Gobind Thukral

THIS tragic story is well known to the entire human race. It is itched in human memory as like the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was the worst industrial disaster in human history that claimed 15,274 lives and impaired another 5.74 lakh lives in India’s great city of Bhopal. It happened on the night of December 3 and 4 in 1984, the worst year for Operation Blue Star and the killing of hundreds of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and elsewhere and the assassination of a ruling Indian Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

It has been documented in books, on video tapes and reported in the newspapers and other media all over the world. For years, people have fought for justice, hoping against hope that those guilty would be punished one day. That hope now lies in dust. Worst the way Indian political leaders of the Congress and the BJP have behaved over the years, the way courts even ate highest level have functioned to suit the rich and the powerful American interests showed we are fast losing our hard won freedom. We fast becoming lackeys of the American government.

On June 7, a Bhopal judicial magistrate punished former Union Carbide India Chairman Keshub Mahindra and seven others for a maximum of two years imprisonment. All the convicts were granted bail immediately for just Rs 25, 000 each. However, 89-year-old Warren Anderson, the then chairman of Union Carbide Corporation of USA, who lives happily in New York in the United States, got scot-free as he is still an absconder and did not subject himself to the trial. There was no word about him in the judgment delivered by Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohan P Tiwari 23 years after the trial commenced. Over twenty judges had presided over the trail. Hail the Indian judicial system.

America's reaction to the sentence in the Bhopal gas tragedy was insulting. US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake said, "I don't expect this verdict to reopen any new inquiries or anything like that. On the contrary, we hope that this is going to help to bring closure, to the victims and their families."
Twenty-five years have passed since that night of terror and death in Bhopal, which saw a cloud of deadly gases explode out of a faulty tank in a pesticide factory and silently spread into the homes of sleeping people. Although no official count of casualties has ever been done, estimates based on hospital and rehabilitation records show that about 20,000 people died and about 5.7 lakh suffered bodily damage, making it by far the world’s worst industrial disaster ever.

Many who breathed the highly toxic cocktail that night suffered a horrible death with multiple organ failure. Those who survived have suffered multiple diseases for 25 years. A report of the Gas Tragedy Relief Department of the state says that the morbidity rate (occurrence of ailments) is nearly 20% among gas-affected persons compared to about 5% among the unaffected population.

Following the disaster, there was an international outcry for relief for the victims and punishment to those responsible for the gas leakage. The pesticide plant from where the gas leaked belonged to Union Carbide India, a subsidiary of the US-based Union Carbide Company. They were asked to pay compensation and arrange for medical treatment. The matter immediately got embroiled in legal controversies. Thus began a long and painful struggle of the victims for compensation, medical attention and rehabilitation that has spluttered along for a quarter century.

In February 1989, the Supreme Court announced that it was approving a settlement for Bhopal victims under which Union Carbide agreed to pay Rs 713 crore for compensation to victims, while the government agreed to drop all criminal cases against it. However, due to intense public shock and anger at letting off the culprits, the court agreed to reopen the criminal cases in 1991. Two installments of compensation — of up to Rs 25,000 each — have been given till now to the injured, one in 1994 and the next in 2004.

N D Jayaprakash of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahyog Samiti one of the groups fighting for the rights of gas victims, calls this a massive fraud because the number of gas-affected persons was arbitrarily fixed by the government at 105,000, including about 3,000 dead. In reality, nearly 20,000 people have died, and 5.7 lakh have suffered injuries. The compensation amount — Rs 713 crore, paid by Union Carbide — was meant for about 1 lakh persons but has been distributed among nearly 6 lakh people. Of the Rs 713 crores, Rs 113 crores was for loss of livestock and property. The balance Rs 600 crore distributed among 5.74 lakh persons works out to about Rs 12,410 per victim on average. proceedings took.

