Force US to own up Bhopal, urge gas victims’ kids

BHOPAL - Urging the world leaders participating in the Copenhagen climate summit to force the US to take up full responsibility of Bhopal, Hiroshima and other such disasters, the children of victims appealed that “profit-hungry” country and its allies be stopped from taking the world towards destruction.

The Bhopal gas tragedy occurred on the night of Dec 2-3, 1984, when tonnes of methyl isocyanate spewed out of the Union Carbide pesticide plant, killing more than 3,500 people instantly and maiming thousands more.

The children have also sent an open letter, on e-mail, to leaders of India, China, South Africa and other African countries, Brazil and the US, that while the US was “preaching” environment lessons to the world at Copenhagen and it was itself continuing to pollute and kill people in third world countries by dumping hazardous technologies.

Bhopal Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahayog Samiti convener Sadhna Karnik Pradhan, who led the children’s initiative, said: “Even 25 years after the biggest industrial disaster of the era, the second and third generation of Bhopal gas victims were suffering from life-threatening and crippling diseases and are forced to drink polluted water and live in a polluted atmosphere”.

“The children are forced to protest since America has totally shrugged off its responsibility in Bhopal and it is also trying to impede the proceedings at the Climate Change summit in Copenhagen that might lead to start of the end of the planet earth,” she said, adding there was an urgent need to stop the “anti-people policies” of America and its allies.