The Government has failed to protect India’s national interests while dealing with the ghastly Union Carbide disaster of 1984. It did precious little to ensure that the victims got the relief they needed and deserved. Bhopal is both a national failure and a national tragedy
The last time that an Indian demanded that he be treated with respect by a foreign invader was when Porus battled Alexander on the banks of Jhelum in 326 BC. Legend has it that Porus lost (although some historians dispute this). Legend also has it that when Alexander asked the defeated Porus how he wished to be treated, the valiant Porus said, “Treat me like a King.” So he was. The moral is that others will treat you the way you want to be treated. Sadly ours has been a history of perfidy, treachery and surrender — at Terain, Panipat, San Thome, Plassey, with our Jai Chands and Mir Jaffars, or Seringapattnam where Tipu Sultan was betrayed to the British by the Nizam and the Marathas. And now Bhopal.
There has been considerable debate in India in recent days on the aftermath of Bhopal 1984. Most of it sounds like a personalised whodunit and about vested interests which misses other essential issues. Surely, Union Carbide was aware of the lethality of the chemical being used to produce the pesticide in its Bhopal factory. Unproven technology had been sent to India and the deadly methyl isocyanate arrived in huge quantities even when the mother company was aware that there could be a catastrophe should things go wrong at the factory. A warning to this effect had been issued in the parent company in the US but was never communicated to Bhopal. Added to this is the fact that the Bhopal unit was on a dollar-saving spree to cut costs by minimising safety measures. This makes both the companies culpable. It is Union Carbide that is responsible and it should be made to pay.
Once the gas leaked in Bhopal and the fatalities occurred, as a nation we did precious little to ensure that the victims got the relief that they needed and deserved. We ourselves diluted the case to the level where the US company could say that $500 per victim was “plenty good for Indians”. This reminds us of what the great Winston Churchill had said about using lethal gas: “I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes.” He wrote this in a War Office memo in May 1919 in the context of West Asia. The same attitude prevails when we are fobbed off with loose change, but then we have been willing conspirators in this ugly reality.
In contrast, the British have offered billions of dollars as compensation for the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Muammar Gaddafi was forced to pay five million pounds per family for the 270 who died in the PanAm Flight 103 bombing at Lockerbie. The Libyans will pay another two billion pounds for having supplied Semtex to the IRA who then used this in terror strikes in the UK. A total of 800 million pounds will be paid to the 147 families affected by these attacks. One might argue that Bhopal was not about terrorism; but surely it was about criminal and wilful neglect. No compensation will bring back the dead, but surely there has to be some sense of fair play, however
hardnosed a country’s business and profit instincts might be.
A substantial upward revision of the compensation is the least one can expect. There have already been veiled threats that should the Indians get too demanding, US-India trade and commercial interests will suffer. So be it. We should remember and remind the US that it is offering us commercial deals for its military aircraft, there is no friendship price. It is also packaged in obnoxious preconditions like the EUMA. So we should feel free to shop around in the open market for the best deal that suits our national security interests.
Finally, while we may debate whether or not Dow Chemicals carries the liability to clean up the toxic factory site, we have done precious little either to clean up or force Dow to do it.All these years as files got tossed around nothing was done to clean Bhopal of the toxic hazard. Even now, groundwater tests show that the carbon tetrachloride (a cancer-causing chemical) content is 2,400 times in excess of the safety level. Carbon tetrachloride is used in pesticides and has been banned in most countries.
Meanwhile, collective and continued apathy and indifference has meant that apart from the estimated 15,000 who have died (figures vary) there are about 5,00,000 who suffer from chronic diseases. Maybe we should now take up Mr Ratan Tata’s suggestion that Indian industry should detoxify Bhopal — perhaps as belated penance because Government seems frozen into inaction.
It is worthwhile to look around to see how other countries protect their perceived interests. US President Barack Obama thumps the desk and vows to ‘kick ass’ when confronted with the oil spill. The Israelis have used force to prevent an attempt to break the Gaza blockade. The Iranians hunker down and refuse to give in to global demands about their nuclear programme. This is not a value judgement on the correctness of their interests. This is a comment on the willingness of the state to protect its interests.
We, on the other hand, seem over eager to look good and rationalise even on behalf of an adversary. Consequently, we end up with the short end of the bargain. Ultimately others will respect us and listen to us if we are prepared to defend our interests, come what may. Greatness will be not gifted to us; we will have to stand up and fight for it.
Bhopal is about our national failure; it is also about our national tragedy. Do we have the courage and ability to say “Never again?” The next test will come shortly when the Nuclear Liability Bill comes up for consideration in Parliament. The fear is that given our track record we might agree to terms less favourable to us.