Even after 25 years, gas victims are suffering serious health problems. On an average, 6,000 gas-affected patients visit hospitals in Bhopal every day, that is, about 2 million visits per year. The government adopted a one-size-fits-all policy for categorisation of injuries — a person with compromised lungs may ultimately develop other diseases, besides being unable to work fully. But such distinctions were not maintained and meagre compensation was doled out. Sadhana Pradhan, who has worked among the gas victims since the disaster in 1984 points out that no line of treatment was ever evolved. “The government has treated the victims on an ad hoc basis,” she says. Medical records are yet not centralized as recommended by the monitoring committee set up by the Supreme Court in 2004. As a result, doctors have no idea about the patients’ history. “This has led to development of multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB in many cases,” says Dr Saxena, who spent 11 years in the government’s TB hospital in Bhopal.

Another dimension of the ongoing tragedy of Bhopal is the poisonous chemical waste lying around in the abandoned premises of the pesticide plant. Several committees have inspected it and found 44,000 kgs of tarry residues and 25,000 kgs of alpha naphthol lying in the open since 1984. Various studies have established that the soil, ground water, vegetables and even breast milk have traces of toxic chemicals.

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Bhopal’s industrial catastrophe caused due to emergency

Gopal Krishna

THE affidavit from Central Bureau of Investigation’s most recent affidavit in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bhopal clearly implies that had Emergency been not imposed Bhopal’s catastrophe caused by the US Corporation’s acts of omission and commission would not have happened. There is a compelling logic for an independent probe in the entire issue ranging from granting of industrial license, escape of Warren Anderson, role of Indo-US CEO Forum to lobbying by industrialists and ministers to absolve Dow Chemicals of liability.

It emerges that industrial license to US Corporation’s chemicals plant was granted during the period when Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister had invoked Article 352 to declare Emergency in the country from 25th June 1975 to 21st March 1977 during 21-month regime. The 7th June, 2010 verdict of the Bhopal court states that Union Carbide Corporation too refers to the application for industrial license on page no.4. According to the CBI’s recent affidavit, on 1st January 1970, Union Carbide Company had “applied for industrial license for manufacture of 5000 tones MIC- based pesticides” required under The Registration and Licensing of Industrial Undertakings Rules, 1952. An application for the registration of an existing industrial undertaking is made to the Ministry of Industry (formerly to Ministry of Industrial Development), Government of India.

The application was signed by E. A. Munoz, a General Manager in the company. The company did not get industrial license for more than 5 years. There must have been sufficient reason to withhold permission for industrial license. After the imposition of Emergency, the company was granted the license on till 31st October, 1975 exactly nine years prior to her assassination in 1984. The verdict notes that the issuance of industrial license to Union Carbide Company for manufacture of MIC- based pesticides on 31st October, 1984.

R K Sahi, the then Deputy Director in the Ministry of Industrial Development (former Deputy Advisor, Planning Commission) has informed that the entire department was against granting of the industrial license. The officials in the Ministry knew that obsolete and discarded technology and machinery was being transferred to India for which the license was granted by bypassing the due process. There was political interference in the granting of the industrial license.

The manufacture of Methy Isocynate (MIC) commenced with effect from 5th February, 1980, information regarding which was sent to the Department of Chemicals and Fertilizers vide letter dated 19th February, 1980. The company informed the Ministry of Industrial Development on 12th November, 1982 about the commencement of production in 1980, while requesting for renewal of agreement that was to terminate in 1982.

The verdict by Mohan P Tiwari, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh notes “Union Carbide Corporation , 39,Old Ridgebury Road Danbury Connecticut ,USA 06817” and Union Carbide Corporation, (Eastern) Inc. 16th Floor New World Office Building (East Wing) 24, Sabury Tsimsa Tsu Kowloon Hongkong, as absconders. On page 25 of the verdict, it states, “(z) It is worthwhile to mention here that the Government of India and the Team of Scientists admittedly was never permitted to visit the Plant at Verginia, USA. No brochure or any other documentary evidence demonstrating the similarity between the two plants at Verginia and Bhopal has been produced before the court by the defence.”

