On the midnight of December 2-3, 1984, a mixture of methyl isocyanate (MIC) and other poisonous gases spewed out from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant in Bhopal resulting in exposure of more than half a million people to toxic gas and harmful chemicals. Most of these were workers at the plant, living in bastis around the plant site.

It is estimated that nearly 10,000 people died within 72 hours and 35,000 have since died from gas-related diseases, while nearly 3 lakh continue to suffer from chronic illnesses. One lakh of these are reported to be permanently maimed. Autopsies on the dead have revealed sever damage to the lungs, brains, kidneys and livers, and it is likely that the survivors have also been affected similarly.

The effect on future generations is unfolding every day. Reports by independent agencies reveal that the still birth rate increased by up to 300% and neonatal mortality rate by 200 %. The number of cancer patients in the area has also shot up. Toxins have been found in breast milk decades after the incident. Activists fighting for the rights of the victims have also claimed that toxins from thousands of tonnes of chemicals lying in and around the site have seeped into the ground and contaminated the water sources.

Investigations have revealed that UCIL, in its greed for super profits, neglected various safety rules, quality control and training methods, and that several accidents causing death and serious injuries had been reported earlier from the same plant, but these had been blatantly ignored. Union Carbide in 1984 accepted moral responsibility for the tragedy and established a $100 million charitable trust fund to build a hospital for the victims. Later, in 2001 Union Carbide was taken over by Dow Chemicals.

Union Carbide also paid 470 million dollars to the Indian government in 1989 in a settlement reached after a protracted legal battle. This settlement has been denounced by many organizations as a sell-out by the Indian government, of the interests of the victims and their families. According to this settlement, the victims were paid Rs. 25,000 in case of illness and Rs. 1 lakh to the next of kin of those dead. As has been reported, in many cases the promised compensation has not yet reached the people it was intended for. Union Carbide took no responsibility for cleaning up the toxic materials from the plant site. Meanwhile, Michigan-based Dow Chemical has said that it is not responsible for the clean up as it never owned or operated the plant at the time of the tragedy. In 2006 Dow obtained the Indian government’s assurance that it would not be held liable for the mass murder in Bhopal.

Successive governments at the centre and in the state of Madhya Pradesh, whether led by the Congress or the BJP, have made public noises and shed crocodile tears over the plight of the Bhopal gas tragedy victims. But their utter and shameless complicity with the criminals of Union Carbide and later Dow Chemicals has always been apparent. Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson was airlifted out of Bhopal to escape the wrath of the people. The Indian government has never pressed for Anderson’s extradition, arrest and trial, despite continuous demands by the gas victims and masses of Indian people for his prosecution. The government of Madhya Pradesh collaborated with the UCC in fudging data and downplaying the scale of the disaster. 25 years later, the government has taken no steps to clear up the toxic wastes at the plant site, which continue to pose a serious health hazard to the people there. 25 years later the government has been unable to ensure adequate compensation for the sufferers and punishment for the guilty.

The Prime Minister was recently widely quoted as saying that "25 years later Bhopal is gnawing at our collective conscience" and promising to take up cleaning up of the ground water, environment, etc. at the site. This is nothing but the height of cynicism. Whose collective conscience is the PM referring to? Clearly, the central and state governments stand thoroughly exposed today as those who have shamelessly collaborated with the mass murderers in Bhopal, in not apprehending and punishing Union Carbide and its then chairman Anderson, as those who even 25 years later continue to callously ignore the plight of the suffering survivors and future generations. 

The Indian state represents the interests of the Indian imperialist bourgeoisie. This bourgeoisie, which sucks the blood of our workers and peasants, has no concern about the lives of the toilers and tillers. It has no problem if foreign capitalists ruthlessly exploit our land and labour, kill and main our working people, as long as it also benefits from it. In the same way, it also exploits the land and labour of other peoples. This is the reason the Indian state has never taken any action, either to punish those guilty for the Bhopal tragedy, or provide succour to the victims. MEL condemns the callous and criminal stand of the Indian state on this question of life and death for the people affected.