BHOPAL: A NEVER ENDING TRAGEDY

Bhopal: A Never Ending Tragedy 

In the midst of recent Supreme Court verdict on 07 June 2010 in the Union Carbide gas leak case, Bhopal has once again drawn attention of national and international debates. We were a team of eight members comprising of a professor each from Canada, Delhi and Amritsar, two students from Canada and a reporter from BBC London along with two locals, who visited the premises of the Union Carbide factory at Bhopal on 12 July 2010. Our team was denied entry beyond the second gate and asked to seek permission from the Collector’s office.

Bhopal is a pertinent example of criminal impunity of the perpetrators of a heinous crime by the state against its own citizens. It is a gory example of a development model where lives of common folk are discounted to create hazardous mega-structures in the name of economic growth. Significantly the site where Union Carbide was setup was then the periphery of the city where the people on the margins lived in a slum (basti) right opposite to its premises and whose lives did not carry much significance to those in power.

 

A cancer patient who does not have enough funds to buy medicines (Photo by Simon Chilvers) 

Among the victims of the tragedy we met Hamida Bi who looked visibly old and spoke vividly of the time she has seen, right from the fateful night of the gas leak to systematic loss of lives of her family members including her husband and children. Hamida has also been central to the mobilization of women in the entire movement against the state machinery which has continuously expressed lack of seriousness for the victims of tragedy. She narrated how in the event of mishap and at the behest of the authorities, the area was cleared of people and dead bodies of Muslims where buried enmasse and Hindus were burned without religious rites.

Subsequently Bhopal victims have been fighting a joint battle in the court and public domain demanding compensation and quality access to the treatment of victims who continue to be affected by the after affects of exposure to the poisonous gas. We heard of cases of still-born infants, multiple disabilities of those otherwise born, prolonged tuberculosis, etc. Sadly the fake medicines provided by the hospital established by the state government, exemplifying utter contempt of Court injunctions, shattered the lives of the ailing victims instead of curing them. The vicious cycle of rising expenses on the treatment from private hospitals and clinics worsens the condition of those who are unemployed or have meager income to sustain their medical expenses, leading to continuous loss of precious lives.

The only available compensation that government has been forced to pay has been from the verdicts of the court. Rukhsana Begum, another victim of the tragedy, narrated the incidents when during the exercise to ascertain the quantum of compensation the government officials would ask if their children were fake and illegitimate. The state reflects a cruel paradox when fully aware of its own ‘criminal neglect’ of its people, it instead tries to criminalize the latter. When the organs of the state cannot protect innocent lives, its very existence comes to question. This scenario is amply reflected in the entire tribal belt of central India where continuous neglect and exploitation of indigenous people has eventually led to an appropriation of the entire debate by Maoist violence.

This entire experience resonated with the lives of these two women who have lost almost everything in their lives. They are continually fighting battles in personal and public lives, trying to secure every bit of hope which attaches significance to their existence. From litigations, dharnas and advocacy to ensuring lives of continually ill members of family, their education and employment, these women are fighting crucial battle against the state authorities. It could not have been possible without the steadfast support of Jabbar Bhai who has stood by the cause of victims. Union Carbide tragedy has devastated the lives of thousands of people which are estimated to be 30,000 of those killed until now and more than a lakh who are suffering from multiple ailments.

The Centre has recently moved a curative petition to the Supreme Court seeking 11 fold hike in relief to the gas victims. The Tribune (December 4, 2010) quotes the figures of people dead as 5,295 (as compared to SC count of 3,000) and the number of cases with minor injuries as 5,27,894 (as against 50,000 estimated by the apex court earlier)

Rukhsana pointing towards the Union Carbide Factory (Photo by Simon Chilvers)

For the past sixteen years Swabhiman Trust took up the cause of providing training in multiple skills to Hindu and Muslim girls to give them a sense of dignity and help them support their families. It has rekindled hope for many and the centre has since then also become pivot of various activities for the victims of an unprecedented tragedy in human history. Swabhiman not only redefined the inter-communal relations of victims but also transformed the likes of Hamida Bi and Rukhsana Begum. Hamida proudly narrated how in the wake of tragedy she abandoned burqa. She has until now lost 35 members of her family in the tragedy. Rukhsana accompanied us to the families of Muslim and Hindu victims and would occasionally ask for photograph with the victims reflecting a sense of solidarity, a collective sense of hope.