On page 95 of the verdict, it is stated, “Mr. Warren Anderson, UCC USA and UCC Kowlnn Hongkong are still absconding and therefore, every part of this case (Criminal File) is kept intact along with the exhibited and unexhibited documents and the property related to this case, in safe custody, till their appearance.” In the verdict, it is stated that “Dr. S. Varadarajan PW57, was the Head of the team of experts who visited the Plant Site very next day of the incident. He is an expert having excellent qualification. M.Sc. PhD. From Delhi & Cambridge several Honorary D.Scs also former President all three major Indian Academy of Science Bangalore, Indian National Academy Delhi started by M.N. Shah and Indian National Academy of Engineering and a number of other Societies. (q)Dr. S. Vardharajan PW57, in Para 2 of his statement states that there were several defects, such as MIC is a liquid but it evaporates with air and is highly toxic on inhalation as it is made of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide converted into Phosegen, is required to be utilized immediately and not to be stored. Storage of MIC should have been highly limited only to meet the requirements for conversion into Sevin as little as possible. (r) In Para 5 he further says that the design required inhibitor to prevent voluntary polymerization of MIC. Polymerization produces very high temperature and that accelerates polymerization in an explosive manner. There are design defects, such as use of Carbon, Steel and other material and pipes and other materials. These are leading to corrosion in the presence of even quantities of Hydrogen Chloride, Hydrochloric Acid (HCL) arising from Phosegen, Chloroform and other Chloride materials.” Although the design fault by the US corporation is established, the criminal liability of the Union Carbide’s case is yet to be settled.

It is noteworthy that Justice S Muralidhar, Delhi High Court in his seminal paper titled “Unsettling Truths, Untold Tales: The Bhopal Gas Disaster Victim’s ‘Twenty Years’ of Courtroom Struggles for Justice” concluded that the cases concerning Bhopal gas disaster should not conclude till justice has been done to every victim. Each strand of litigation is pending at various stages and the questions that have arisen remain unsatisfactorily answered.” He had aptly underlined in May 2004, “The extent of concealment and subterfuge practised by UCC and UCIL in screening away from scrutiny the extent of risk to which the MIC plant at Bhopal was subjecting the local population. The enormous lies of the UCC and UCIL now stand exposed. It is indeed disturbing that despite the Union of India and the State of Madhya Pradesh knowing fully well the extent of contamination of the plant site, neither of those entities did anything at all to enforce the liabilities of the UCC and UCIL and claim damages under this head. The settlement which the Supreme Court approved on February 14/ 15, 1989 stands severely flawed with every passing day. There now appears no possible justification for the order made on those two fateful dates. Every assumption on which the orders were based was wrong both on facts and on law. Notwithstanding the defiant posture of the Supreme Court in its review petition that its powers under Article 142 justified its approval of the settlement, which foreclosed all present and future civil and criminal claims, the court itself has had to reject the judgment in the review proceedings as an applicable precedent for future cases. The wrong remains an irremediable wrong. It bears repetition that the assumptions on which the settlement is approved was that the number of deaths was 3,000 and the number injured in the range of 1, 00,000. In March 2003, the official figures of the awarded death claims stood at 15,180 and awarded injury claims at 5, 53,015. The underestimation was slightly above 5 times. The range of compensation which was assumed in the settlement order would be payable was Rs.1 to 3 lakhs for a death claim, Rs.25, 000/- to Rs.1 lakh for temporary disablement and Rs.50, 000/- to Rs.2 lakhs for permanent disablement. Each death claim has been awarded not more than Rs.1 lakh and on an average an injury claim has been settled for as little as Rs.25,000/-. The failure of the judiciary to account for the views of the Bhopal Gas victim has been pervasive.”

While the fact of Supreme Court itself being on trial following such a litigation disaster is established, what is yet to be established is legislative competence to ensure universal jurisprudence for corporations. If Dow Chemicals escapes liability, if Anderson remains an absconder and goes unpunished, it sets a dangerous precedent for democracies all over the world.

