March 27, 2006
By Indo Asian News Service
New Delhi, March 27 (IANS) Hundreds of victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984 staged protests here Monday and demanded a national commission to look into their pending issues.
‘We have a six-point charter of demand and we will not return to Bhopal till the prime minister assures us that it would be fulfilled,’ said Champa Devi Shukla, one of the victims of the tragedy.
‘One of the most important demands is the setting up of a national commission for the thousands of victims,’ she added.
The victims of the 1984 gas leak disaster at a Union Carbide plant had started their 800-km march from Bhopal to the Indian capital on Feb 20, reaching here Saturday.
‘The national commission should comprise victims, academics, doctors, engineers, environmentalists and authorities of the central and the state government. The whole idea is to have a dedicated cell for the survivors of the tragedy,’ Shukla told IANS.
On Monday, the survivors of the worst industrial tragedy that claimed an estimated 20,000 lives and maimed several thousands were joined by several other NGOs, green activists, trade unions and students of the Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Shouting slogans like ‘No More Bhopal’, ‘Dow Chemicals clean up Bhopal’, ‘We need Justice’, the protesters marched from Nizamuddin to Jantar Mantar in the heart of the capital.
Copyright Indo-Asian News Service
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