Kells amnesty to mark 30th anniversary of bhopal disaster

Just after midnight on 3rd December 1984 deadly gases began leaking from the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. In the absence of proper safety systems, these gases quickly spread throughout the crowded poorer neighbourhoods of the city. Known as the Hiroshima of the chemical industry, this remains the worst industrial disaster in human history.

On Thursday 4th December next the Kells Amnesty International Group will hold a commemoration to mark the 30th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster and to highlight the ongoing campaign for justice by the victims.

Approximately half a million Bhopali people were exposed to the toxic gases, as a result of which more than 20,000 died. Another 150, 000 people have suffered long-term health effects. Many children were born subsequently with gross deformities. The problem does not end there however. Thousands of tons of toxic wastes abandoned by Union Carbide in and around the Bhopal factory continue to contaminate the environment. The wastes have leached poisons and cancer-causing chemicals into the ground-water sources supplying the local community.

In 1989 a court case resulted in totally inadequate compensation being granted to the Bhopal survivors. Throughout the 1990s the survivors and support groups throughout the world continued to demand fair compensation and a proper clean up. In 2001 Union Carbide was purchased by the US-based Dow Chemical which in doing so acquired Union Carbide’s assets and liabilities. Dow however has steadfastly refused to clean up the site, provide safe drinking water, compensate the victims or disclose information about the effects of leaked gases, which doctors could use to properly treat victims.

Amnesty International is treating this as a basic issue of human rights. The public event on 4th December will include a short candle-lit ceremony of remembrance. The gathering will be addressed by Dr Chandana Mathur, a trustee of the Bhopal Medical Appeal, lecturer in anthropology at NUI Maynooth and wife of Headfort School principal Dr Dermot Dix. Information will also be provided on Amnesty’s pre-Christmas letter-writing campaign which focuses on two Bhopali women activists. By way of practical action and as an act of solidarity, people will be encouraged to write to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in support of the women’s campaign for justice.

The venue for the event which will commence at 8pm on Thursday 4th December is the Edmund Rice Centre, Bective Street Kells. All are welcome. Entrance is free but donations are welcome. For further information contact Danny Cusack on 085-7396938.

Moreover, the people of Bhopal will never be forgotten. A new film Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain, starring Martin Sheen, was released in Hollywood early last month. It highlights the ongoing issues stemming from the disaster of thirty years ago. Doubtless it will find its way into Irish cinemas in the New Year.