In Volume 5, Hazard Assessment of Chemicals, published by Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, Washington, page no. 236, it refers to suspicion that in addition to the chemical pesticide plant, the Research and Development (R&D) Centre that Union Carbide which operated in Bhopal since 1976 was experimenting with wartime use of chemicals. It remains shrouded in mystery although it was reputed to be among the best in the world with the R&D Centre having 3 green houses, 5 insect rearing laboratories and an experimental farm of 2 hectares. The processing of new chemicals at the R&D Centre had increased from 50 in 1980 to 500 in 1982 and the Centre was projected to test 5000 chemicals in 1985 because many chemicals could not be tested in USA because of stricter environmental regulations. This R&D centre too came up during Emergency. This industrial disaster has aptly been called the Nagasaki and Hiroshima of peace time but the suspicion regarding it being a consequence of experimenting with time chemicals is yet to be probed.

By the end of First World War, Union Carbide Corporation (which has merged with Dow Chemicals in 2001) had moved from metal and carbon to gases and chemicals and expanded to atomic energy production during Second World War. Its operations in India began in 1905 in Calcutta. It had dry cell manufacturing plant in Chennai in 1942 and in Hyderabad in 1967. In 1968, the agricultural office of the company had moved from Mumbai to Bhopal. At the time of Bhopal disaster it was the 7th largest company in the world headquartered at Danbury, Connecticut, USA with 700 operations in 38 countries.

[The writer is with ToxicsWatch Alliance, Mb: 9818089660, E-mail: krishna2777@gmail.com]
 

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The demand for Pakistan and Islam

Ishtiaq Ahmed

THE Muslim League’s propaganda struck terror in the hearts of the Hindus and Sikhs who were told that they would be paying jazya and Islamic law will prevail in all sectors of individual and collective life. The minority Shia and Ahmediyya communities were also fearful that it would result in Sunni domination.

The recent attack on a congregation of Ahmedis during prayers, which claimed more than 90 innocent lives, has revived a discussion as to whether there is a connection between the creation of Pakistan and Islam. Within the Muslim League there was always a constituency in favour of Pakistan becoming an Islamic state. One of its proponents was a close confident of Jinnah: Raja Sahib Mahmudabad, a Shia. In 1939 he wrote to the historian Mohibul Hassan:

“When we speak of democracy in Islam it is not democracy in the government but in the cultural and social aspects of life. Islam is totalitarian — there is no denying about it. It is the Quran that we should turn to. It is the dictatorship of the Quranic laws that we want — and that we will have — but not through non-violence and Gandhian truth” (Mushirul Hasan, 1997: 57-8).

If the March 23, 1940, Lahore Resolution be taken as the start of the Pakistan campaign, then Jinnah had to make a breakthrough in the Muslim-majority provinces of northwestern India — Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh — each of which had regional parties headed by Muslims. The Muslim League had to convince the Muslim voters in these provinces that their leaders were courting Hindus and Sikhs and thus were paving the way for Hindu Raj under the Indian National Congress. That opportunity arrived in July 1945 when the British government announced provincial elections for February 1946. Punjab Governor Sir Bertrand Glancy has recorded in several secret fortnightly reports (FR) the tactics that the Muslim League adopted during the long election campaign. In the FR of December 27, 1945, Glancy noted:

“Among Muslims the Leaguers are increasing their efforts to appeal to the bigotry of the electors. Pirs and maulvis have been enlisted in large numbers to tour the province and denounce all who oppose the League as infidels. Copies of the Holy Quran are carried around as an emblem peculiar to the Muslim League. Feroz [Khan Noon] and others openly preach that every vote given to the League is a vote cast in favour of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). These deplorable tactics, as I have frequently said, were only to be expected; they provide a grim augury of the future peace of India and they are certainly not easy for the Unionists to counter” (Lionel Carter, 2006: 160).

