When the Government of India assumed
the role of legal guardian (Parens Patriae) of the 1984 Bhopal gas leak
victims, it was expected that securing the interests of its 'children'
would be its sole agenda. But 24 years later, with the Centre dragging
its feet on legal, financial and rehabilitation issues and its
ministries working at cross-purposes, the hope of getting justice and
bringing the guilty to the dock looks like a mirage. Even the
much-publicised visit of the Minister of State (PMO) Prithviraj Chavan
to the protest site of the Bhopal victims and his assurances do not cut
much ice, let alone evoke hope.
Mr Chavan, visiting on behalf of the Prime Minister, assured the
victims that the government has agreed 'in principle' to the demand of
setting up a specially empowered commission (which would subsume all
existing panels) to carry out medical, economic and environmental
rehabilitation of the gas victims and that the medical research on the
adverse effects of the gas leakage will continue. But on the third
demand of taking legal action against Dow Chemicals (the present
owners of Union Carbide, the company responsible for the leak)
for environmental and health damage and soil and water
contamination
the government again played it safe by saying that the matter is
pending before the Madhya Pradesh High Court and it will take action as
per the decision of the court. Clearly, other than the 'in principle'
bit, there was hardly anything substantive in what the Minister said.
However, the announcement of the commission was devoid of details, like
its budget, its lifetime, etc. The survivors' organisations want the
panel to be extended and include rehabilitation to the victims of
the contaminated water and an assured corpus of Rs 2,000 crore to
enable its functioning over a minimum period of 30 years. They have
also asked the PM to ensure that the commission is empowered through an
Act of Parliament.
If we see these half-hearted promises in the light of certain other
developments, it becomes clear there's something missing somewhere in
this fight against injustice. And what are these 'other developments?
In 2006, the Ministry of Industries and Commerce approved the purchase
of Union Carbide (UC)'s Unipol technology by Reliance Industries
even though it is confiscable under a 1992 court order directing
attachment of UC's assets in India. Then there's the $1 billion FDI
carrot that Dow Chemicals has been dangling before the government.
Also, there's the pressure from within the government on the Ministry
of Chemicals to take back the Rs 100 crore case that it has filed
against Dow for the initial clean-up, and its lack of effort to bring
UC and its former chairperson Warren Anderson, both facing charges of
culpable homicide and grievous assault, before Indian courts. So what
is the missing link to getting justice? It's nothing else but
commitment.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=58cdc084-caab-499a-a83e-be81ccc106
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