Indian taxpayers’ money and not from Dow Chemicals, who at present owns Union Carbide. Systematic failure of the Indian administration to hold Union Carbide accountable for the disaster is again on view here. In a mad chase for bringing more and more foreign companies to India, it seems the government is giving little consideration to the safety of the common man and to his basic human rights.
The US government and the Obama administration have some answering to do on their double standards on dealing with environmental disasters. While Obama speaks about keeping his “boot on the throat” of BP for the oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico, he remains silent on Warren Anderson, who is the prime accused of the Bhopal tragedy. When it is understandable for the US administration to shield one of their citizens, what is a matter of disgrace is the inability and palpable indifference of various Indian governments to pursue Anderson.
The inadequate judicial verdict on the Bhopal gas tragedy shows that there is a lot of discrepancy in our judicial system when it comes to giving justice to the victims of industrial disasters. It is up to the jurists, the Law Ministry and the Indian judicial system as a whole to make amends in the existing law so as to bring more accountability in the system and to make sure that justice is done to the victims of industrial disasters by giving adequate punishment to the culprits. Human rights organisations and the civil society have to campaign strongly for bringing justice to the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy. Amnesty International supports this campaign for justice and you can also take part in this effort by taking action. Please click on the below mentioned link to be a part of this effort.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/call-chemical-company-address-legacy-bhopal
(For Amnesty International)
No comments:
Post a Comment