| Published on 19-08-2008 In General |
| Viewed 1155 times |
| Come elections, the tragic "Bhopal Gas" games of the BJP |
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Written by
N.D.Sharma |
As the election in Madhya Pradesh approaches, the BJP's demand for declaring the 20 wards of Bhopal as the gas-affected becomes louder. This demand of the party was repeatedly raised and rejected as untenable by every forum concerned-- the Government of India, the State Assembly, Parliament, the State High Court and the Supreme Court -- in the past 18 years. It was rejected by the Central Government for the umpteenth time early this month.
The Bhopal municipal area was divided into 56 wards (now there are 66) when the lethal MiC gas had leaked from the Union Carbide Corporation's pesticide plant in the intervening night of December 2 and 3 in 1984. Thousands were killed and hundreds of thousands are still suffering from the effect of the gas and the greed and insensitivity of the politicians and bureaucrats.
The initial years were marked by confusion and indecision with the result that no proper lists of those who had inhaled the gas were prepared. A detailed study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) identified 36 wards out of the 56 as having been affected by the gas leak.
By an Act passed by Parliament, the Government of India had taken upon itself the responsibility to regulate the claims of the gas leak affected people. The Supreme Court of India decreed a settlement for $750 million for the Bhopal gas victims between the Government of India and the Union Carbide in 1989. The apex court directed this amount to be kept in the dollar account of the Reserve Bank of India.
Pending finalisation of the modalities for disbursement of compensation, the apex court permitted payment of interim relief at the rate of Rs 200 per head per month, which started from April 1990. The residents of the 36 wards as identified in the ICMR study were eligible for this interim relief.
The elections to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly were held in 1990. The Bhopal gas leak disaster was still a major issue and the gas-affected people formed a sizeable segment of voters. In its election manifesto, the BJP observed: "even five years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, which was the world's worst industrial disaster, the victims have received nothing but assurances". The party then enumerated several steps it intended to take to ameliorate the sufferings of the victims including the "rehabilitation of the gas victims on war footing"
The BJP's attitude towards gas victims changed once it had won the majority and formed the government. The reason was simple. Most of the 36 wards identified as gas affected were predominantly inhabited by Muslims and were considered strongholds of the Congress party. The residents of the remaining 20 wards, comprising mostly the upper middle class Hindus, had been traditional supporters of the BJP.
The BJP then felt that the whole of Bhopal, and not only the 36 wards, should be considered as the gas affected and the benefit of the monthly interim relief of Rs 200 per head should also be extended to the residents of the remaining 20 wards. The BJP government of Sunderlal Patwa formally requested the Government of India to include the remaining 20 wards for payment of interim relief.
The Government of India, however, asked the State Government to withdraw this request, as it was not feasible on merits.
Why the BJP was so keen (and has been since) for inclusion of the 20 wards among the gas affected for the purpose of distribution of compensation to its residents came out in a note on the Action Plan for rehabilitation of the gas victims of Bhopal, submitted by chief minister Patwa to the Union Minister of Petroleum and Chemicals in January 1991. It stated: "although, on merits, we have only a weak case (for extension of the 'interim relief' scheme to the remaining 20 wards), this issue is bound to have political implications, which the Government may not be able to easily ignore".
The BJP has, since, made it an important issue. The party, whether in the government or in the opposition, has been repeatedly writing to the Government of India on the subject. It has formed part of the BJP manifestoes. The party MPs have been raising the issue in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on every conceivable occasion. And it has rushed every now and then to the High Court or the Supreme Court. Everywhere the party's claim was rejected. What could be more pathetic than the inability of the BJP to convince even the NDA government of Atal Behari Vajpayee on the merits of the 20 wards being included among the gas-hit? But it did not dishearten the BJP leaders.
As the Supreme Court permitted disbursement of the remaining fund of compensation to the victims in July 2004, then State BJP president and former chief minister Kailash Joshi once again moved an application in the apex court seeking payment of compensation to the residents of the remaining 20 wards also. The court again rejected the application.
As the (Union Government's) Group of Ministers (GOM) on Bhopal Gas Relief and Rehabilitation was to meet earlier this month, the BJP government of Madhya Pradesh once again pressed its demand for treating the 20 wards as gas affected. The demand was once again rejected. Madhya Pradesh minister of Bhopal gas relief and rehabilitation Babulal Gaur described the GOM's decision as a symbol of injustice. What a travesty! Gaur is responsible more than any other person (with the possible exception of Arjun Singh) for the perpetuation of the misery of the gas-affected people of Bhopal even a quarter century after the disaster.
The BJP promised in 1990 Assembly election manifesto the rehabilitation of the gas victims on war footing. What the BJP government of Sunderlal Patwa (1990-92) really did was to gradually wind up the projects for the gas victims, which were already running and freeze those which were in pipeline. Babulal Gaur, who held the charge of Bhopal Gas Relief and Rehabilitation even then, announced in the Assembly that the Bhopal gas victims had become quite prosperous and did not need any help from the government. Incidentally, the BJP did not even mention the gas victims in its 1993 Assembly election manifesto. It has, though, not forgotten its demand for payment of compensation to the relatively well off residents of the remaining 20 wards. EOM |
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