Rajiv had no sympathy for Anderson, says Arjun Singh

On Wednesday, twenty-six years after India's worst industrial disaster, the man in the eye of the storm, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Arjun Singh made a statement in the Rajya Sabha explaining his role in the matter. The full text of his speech is reproduced below.

I am very grateful, Mr. Deputy Chairman, for the concession given to me by the House. It is a matter of great anguish to recount the events two-and-a-half decades later and the experience that we have gone through is almost equal to coming out of the jaws of death. On that fateful night of 3rd December, 1984, as any other faithful citizen, I was also asleep. Around midnight I felt a very acrid smell in my nostrils, and I felt suffocated and got up. On enquiry, I was told that some poisonous gas had leaked from the Union Carbide and it was spreading. I don't have to inform the House that the wind does not know any direction nor does it follow anybody's dictates. Whichever side the wind went, the gas went. Those of us who are
fortunate survived; those of us who are not fortunate did not survive. Many of us suffered the after-effects of that gas. It was not a simple tragedy that is being described here and much less is it amenable to exploitation.

I am thankful to all the honourable Members for the sentiments that they have expressed for those unfortunate brothers and sisters who did not survive. I don't want to lay the blame on any side, not in the hope of a bargain but in the consecrated fellowship which human beings shared in spite of other barriers. There was panic all around. People were running with whatever belongings they could grab on their heads, stumbling along dark streets. Nobody could prevent them from going away. Children were the worst sufferers. That is a tragedy beyond description. Sir, I had the misfortune of looking into those empty eyes which once belonged to lively children, who were today not seeing anything.

A suggestion came from some people that I should also leave the place; otherwise, I would also be in danger. I tried to reason with them that the Office of the Chief Minister does not carry the privilege of escaping from what the people are suffering. As you know, Sir, in our country, gossip has a stronger force then reason. These are realities which we cannot ignore. Therefore, when these kinds of allegations started being made by a handful of people, the only thing I thought best was to set up a Commission of Inquiry first against myself. And that is the genesis of the N K  Singh Commission. My learned friend in the opposition, who just spoke, wanted to give the impression that I created something and then did not obey it. I never abolished the Commission. You might be aware, at least, statistically, that I ceased to be the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh on 13 th March, 1985. My leadership, Shri Rajivji in particular, wanted me to go and serve in Punjab. I had taken the oath of the Office of the Chief Minister again, but in obeisance to my leader, the next day I went to Punjab. I am not trying to escape from anything. I am only narrating a fact which did come in the way. I wish I remained in Madhya Pradesh again as the Chief Minister and I would have seen that the likes of Mr. Anderson, who think that they are the inheritors of the colonial masters of this country, can strut about fearlessly after plundering our motherland, I would have taken it to its logical ends. But even while I was there, the first thing I thought essential to carry out was his arrest as and when he came to Bhopal.

If he had been arrested, most of the debate would have ended. At least, now, our Government is committed to extradite him and then fix the responsibility on him. How he is to be extradited, I can hardly give any opinion. People, who are responsible, know how it is to be done. I still wish that the first thing that the honourable Prime Minister would pose to the honourable President of the United States of America, when he comes here in November, is that we have an unspoken promise unfulfilled. Then, adequate and full compensation can be asked for. I just read in the newspapers that President Obama has already said, "Let somebody make a reference to us. Then, we will see." Sir, on that night itself, I contacted the Office of the Prime Minister in Delhi and informed them of this calamity. Rajivji was away on tour. I then got in touch with Dr. S Varadarajan, the Director-General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and informed him of this happening. I then requested him to send such help that could be of use to us. His reaction was very forthright. By next morning, his team arrived in Bhopal. By that time, the panic had slightly subsided and toxic gas became lesser and lesser deadly. Still, on the first count, it was observed in the morning that nearly 700 people, including children, had been killed. The tragic scenes, that I faced, as I went from hospital to hospital, and then to the affected areas, are indescribable. Houses were left empty; doors and windows were fluttering in the wind; no one to protect whatever was left inside.

My first duty, as the Chief Minister, was to see that whatever was left was protected and the citizens did not suffer with losses. By the afternoon, I got a message that the Prime Minister, Shri Rajiv Gandhi, was coming to Bhopal, cutting short his general election tour. Rajivji arrived at 4.00 p.m. on 4 th December. He was in a very grave mood. I briefed him with all the details in my possession, and in the end, also added that even though I was not, personally, responsible for that accident, I was prepared to step down from my office, if he so desired. Rajivji said, "All this is not called for. Nobody is blaming you. So, why should you do that?"

