Bhopal gas victims demand justice on lines of 1993 Mumbai blast

Hundreds of victims of the 1984 deadly gas tragedy in Bhopal city staged a protest here on Saturday, and sought justice similar to what has been delivered in other cases like the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blast.

Bhopal, Aug 18 : Hundreds of victims of the 1984 deadly gas tragedy in Bhopal city staged a protest here on Saturday, and sought justice similar to what has been delivered in other cases like the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blast.

Urging the Government to bring the culprits to book, the protesters, holding placards and shouting slogans here today.

"It's evident that people are enraged. The 1993 Mumbai blasts case is over. With so many cases regarding tragedies that happened much after Bhopal cleared, the Bhopal Gas leak case is being delayed, as the victims were mostly poor, and the guilty were heads of multinational corporations," said Abdul Jabbar, president of a gas victims' forum.

Bhopal tragedy activists say that the actual death toll from post-disaster diseases is almost 33,000, and continues to rise, as people living near the plant drink water poisoned by chemical waste.

They have long demanded that former Union Carbide Chairman Warren Anderson, be brought to India and tried in an Indian court.

"There aren't two books of law, there is just one. If one of our children commits murder, the police spare no effort to round him up and get him sentenced. Are the accused here relatives of those in the government that preferential treatment is being given to them? They should be sentenced at once," said Hamida Bi, a gas leak victim.

In 1984, Union Carbide accepted moral responsibility for the tragedy in Bhopal, and established a 100 million dollar charitable trust fund to build a hospital for victims. Union Carbide was later taken over by Dow Chemical.

The company also paid 470 million dollars to the Indian Government in 1989 as a settlement that was reached after a protracted legal battle. The victims, on an average, have received 25,000 rupees in case of illness and 100,000 rupees or so in case of a death in the family.

In December 1984, tonnes of toxic gas leaked from a pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide in Bhopal, killing 3,500 people almost immediately. Thousands more were maimed for life.

Twenty-three years on, a majority of the victims of the tragedy are still battling deadly diseases. Doctors say many survivors -- and some from a generation born after the disaster -- still suffer from deep psychiatric disorders and stunted growth while thousands of women have severe gynaecological problems.

Michigan-based Dow Chemical now says it is not responsible for the clean up, as it never owned or operated the plant. The Madhya Pradesh Government now owns the abandoned plant.

ANI