In the FR of February 2, 1946, Glancy wrote:

“The ML [Muslim League] orators are becoming increasingly fanatical in their speeches. Maulvis and pirs and students travel all round the province and preach that those who fail to vote for the League candidates will cease to be Muslims; their marriages will no longer be valid and they will be entirely excommunicated...It is not easy to foresee what the results of the elections will be. But there seems little doubt the Muslim League, thanks to the ruthless methods by which they have pursued their campaign of ‘Islam in danger’, will considerably increase the number of their seats and Unionist representatives will correspondingly decline” (Carter, 2006: 171).

Similar tactics were adopted in the campaigns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. In his doctoral dissertation, India, Pakistan or Pakhtunistan?, Erland Jansson writes:

“The pir of Manki Sharif...founded an organisation of his own, the Anjuman-us-asfia. The organisation promised to support the Muslim League on the condition that Shariat would be enforced in Pakistan. To this Jinnah agreed. As a result the pir of Manki Sharif declared jihad to achieve Pakistan and ordered the members of his anjuman to support the League in the 1946 elections” (pg 166).

Jinnah wrote in November 1945 a letter to Pir Manki Sharif in which he promised that the Shariat would apply to the affairs of the Muslim majority. He wrote:

“It is needless to emphasise that the Constituent Assembly, which would be predominantly Muslim in its composition, would be able to enact laws for Muslims, not inconsistent with the Shariat laws and the Muslims will no longer be obliged to abide by the un-Islamic laws” (Constituent Assembly of Pakistan Debates, Volume 5, 1949, pg 46).

The Muslim League’s propaganda struck terror in the hearts of the Hindus and Sikhs who were told that they would be paying jazya and Islamic law will prevail in all sectors of individual and collective life. The minority Shia and Ahmediyya communities were also fearful that it would result in Sunni domination. This is obvious from the correspondence between the Shia leader Syed Ali Zaheer and Jinnah in July 1944 (G Allana, 1977: 375-9). Although the Council of Action of the All-Parties Shia Conference passed a resolution on December 25, 1945, rejecting the idea of Pakistan (SR Bakshi, 1997: 848-9), most Shias shifted their loyalty to the Muslim League in the hope that Pakistan will be a non-sectarian state. Initially the Ahmediyya were also wary and reluctant to support the demand for a separate Muslim state (Munir Report, 1954: 196). It is only when Sir Zafarullah was won over by Jinnah that the Ahmedis started supporting the demand for Pakistan. To all such groups Jinnah gave assurances that Pakistan will not be a sectarian state.

In my forthcoming book on the partition of Punjab, now running into more than 1,000 pages but which is at last completed and for which I am now looking for a publisher, I will shed light on how the fierce Islamist propaganda impacted on the partition of Punjab. The Sikhs had more fears than anyone else about what could happen to minorities in Pakistan. In a meeting in May 1947 sponsored by Lord Mountbatten to help the Muslims and Sikhs reach an agreement on keeping Punjab united, Jinnah offered the Sikhs all the safeguards they wanted if they agreed to support Pakistan. Only in March 1947 some 2,000-10,000 Sikhs — depending on who you cite — were butchered in the Rawalpindi rural areas so the Sikhs were very wary of Jinnah’s overtures. Chief Minister of Patiala Hardit Singh Malik writes he had an inspiration and asked Jinnah: “Sir you are making all the promises but God forbid if something happens to you, what will happen then?” The exact words Jinnah used in reply will be revealed in my forthcoming book, but the reasoning was that his followers will treat his words as sacred.

[Ishtiaq Ahmed is a Visiting Research Professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) and the South Asian Studies Programme at the National University of Singapore and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Stockholm University. He is currently working on a book, Is Pakistan a Garrison State? He can be reached at isasia@nus.edu.sg]

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Global Civil Society Campaign to De-Legitimise Israel?

Thalif Deen

IF, as expected, the U.N. Security Council remains politically impotent and refuses to penalise Israel for the killings of nine pro-Palestinian civilians on a ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, what is the next course of action? A global civil society campaign to de-legitimise Israel? Formal or informal sanctions by individual states? Worldwide arrest warrants?

All of these - and more - are in the realm of possibility, say two leading constitutional experts, Professor Richard Falk, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Michael Ratner, president of the New York- based Centre for Constitutional Rights.

