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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Remembering Bhopal |
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by Ra Ravishankar
Email: ra_ravishankar (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified!) |
03 Sep 2002
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What's common to Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, and Union Carbide? They all gassed humans! The first two have acquired well-deserved notoriety, but in yet another instance of corporate malfeasance going unpunished, Union Carbide (acquired by Dow Chemicals last year) has so far escaped unscathed. How, and what can be done? |
What's common to Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, and Union Carbide? They all gassed humans! The first two have acquired well-deserved notoriety, but in yet another instance of corporate malfeasance going unpunished, Union Carbide (acquired by Dow Chemicals last year) has so far escaped unscathed.
On December 3 1984, over 40 tonnes of lethal Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) spilled out from Union Carbide's pesticide factory in Bhopal, India. More than 8000 people died in the first three days. The death toll has since then crossed 20000, and an estimated 120,000 remain chronically ill. Along with 10 others, Warren Anderson, Union Carbide's CEO at the time of the disaster, was charged with culpable homicide (punishable with imprisonment for upto ten years, or with fine, or with both, if the act is done with the knowledge that it is likely to cause death, but without any intention to cause death). A non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against him in 1992, and he has remained "untraceable" since then. After a typically long slumber, last year, the Indian government diluted the charges against him to "causing death by rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide" (punishable with imprisonment for upto two years, or with fine, or with both). The (ill)logic offerred was that the diluted charges are comparable to the offence of manslaughter under the U.S law and fall under the ambit of the Indo-U.S extradition treaty. A pathetic disguise for yet another clumsy attempt to cosy up to Bush et al, and one that didn't find favor with the Bhopal District Court. In its ruling on August 29th, the Court ordered the Indian government to "take immediate action for the extradition of Accused No.1 (Anderson)".
Bailing out Anderson is only the latest instance of the Indian government's apathy to the victims and benevolence to the accused. In 1989, it negotiated a "settlement" with Union Carbide for US$470 million, which worked out to a measly $500 per person (Dow Chemicals' PR officer Kathy Hunt's remark, '$500 is plenty good for an Indian', pretty much exemplifies the attitude of transnational corporations towards the Third World countries). Since acquiring Union Carbide, Dow Chemicals has sought to wash its hands off the liabilities of the former, much to the chagrin of the victims. Not only this, but by invoking the Trade Secrets Act, Dow continues to withhold crucial medical information, thereby adding to the agony of the victims. And the Indian government has let Dow open an office in India with four subsidiaries (Dow Chemical International Pvt. Ltd., Dow Chemical International Pvt. Ltd., Anabond Essex India Private Limited, DE-NOCIL Crop Protection Limited), so that it can market a dangerous brand of pesticide that has been banned in U.S. homes because of its deadly effects on children! In June this year, things got murkier still. The communalist Indian government decreed that the compensation funds will be extended to the residents of an additional 20 wards not affected by the tragedy, primarily Hindus - an obvious attempt to buy Hindu votes.
Inspite of all this, the victims have displayed remarkable courage and fortitude and continued to fight for their due. About two weeks after the dilution of charges against Anderson, on June 8 2002, two women survivors Tara Bai and Rashida Bee, and long-time activist Satinath Sarangi, started a fast outside the Indian Parliament demanding the swift extradition of Anderson, forcing Dow Chemicals to own up for Union Carbide's misdeeds in Bhopal and clean up Carbide's abandoned factory, and that money for the relief of gas victims should not be distributed in non gas-affected areas of the city. The two women strikers collapsed 18 days later, and Satinath broke his fast the next day after the Government yielded on their third demand, and the Court accepted a petition challenging the dilution of charges against Anderson. In solidarity with the victims, Diane Wilson, a Texas-based shrimper and environmentalist, started a worldwide relay strike. When she ended her fast 29 days later, over 700 people had already joined. "If there's one protest the authorities can do nothing about, it is our hunger strike, and we'll take our protest against the hypocrisy of Dow and other multinational corporations right into the (Earth) Summit venue," said Rasheeda. The number of fasters has since then swelled up to exceed 1000, and yes, Rasheeda has gone to Johannesburg (with a broom) to remind the Dow officials that they must clean up their mess. Much as it would have willed otherwise, the Indian govt's attempt at bailing out Anderson has only served to intensify the crusade against him.
Events have been moving at a frenetic pace here in the U.S. On August 26th, the irrepressible Diane scaled a 90 foot tower at Dow Chemical's Seadrift plant, unfurled a 12 foot banner stating "DOW - RESPONSIBLE FOR BHOPAL" and chained herself to the tower. Kathy Hunt, Dow Chemicals' PR chief at Seadrift responded with threats to slap federal charges against Diane which carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison. The celebrations over the Court verdict were still on when Casey Harrell of Greenpeace USA tracked the apparently untraceable Anderson to his Long Island (New York) residence and promptly handed him an arrest warrant. Yes, at his residence, and not an underground bunker or a cave! Will the FBI do an encore? Not in the absence of continued struggle, if recent events are any indication. What democracies these, where you need to fight tooth and nail for something that should have happened by default - the punishment of the guilty? It will still be a positive sign if the governments (are forced to) yield to the collective will of the citizenry.
Punishment after about two decades of arduous struggle may not really send shivers down the spines of corporate bigwigs, but the message - corporate malfeasance will land you in trouble - would be hard to miss. In addition to providing the much needed (and much delayed) succor to the victims, this will also invigorate the global fight against transnational agents of death. It's not the incarceration of a single Anderson that bothers the legislators and their paymasters, but rather the prospect of several Andersons from, say Wal Mart, Coca Cola, Nike and the like, meeting with the same fate. If it's the threat of a good example' that so unnerves them and causes them to resist it with all their might, isn't it imperative for us to help continue this fight to the finish? For, as Diane says, "The pain of up to l,50,000 Bhopalis who continue to bear Dow/Union Carbide's toxic legacy in their bodies, is the world's pain and justice's unfinished business." |
