Bhopal: Arjun clears Rajiv,takes swipe at Rao

Making an appearance in the Rajya Sabha to take part in the short-duration discussion on the Bhopal disaster,Singh,who was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh at the time of the incident,said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should take up with President Barack Obama,when he visits India in November,the issue of Anderson’s extradition and payment of “full and adequate compensation” to the victims.

Singh’s clean chit to Rajiv Gandhi came as a huge relief to the Congress which had been on the backfoot ever since a fresh row erupted on Bhopal following the order of two-year jail terms to seven accused.

“The Chief Secretary informed me that there have been persistent calls for granting bail to Mr Anderson from Home Ministry officials in Delhi,” Singh said,speaking from the last bench on the Treasury side. Due to health reasons,he was allowed to make his speech while seated.

“I told him that the arrest had to be duly recorded so that we could subsequently summon him (Anderson) and arraign him before the laws of the land. It is incongruous that he should have gone back on a state plane,” Singh said.

The former Union HRD minister made a surprise appearance in the Rajya Sabha during the short duration discussion on the “recent developments relating to the Bhopal gas tragedy”. Arriving in a wheelchair minutes after the discussion began,Arjun created quite a flutter in the House with anticipation gaining ground that he was finally going to break his silence on the issue. Singh spoke softly,his speech interspersed with long pauses,gulped a little water every now as he recalled the tragedy which killed close to 15,000 people on the night of December 2 and 3,1984.

“Rajivji did not not say a single word to me for the next two days,either in support of Mr Anderson or try to mitigate his problem. Attaching motive to the then Prime Minister would be a figment of imagination of persons who can see nothing constructive of a person of that stature,” Singh said,as the entire House listened in rapt attention.

Narrating his first meeting with Rajiv Gandhi following the tragedy,Singh said,“Rajivji was in Harda town in Hoshangabad. I drove there,met him and told him about Anderson’s arrest. Rajivji heard me out without making any comments. He then said that let’s go to the next meeting. There wasn’t even a flicker of any kind of sympathy for anyone,much less for Mr Anderson.”

Narrating the chain of events leading to Anderson’s arrest,Singh said,“Somebody told me that Anderson was coming. I was amazed at the audacity of the person who was directly responsible…because he knew what his factory was manufacturing. He could not be coming to share our grief because that is so unlikely for a bada sahib. I made up my mind: as soon as he lands on Madhya Pradesh soil,he should be arrested.”

Once he decided to get Anderson arrested,Singh said that he called and briefed his officers and even handed them orders in writing so that they were not subjected to any pressure from any quarter.

“As soon as Anderson stepped out,Police SP Mr Puri escorted him in a car,told him he was in custody and was being taken to a rest-house. He kept asking why is the Chief Minister not here to receive him. Look at the arrogance some people have,” Singh said adding that it became his responsibility to see no physical or personal harm came to Anderson. “I knew they would lynch him from the nearest lamp-post,” Singh said,referring to the crowd of angry people that had had assembled outside the gates of the airport.

Slamming allegations that Union Carbide had taken over the administration of Madhya Pradesh and he had been reduced to a “figurehead”,Singh said that the first proof of that not being the case was the fact that Anderson was arrested as soon as he landed. “If he was that powerful,he would have come,toured the factory he lorded over and gone away,” Singh said.

“I take full responsibility for having arrested Anderson. I would feel proud to suffer any punishment for this act…I don’t want to shift my blame on anybody. Whatever blame is due to me,I am ready to suffer it as an ordinary citizen. The clamour about my speaking out should now subside. I fully endorse the Government of India decision to extradite Anderson and seek full compensation from him,” he said adding that the decisions taken by the Group of Ministers were concrete.

“It is matter of great anguish to recount the events two and a half decades later and the experience we have gone through is almost equal to coming out of the jaws of death… I don’t want to lay blame on any side. I had the misfortune of looking into those empty eyes which once belonged to lively children but were not seeing anything anymore. Suggestions came that I should also leave the place. The office of the Chief Minister doesn’t have the privilege of escaping from what the people are suffering,” he said.

Pointing out that he ceased to be the CM of Madhya Pradesh on March 13,1985,“because my leadership wanted me to serve in Punjab”,Singh said,“I am not trying to escape anything. I wish I had remained in MP as CM. I would have seen to it that the likes of Warren Anderson,who thing they can strut about fearlessly after plundering our motherland,are brought to justice.”

Singh also said that he had offered to step down as CM to Rajiv Gandhi despite not being “personally responsible”. “By that time,my well-wishers got active and made all the stories that we are hearing today,” he said.

As soon as Singh finished his speech,the Opposition benches erupted in protest. “The statement you have made is concealing more than it is revealing,” said Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley. “When the PM had no sympathy,why did he listen to the Home Ministry?” he asked. Jaitley also made the point that “dead men (a reference to Rao) dont speak”.