Source : The Pioneer, 17th June 2010
The last time that an Indian demanded that he be treated with respect by a foreign invader was when Porus battled Alexander on the banks of Jhelum in 326 BC. Legend has it that Porus lost (although some historians dispute this). Legend also has it that when Alexander asked the defeated Porus how he wished to be treated, the valiant Porus said, “Treat me like a King.” So he was. The moral is that others will treat you the way you want to be treated. Sadly ours has been a history of perfidy, treachery and surrender — at Terain, Panipat, San Thome, Plassey, with our Jai Chands and Mir Jaffars, or Seringapattnam where Tipu Sultan was betrayed to the British by the Nizam and the Marathas. And now Bhopal.
There has been considerable debate in India in recent days on the aftermath of Bhopal 1984. Most of it sounds like a personalised whodunit and about vested interests which misses other essential issues. Surely, Union Carbide was aware of the lethality of the chemical being used to produce the pesticide in its Bhopal factory. Unproven technology had been sent to India and the deadly methyl isocyanate arrived in huge quantities even when the mother company was aware that there could be a catastrophe should things go wrong at the factory. A warning to this effect had been issued in the parent company in the US but was never communicated to Bhopal. Added to this is the fact that the Bhopal unit was on a dollar-saving spree to cut costs by minimising safety measures. This makes both the companies culpable. It is Union Carbide that is responsible and it should be made to pay.
Once the gas leaked in Bhopal and the fatalities occurred, as a nation we did precious little to ensure that the victims got the relief that they needed and deserved. We ourselves diluted the case to the level where the US company could say that $500 per victim was “plenty good for Indians”. This reminds us of what the great Winston Churchill had said about using lethal gas: “I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes.” He wrote this in a War Office memo in May 1919 in the context of West Asia. The same attitude prevails when we are fobbed off with loose change, but then we have been willing conspirators in this ugly reality.
In contrast, the British have offered billions of dollars as compensation for the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Muammar Gaddafi was forced to pay five million pounds per family for the 270 who died in the PanAm Flight 103 bombing at Lockerbie. The Libyans will pay another two billion pounds for having supplied Semtex to the IRA who then used this in terror strikes in the UK. A total of 800 million pounds will be paid to the 147 families affected by these attacks. One might argue that Bhopal was not about terrorism; but surely it was about criminal and wilful neglect. No compensation will bring back the dead, but surely there has to be some sense of fair play, however
hardnosed a country’s business and profit instincts might be.
A substantial upward revision of the compensation is the least one can expect. There have already been veiled threats that should the Indians get too demanding, US-India trade and commercial interests will suffer. So be it. We should remember and remind the US that it is offering us commercial deals for its military aircraft, there is no friendship price. It is also packaged in obnoxious preconditions like the EUMA. So we should feel free to shop around in the open market for the best deal that suits our national security interests.
Finally, while we may debate whether or not Dow Chemicals carries the liability to clean up the toxic factory site, we have done precious little either to clean up or force Dow to do it.All these years as files got tossed around nothing was done to clean Bhopal of the toxic hazard. Even now, groundwater tests show that the carbon tetrachloride (a cancer-causing chemical) content is 2,400 times in excess of the safety level. Carbon tetrachloride is used in pesticides and has been banned in most countries.
Meanwhile, collective and continued apathy and indifference has meant that apart from the estimated 15,000 who have died (figures vary) there are about 5,00,000 who suffer from chronic diseases. Maybe we should now take up Mr Ratan Tata’s suggestion that Indian industry should detoxify Bhopal — perhaps as belated penance because Government seems frozen into inaction.
It is worthwhile to look around to see how other countries protect their perceived interests. US President Barack Obama thumps the desk and vows to ‘kick ass’ when confronted with the oil spill. The Israelis have used force to prevent an attempt to break the Gaza blockade. The Iranians hunker down and refuse to give in to global demands about their nuclear programme. This is not a value judgement on the correctness of their interests. This is a comment on the willingness of the state to protect its interests.
We, on the other hand, seem over eager to look good and rationalise even on behalf of an adversary. Consequently, we end up with the short end of the bargain. Ultimately others will respect us and listen to us if we are prepared to defend our interests, come what may. Greatness will be not gifted to us; we will have to stand up and fight for it.
Bhopal is about our national failure; it is also about our national tragedy. Do we have the courage and ability to say “Never again?” The next test will come shortly when the Nuclear Liability Bill comes up for consideration in Parliament. The fear is that given our track record we might agree to terms less favourable to us.
Source : The Pioneer, 17th June 2010
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