December 1984 in Bhopal: A tragedy and travesty of justice

“Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere.”

The Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984 was a calamity that had no parallel on the world’s industrial history. In the early hours of December 3, 1984, a moving wind conveyed a toxic dark cloud from the Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Forty tonne of poisonous gas (methyl-iso-cyanate, MIC) was accidentally discharged from the plant, which leaked and spread all through the city.

The outcome was a bad dream that still has no end, citizens woke up to the suffocating gas and started running insanely through the dark streets, casualties reached hospitals; breathless and visually impaired. The lungs, brain, eyes, muscles and additionally gastro-intestinal, nervous, reproductive and immune systems of the individuals who survived the disaster were extremely affected.

At the point when the sun rose the following morning, the size of destruction was clear. Dead bodies of people and animals obstructed the road, leaves turned dark and a scent of burning chilli peppers was noticeable all around. Around 10,000 or more individuals were claimed dead. Around 500,000 more people endured agonising injuries with disastrous impact of the huge poisoning. None can say if future eras won't be influenced.

Associations and unions that have been battling for the Bhopal gas tragedy victims have highlighted that the disaster is still ongoing and the generations conceived after the incident show traces of the poisonous gas in their body in the form of deformities, till date.

The associations have said the factory abandoned by Union Carbide is still killing and harming individuals because of poisoning of groundwater from non-stop dumping of poisonous waste during its 14 years' of operation before the disaster.

Other than medical treatment, the victims complain that the state government has not kept promises made by it previously. It might be reviewed that the state promised to give employment to victims of the tragedy, keeping in view their physical condition. Still, nothing has been done in this regard.

Immediately after the disaster, Union Carbide began attempts to separate itself from obligations regarding the gas leak. Its vital strategy was to move culpability to UCIL, expressing the plant was completely manufactured and worked by the Indian backup.

Union Carbide India's CEO Warren Anderson was charged with manslaughter by Indian authorities. He flew to India and was promptly placed in custody by Indian authorities but was allowed to leave the country later. Due to the assurance offered by the US government and carelessness of the Indian government in bringing Anderson to justice, the world's worst corporate criminal died unpunished two years ago.

The Bhopal gas case verdict, which after 25 years awarded a sentence of just two years to the culprits, is a travesty of justice that shames India and insults the memory of the thousands killed.

The verdict is the culmination of a deeply flawed process involving the culpability of governments, investigative agencies and even the highest court of the land. These institutions compromised the interests of the country and the victims, diluted the charges and enabled Anderson to escape, limiting liability to a paltry compensation of only $470 million. These are acts of connivance to help the powerful US company and its Indian entity.

The case for justice and adequate compensation to the victims dragged on for three decades. Firstly, the compensation package offered is based on flawed estimation of deaths and injuries and the amount of money offered remains meagre. Secondly, there is no serious effort to make the Dow Chemical Company, which took over Union Carbide, liable for the damages and compensation.

The entire expenses for remediation and environmental clean-up at the Bhopal factory site should be borne by the Dow Chemical Company. Otherwise, there will be many more cases of similar nature where justice is purchased by the guilty or snatched away from the victim.

The only thing is that the price tag of justice differs from case to case.

Even today, lakhs of Bhopal gas tragedy victims are suffering and have received only meagre compensation. The disaster and the utterly flawed legal framework shows how American suppliers and capitalists worldwide have escaped punishment for crimes they committed.

Legally no one can buy justice. But in practice, a nation does not always work as is written in the constitution or any other law legislated by the government.

“Justice will always remain the tool of a few powerful people and legal interpretations will always continue to be made to suit the convenience of the oppressive powers.”

Also read: Bhopal gas tragedy should never be forgotten