Bhopal-A forgotten Genocide

I was 6 years old. My mother bore my younger brother and was 6 months into her pregnancy (My brother is born in Feb, 1985). My father was posted 100 miles away (Itarsi) from Bhopal. Yes, this was me on the night of 2-3rd December, 1984 at Bhopal. It was past midnight and suddenly we heard vehicles moving on the road. It was uncommon 26 years back, but in absence of phones and no late night radio broadcast we could only wait for the dawn. We came to know about this incidence at around 6 in the morning, when the milkman didn't turn up and neighbors started chatting. Then we heard jeeps with loudspeakers. Then Radio started giving instructions. We were been asked to keep ourselves closer to the ground. Wet the curtains and run away from Bhopal as soon as possible. There were rumors all around. And there was this pungent smell.

We lived away from Union Carbide and thankfully the wind was not blowing in our direction. By afternoon, almost all of our neighbors left their houses. We too started off our journey to Itarsi by train. While my travel to the station, I saw some dead animals and crying families. Scene at the railway station was like that of Amritsar railway station during 1947. People all around, with whatever luggage they can carry. Kids, men, women and old people, whoever was and wanted to be alive is at the station. Train came, but there was no space to get in, the doors were locked, people shouted, begged, but to no avail. I remember, someone opened the door and we were all pushed inside, noone knew where the others in the family were. I was lucky, I not only got out of Bhopal but also found my family later.

My brother wears spectacles since a very young age. I am suffering from various skin deceases. There is no proof, but the doctors do correlate our symptoms with the dreadful night.

26 years have passed and I am a little amazed with my memory. But, I think, it was an incidence which left an everlasting imprint on my memory. For years we heard of people dying because of the aftereffects of MIC and we now know it is somewhere around 25,000 dead and 120,000 injured.

I congratulate my country’s Judiciary and Government who not only wonderfully erased such disturbing memories but also won a great deal by selling the dead cheaply. F..king India Shining!!!!!!