By that time, my well-wishers became active and manufactured all the stories that we are hearing today. The only thing in Rajiv ji's mind was, how we can provide relief and rehabilitation to those who have been affected. The arrival of Rajiv ji spread like wildfire in all parts of the capital and people flocked around him in hope ultimately, but overwhelmed with despair. In the evening, Rajiv ji flew back after telling me that we have to go all out to help the affected people and he asked me to be in touch with him everyday. He was to come to Madhya Pradesh on his election tour on the 6th of December and wanted to know whether he should postpone it in view of this calamity. I said that he need not do so since the message might be misinterpreted that we are immobilized as a government. I am grateful to him that he accepted my advice. I hope, Sir, you will pardon me for taking a little time, but sometimes time itself loses all relevance.

Somebody told me that Mr. Warren Anderson, who was the head of this company, was coming to Bhopal. I was amazed at the audacity of the person, who was directly responsible -- because he was aware of what his factory was manufacturing and where it kept all the elements that went into that manufacture -- that he was coming to Bhopal. For what? He could not be coming for sharingour grief, because that is so unlikely for a bada sahib! But at that very moment, when I came to know that he was coming, I made up my mind that as soon as he lands on the soil of Madhya Pradesh, he should be arrested. I did not share my decision with anybody. I did call in the officers concerned and briefed them personally that they have to arrest Mr. Anderson as soon as he steps down from the plane in the morning. I also gave them these orders in writing, which is not done by a Chief Minister, but I did -- because I knew of the tremendous pressure that officers are subjected to in such situations -- so that they were not bothered about it and the responsibility was mine.

As soon as Mr. Anderson stepped down from the plane, the police, the SP, Mr. Puri, escorted him in a car and told him that he was under custody and they are taking him to his own rest house for detention. He was so surprised when he was told this. He kept on asking, 'Why is the Chief Minister not here to receive me?' Just imagine the kind of arrogance that some of these people have. When the SP could not stop his chatter, he told him, 'Well, this is not a question which I can answer, you better ask it when you meet the Chief Minister yourself.' After Mr. Anderson was safely escorted to his rest house, it is necessary to say so because apart from those visitors who had come to the airport on Mr. Anderson's request, the media and some other people, a large number of affected people whose sons had died, whose daughters had died, mysteriously did not know by that time what was the cause of the deaths. You can imagine the feelings of parents, mothers and fathers. They had assembled outside the gates of the airport. I do not blame them, I cannot condemn them. But, those are the dictates of office which, I think, all those who have held office know; it became my responsibility to see to it that no physical or personal harm came to him. I carried out that duty also with a heavy heart because I knew, the first opportunity people get to him, they would lynch him from the nearest lamp post.

Today, 26 years later, it is very comfortable to sit and discuss these things. But, Sir, I would like to tell you that it pricks my heart. I then called my Chief Secretary, Mr. Brahma Swaroop, who unfortunately is no longer alive, and sought his advice as to what we should do. He said, 'now that he has arrived and we have decided to arrest him, we should see that whatever needs to be done should be done effectively. It has been just suggested by my colleague opposite that the Union Carbide had taken over the administration of Madhya Pradesh and I was just a figurehead. Well, experiences may be that some people tolerating that also, and clinging on to office. It was not my habit to do that. And the first proof that he had not taken over the administration was that he was arrested as soon as he touched down on the ground of Madhya Pradesh. If he was that powerful, he would have come, toured the State and the factory that he lorded over, and gone away. Rajivji was, at that time, in Harda town of Hoshangabad. I drove straight to that place, met him and told him about the events of the morning, and also the arrest of Mr. Anderson. Rajivji heard me out without any comment, and just said, "Let us go to the next meeting ". There was not even a flicker of any kind of sympathy for anyone much less Mr. Anderson. I take the full responsibility for having arrested Mr. Anderson, and even today, I would feel proud to suffer any punishment for this act, if it is considered to be against the interests of the people of Madhya Pradesh.

Sir, being in office certainly brings you some advantages, but not all the while. The Chief Secretary informed me that there have been persistent calls for granting bail to Mr. Anderson from Home Ministry officials in Delhi. I told him, he can do whatever he liked, but the arrest of Mr. Anderson must be duly recorded so that subsequently when we want, we can summon him, to arraign him before the laws of the land. When he was sent back, it is incongruous, even I realize, and I feel that he should not have gone back on a State plane. I do not want to enlarge upon all these things, to add to the grief and bitterness that this issue has generated, and, I certainly do not want to shift my blame on anybody. Whatever blame is due to me, I am still prepared to suffer it as an ordinary citizen. Let me tell you, Sir, and through you, to the House and the country that the clamour about my speaking out should now subside. As an ordinary person, I have said what I had to say. Shri Rajivji never uttered a single word to me for the next two days when he was there on tour either in support of Mr. Anderson or trying to mitigate his problem. To blame him of anything is a figment of the imagination of all those who can see nothing concrete or constructive coming through a person of that calibre. I fully endorse the decision of the Government of India to extradite Mr. Warren Anderson and seek full and adequate compensation from him for this tragedy. The recommendations of the GoM are very constructive and useful and I commend all my colleagues who are on the GoM to further sympathy with the sufferings of the people of Bhopal.

Thank you.