Bhopal tragedy survivors : Unbending courage and exemplary sense of justice !

Nafisa, 51, Shahjahnabad breaks down every time she talks about her dead sister. Her daughter Shireen, 18 years old suffers from chronic attacks of epilepsy.

Kapoori Bai, 54, lost her husband 1 year after the gas leak while her son has become partially blind.

Basanti Bai, 60, lost her husband to epilepsy while Gulab Bai’s husband and one of her son died immediately after the incident.

Daulat Ram,71,  says his young daughter died after suffering from respiratory condition. She was operated at Memorial Hospital where she took her last breath.

Tulsi Ram, 65, lost his young daughter just after the incident. He suffers from respiratory condition which makes me spit blood.

Shehzadi Bee,68, a resident of Bluemoon colony says that though their family survived the incident,but both she and her husband suffer from heart condition.

Rajbanti

Hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi

Shehjazi Bee

Tulsi Ram

Daulat Ram

These are the voices of Bhopal disaster survivors who are holding a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on the eve of its 30^th anniversary. The protest is organized by the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal. They have come a long way since that dreaded night when over 500,000 people were exposed to lethal methyl isocyanate, leaked from Union Carbide.  Thirty years have passed but its memory still terrifies those thousands of survivors. December 3, 1984 brought them death, pain, loss, terror and years of bereavement and despair.  Even then justice is delayed, justice is denied. All survivors have the same story to tell. Everyone has gone through the same ordeal. Nobody came out of it unscathed. Perhaps only the degree of their loss differs from one another to some extent.

The survivors demand nothing more than their much needed compensation which the Union Carbide and Indian government promised to pay thirty years back. An ex-gratia compensation of Rs. 1 Lakh was given to only 33, 672 survivors among the 5, 69, 081 people exposed to Union Carbide’s toxic gas while other 93 % victims are yet get their due. Not only the government is downplaying the damage caused by Union Carbide , it is also demanding a far lower additional compensation from the American corporations in the Curative petition, which is only 1.2 billion dollars instead of at least 8.1 billion dollars. They only want access to clean water, proper health facilities and basic food items at subsidised rates. Previously all  widows got Vidhva pension which was of negligible amount, even that has been discontinued according to the widows present at the hunger strike.

Rajbanti, 52 , lived only half a kilometre away from the factory. She describes her experience of that night when she suddenly woke up around 3:00 am, as she felt a burning sensation. She and her family were clueless about what’s happening. When they realized about the gas leak, their only shield was to cover themselves with bed sheets and clothes. They didn’t know the fatal consequence of this gas leak would be either sudden death or life long suffering from cancer, TB, epilepsy, partial or full blindness and asthma. Her family has seen it all. Her mother died one year after the incident. When asked how she died, Rajbanti describes her mother’s condition – “Kala par gayi thi. Ankhon se dekh nai pati thi” (She turned totally black. She lost her eye sight.) . Both her father and her sister’s husband silently passed out in their sleep few years after the incident. Local doctors declared their condition as cardiac failure or “heart fail” as Rajbanti states. Her husband Ghasiram suffers from extreme bouts of cough while two her sons have heart condition.  Her daughter Kusum recently got her tumour operated. She ends up declaring that nobody was spared from the gas.

Rajbanti’s detailed account reverberates in every survivor’s story. They are deprived from all basic amenities. Most children support their sick parent by working as labourers while some childless widows are forced to work as domestic help. Yet their spirits are undeniably resilient. Their International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal constitutes of the following NGOs -Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh,Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, Nirashrit Pension bhogi Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal Group for Information and Action and Children Against Dow Carbide. Rachna Dhingra of BGIA was leading the water-less strike along with some of the survivors. On 20^th November , after more than a week long protest, The Minister of Chemical and Fertilizers have agreed to their demands, Rahisda Bee, of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationary Karamchari Sangh, states, “The Minister has promised full commitment to having scientic data as the basis for assessment of injury caused by Union Carbide. There is abundant evidence in medical research and hospital records to show that well over 90% people suffered injuries that were minor or temporary. They will now be entitled to Rs. 1 Lakh additional compensation that was denied to them earlier.”

This victory has come after an immense struggle where the poor impoverished  survivors with obdurate sense of justice has been fighting one of the most richest, powerful and unscrupulous industrial organizations in the world. Till now the ground water contamination is severe. Due to lack of maintenance, at times sewage pipes leak into drinking water pipes supplied by municipality. The survivors continue dealing with various health problems — including chronic respiratory problems, vision problems and an increased occurrence of cancer and birth defects — and an environment that remains contaminated to this day. While Warren Anderson, Union Carbide’s CEO, continues to evade his punishment, Dow Chemicals  keep on refusing to assume any additional liability for Bhopal. Nevertheless the recent confirmation from the Central government of India has boost up the hope of finally getting justice in terms of much needed compensation, scientific way of categorizing the survivors in order to get medical benefits and lastly the amendment of Curative petition in order to speed up the hearing at the Supreme Court.