Tonight, 10th July, Wahid Noor and his brother Shahid were dragged out of the protesters' tent. Shahid was taken to the Jaiprakash Hospital where they told him they would force feed him via an intravenous drip. He has run away.

Wahid's elder brother Shahid is leading the orphans' protest. Their sister Nilofer was hit by police tonight.

Their father Mohammed Shakib, was an employee at the Food Corporation of India. Wahid was one year old on the morning of the disaster. Both their parents died. They lived very close to the factory, in the direct line of the killing wind.

They were badly exposed. They were taken to live at their
grandfather's place in Hoshangabad. Until 1992 they lived with their grandmother. but left when they learned that she considered them a burden. They have fended for themselves since they were teenagers, living on their compensation money. They put themselves through high school.

The three children got compensation of three hundred thousand rupees. Shahid and Wahid each got 66 thousand rupees and Nilofer got 33 thousand. The rest was paid to their grandmothers.

All the money that Shahid and Wahid got was spent long ago on medicines to try and cope with their personal injuries. Both still suffer from breathlessness, weakness, periodic illness, and aches.

In October 2002 Wahid applied under the Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojna scheme for a loan to start an auto spare parts business. He submitted the application to the District Industries Center who told him in November that his
application had been granted and he should go to the Allahabad bank on Hamidia Road. There a bank official interviewed him and told him that the bank would send him a formal letter. No letter came. He went back to the bank in May 2003. The bank's field officer told him "you have to have property or a guarantor to be able to get a loan". Wahid doesnt have any property nor does he know any one who will stand guarantee for him.

On June 10th Wahid went to the Gas Relief Collector C. l. Kushwah and told him he was unable to get the loan. Kushwah said he would do something about it but nothing happened.