The gridlock in the Security Council is likely to remind civil society forces that justice for the Palestinians will depend on bottom-up conflict resolution, and a global delegitimising campaign that worked so well in the struggle to defeat South African racism, Falk told IPS.

Asked how Israel could be punished and/or penalised for its atrocities - if action is to be taken outside the Security Council chambers - Falk said there are two sets of punitive responses outside of the U.N. system.

First, by strong diplomatic initiatives, as for instance, the deterioration of Israeli trade and security relations with Turkey, and others; and by some governments adopting informal or formal sanctions - again the South Africa analogy is relevant, he said.

Secondly, by civil society initiatives that move toward further de-legitimisation of Israel, such as a citizen tribunal on Israeli aggression on the high seas or slow genocide in Gaza; an intensifying campaign fueled by outrage, including the failure of the United Nations to uphold international law in relation to Israel, said Falk, who is also professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University.

Ratner told IPS the injured citizens from various countries can and should begin criminal prosecutions in their home countries against Israeli officials who ordered this attack in international waters.

"Worldwide arrest warrants should be issued. Israeli officials should understand that they may have impunity in Israel, but that they leave Israel at their peril," he said.

The Israeli attack on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid, which resulted in the killings of nine Turkish nationals, has provoked anger and protests worldwide.

According to news reports, there were more than 600 civilians from 32 countries on board the six ships which flew the flags of Turkey, Greece and Comoros.

But after a 12-hour session Monday, the Security Council issued a tame "presidential statement" condemning what has been described by critics as "high seas piracy and banditry".

The United States, which has traditionally thrown a protective arm around Israel - whether the Jewish state is right or wrong - was primarily responsible for "watering down" the statement and refusing to adopt a formal resolution against Israel.

Secure under a protective U.S. umbrella, Israel is unlikely to be singled out for condemnation or even subjected to Security Council sanctions or resolutions.

"Yes, it is likely that Israel will continue to enjoy de facto impunity as a result of Euro-American geopolitical protection," Falk told IPS.

But he predicted that European support for Israel is likely to be under strain "after such a flagrant disregard of international law and such a cruel and arbitrary use of force".

Ratner told IPS that "at some point – [and] we may be reaching that point - the anger at Israel by Muslim populations of countries like Turkey and Pakistan, and by extension their anger at the U.S., UK. and France for their continued support in the Security Council for Israeli lawlessness, may force a change."

This is not because those countries care a whit about Palestinians, he said, but because their security depends on not alienating millions in an area they deem crucial to their economic and physical security.

"So I have not given up hope for increased pressure on Israel from the Security Council," he said.

The Security Council's failure to condemn this attack is also part of its failure to act on prior occasions when Israel has violated international law, such as in Gaza, said Ratner. At a minimum, the Security Council should refer this matter to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, he added.

"The Security Council overlooking lawlessness in the past has led to more lawlessness in the future. It has given Israel impunity to carry out horrendous human rights violations," he noted.

As the Security Council, controlled on this issue by the U.S., the UK and France, protects Israel, "We are seeing the emergence of a remarkable phenomenon: militant activism by thousands from all over the world taking action that is the best hope for forcing a change that could end the blockade, end the settlements and has the potential to bring peace," he said.

Addressing parliament Wednesday, a visibly angry Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that, "Even despots, gangsters and pirates have specific sensitiveness, (and) follow some specific morals."

"But those who do not follow any morality or ethics, those who do not act with any sensitivity, to call them such names would even be a compliment to them," he said.

"This brazen, irresponsible, reckless (Israeli) government that recognises no law and tramples on any kind of humanitarian virtue, this attack by the Israeli government must by all means be punished," he added.

Referring to the Israeli version of the attack, Erdogan said the government in Tel Aviv, "has made lying its state policy and does not blush about the crime it commits".

Instead of expecting the Israelis to open an investigation, "the international community must investigate this incident in all its dimensions and must give the legal response", he added. [Courtesy IPS]

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