Bhopal witnesses a number of protests marking the 37^th anniversary of the disaster

Pervez Bari 

BHOPAL – The Madhya Pradesh government as well as the Centre have been criticised for not fulfilling their responsibilities towards the survivors of 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. “Come 3^rd December every year the Madhya Pradesh Govt. holds the ritual of all religion condolence meeting of paying tributes to the departed souls who have perished in the 1984 Union Carbide Bhopal Gas disaster. Thereafter, the governments of MP and the Centre also forget about their responsibilities to provide succour to the ailing survivors and help the courts to punish the culprits of the tragedy,” said NGOs which organised a number of protests marking the 37^th anniversary of the tragedy on Friday, December 3.

The state government, on its part, also organised an all-religion meeting in the memory of the departed souls at the Central Library, Barkatullah Bhawan. Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel graced the occasion which was attended by various religious leaders.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan issued a message paying homage to the people who died during the gas disaster. He tweeted: “In the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, we have lost many precious lives untimely. I pay my humble tribute to all those departed souls. May such a tragedy never recur on the earth. With the joint efforts of the government and society, we can stop such humanitarian errors.”

Protesters in Bhopal torched effigies of Dow Chemical Company, the present owners of the Union Carbide, and other multinational companies. They were also carrying the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. But the police did not allow burning of their effigies. The protest was taken out by Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal Group for Information and Action and Children Against Dow Carbide.