Don't blame us

The media has reported Union Carbide Corporation’s press statement after the Bhopal court judgment saying the company had little to do with the case since the plant was owned and operated by Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL). What’s interesting, however, are the 25 frequently asked questions (FAQs) that Union Carbide Corporation has on its website. The answers to the first two FAQs say the gas leak was caused by sabotage. The third one asks why the saboteur was not brought to justice. Answer: “The Indian authorities are well aware of the identity of the employee and the nature of the evidence against him. Indian authorities refused to pursue this individual because they, as litigants, were not interested in proving that anyone other than Union Carbide was to blame for the tragedy.” The answer to the fourth FAQ elaborates, “The CBI was well aware of the identity of the employee and the nature of the evidence against him.… You may be interested to note that the CBI subjected the UCIL employee who found the local pressure indicator was missing on the morning after the incident (a key factor in UC’s sabotage theory) to six days of interrogation to get him to change his story. That effort was unsuccessful.” For some reason, the government has chosen to do nothing about Union Carbide’s brazen attempt to defame it.