One thing is as clear as the day light. It is the constitutional duty of a democratically elected government to protect the life and property of its innocent citizens. The then Congress governments at the Centre and the State failed in discharging this constitutional duty of theirs. Instead, they went out of their way to provide legal protection to the perpetrators of the Bhopal Gas tragedy which killed more than 3,787 people, according Madhya Pradesh government figures. Many government and private agencies have put the figure of those killed above 15,000. Thousands of people are suffering from the after-effects of the gas leak even after 25 years.

Not public, but company's interest

All actions of a government are - and should be -- motivated and prompted in the promotion of public interest. But both the State government and the Central government acted contrary to the spirit of "a government of the people and for the people" and helped the Union Carbide of India Limited (UCIL) to promote and realize the business interests of this American company at the altar of the people of the State in particular and country in general. It was incumbent on the part of both the governments to ensure that the highest safety measures as per the international standards - the same the company had ensured in its parent country of USA. That both the governments failed in their constitutional duty is beyond doubt. By not making UCIL to ensure topmost safety measures, these governments only helped the company save money and thus exposed the human lives to danger.

Press reports suggest that a 1973 Union Carbide document, signed by Anderson himself, noted that the technology to be used in the Bhopal factory was "unproven." A safety review conducted by Union Carbide experts in 1982 warned of a "serious potential for sizable releases of toxic materials" at the factory.  What's more, even though Union Carbide's own safety experts had warned two years before of a "serious potential for sizable releases of toxic materials," managers of the Bhopal factory had no system in place to warn and evacuate residents in the event of emergency. Indian government officials likewise failed to insist upon such basic precautions.

Funny alibis

Now that the fingers are being raised pointedly at both the then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mr. Arjun Singh and the then Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi for their failure to act to perform their constitutional duty to protect the life and property of citizens of Bhopal, to get justice to the victims and punishment to the guilty, funny alibis are being advanced to befool the people.