New Delhi:
The Congress is in a spot after one of its senior-most leaders has said that pressure from the USA could have been a factor in how the party's government tackled the aftermath of the Bhopal gas tragedy. (See Pics: Who is Warren Anderson) | (Read: Bhopal gas verdict: Questions over political culpability)
Speaking to NDTV from America, Digvijaya Singh said, "I don't know as I was not in Bhopal at the time of gas leak. It could be under US pressure but I am not aware of the facts." The Congressman was a minister in the Arjun Singh government in Madhya Pradesh at the time of the gas leak in 1984.
The biggest fallout of this week's verdict in the Bhopal gas tragedy case has been the refocusing of attention on Warren Anderson, who was Chief Executive Officer of Union Carbide Corporation. Anderson flew into India four days after the gas leak, on December 7. He had been charged with culpable homicide and was even taken into custody. Yet, a few hours later, Anderson flew out of Bhopal on the official plane of Chief Minister Arjun Singh. (Read: Bhopal gas tragedy: Questions over Warren Anderson's getaway | Did Arjun Singh arrange Anderson's exit?)
Government officials from back then have begun speaking out putting the Congress on the back foot.
The then Collector of Bhopal Moti Singh told NDTV, "The Chief Secretary at that time called me to the room and told me to arrange for the departure of Warren Anderson."
"Mr Anderson, Keshub Mahindra and BR Gokhle came by service flight from Mumbai to Bhopal and they were taken into our custody at the airport. We put them inside Union Carbide guest house at Shamara Hills after the arrest. At around 2 pm, the Chief Secretary called the police chief and me and told us to release Anderson and send him to Delhi by plane. Accordingly we went to that place, did the formalities, and he was released on bail and sent to Delhi by plane," Moti Singh added. (Watch: Bhopal then collector Moti Singh on Anderson)
Captain R S Sodhi, who was then Director of Aviation, Bhopal, told NDTV that he received a call from the office of the Chief Minister ordering him to arrange Anderson's departure.
Sodhi says the city's police chief, Swaraj Puri, and the Collector, Moti Singh, waved to Anderson as he boarded Arjun Singh's plane.
Flying Anderson out was Captain SH Ali, who told NDTV that the identity of his passenger was not revealed to him. Ali said, "We got flight information from director R S Sodhi for a flight from Bhopal to Delhi. I was told to keep aircraft ready. I planned it one hour beforehand. We waited for Mr Anderson...He boarded the plane. I closed the door. It was a one-hour-35- minute flight. We landed in Delhi. An ambassador picked him up from next to the plane. I left him with the airport manager. Another car was waiting for him there." (Read and watch complete interview)
He also said, "He (Anderson) was alone in the aircraft. Only one person received him at the airport. He was looking tired and upset. It was a state government plane. We did not know who he was. It was kept a secret."
In Delhi, Anderson met President Giani Zail Singh and then flew out of the country, never to return.
The government now says it has tried repeatedly over the years to get America to extradite Anderson, who lives in New York state.
But on Tuesday, BR Lall, who headed the CBI's investigation into the Bhopal tragedy from April 1994 to July 1995, told NDTV that he had received a letter from the Ministry of External Affairs, asking him to drop proceedings connected to the extradition request for Anderson. (Read: Was told to go soft on Warren Anderson: Former CBI official)
Not true, says K Vijaya Rama Rao, who was the Director of the CBI at that time. "At no stage... neither the MEA nor the CBI... gave up efforts to extradite Anderson. MEA is sharing with us their difficulties which are very simple that is the unwillingness of US to extradite him to India."
The External Affairs Ministry too on Wednesday said it had time and again requested for Anderson's extradition, but had been turned down by the US for want of more "evidential links". (Read: US had rejected Anderson extradition plea, says ministry)
The Congress, now scrambling for face-saving measures, claimed on Wednesday that the government could still get Warren Anderson. (Read: Bhopal tragedy - justice strangled by successive governments?)
"Congress is of the firm opinion that the extradition process should be completed and he (Anderson) should be brought back. We hope government will take it to its logical conclusion," Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters in New Delhi.
Also under intense pressure now, the Congress-led UPA government has changed the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Bhopal with a new chair and a new mandate. Home Minister P Chidambaram will head the reconstituted panel instead of Arjun Singh. Singh was a minister in the previous UPA government but is no longer one.
Other members of the panel GoM are Ghulam Nabi Azad, M Veerappa Moily, S Jaipal Reddy, Kamal Nath, Selja, M K Alagiri, Prithviraj Chavan and Jairam Ramesh, sources said. Madhya Pradesh Minister in-charge of rehabilitation will be a permanent invitee, they said.
The GOM, which the BJP dismisses as an "eyewash", is as yet the Congress' best defense. Reacting to her party colleague Digvijaya Singh's words, Minister and senior Congresswoman Ambika Soni said, "Nobody is indicting anyone at this stage... everything is conjecture... the PM has set up a GOM... they will look into all these questions raised."
Also See:
No lessons from Bhopal, N-Liability Bill diluted
Govt reconstitutes GoM on Bhopal case: Sources
Speaking to NDTV from America, Digvijaya Singh said, "I don't know as I was not in Bhopal at the time of gas leak. It could be under US pressure but I am not aware of the facts." The Congressman was a minister in the Arjun Singh government in Madhya Pradesh at the time of the gas leak in 1984.
The biggest fallout of this week's verdict in the Bhopal gas tragedy case has been the refocusing of attention on Warren Anderson, who was Chief Executive Officer of Union Carbide Corporation. Anderson flew into India four days after the gas leak, on December 7. He had been charged with culpable homicide and was even taken into custody. Yet, a few hours later, Anderson flew out of Bhopal on the official plane of Chief Minister Arjun Singh. (Read: Bhopal gas tragedy: Questions over Warren Anderson's getaway | Did Arjun Singh arrange Anderson's exit?)
Government officials from back then have begun speaking out putting the Congress on the back foot.
The then Collector of Bhopal Moti Singh told NDTV, "The Chief Secretary at that time called me to the room and told me to arrange for the departure of Warren Anderson."
"Mr Anderson, Keshub Mahindra and BR Gokhle came by service flight from Mumbai to Bhopal and they were taken into our custody at the airport. We put them inside Union Carbide guest house at Shamara Hills after the arrest. At around 2 pm, the Chief Secretary called the police chief and me and told us to release Anderson and send him to Delhi by plane. Accordingly we went to that place, did the formalities, and he was released on bail and sent to Delhi by plane," Moti Singh added. (Watch: Bhopal then collector Moti Singh on Anderson)
Captain R S Sodhi, who was then Director of Aviation, Bhopal, told NDTV that he received a call from the office of the Chief Minister ordering him to arrange Anderson's departure.
Sodhi says the city's police chief, Swaraj Puri, and the Collector, Moti Singh, waved to Anderson as he boarded Arjun Singh's plane.
Flying Anderson out was Captain SH Ali, who told NDTV that the identity of his passenger was not revealed to him. Ali said, "We got flight information from director R S Sodhi for a flight from Bhopal to Delhi. I was told to keep aircraft ready. I planned it one hour beforehand. We waited for Mr Anderson...He boarded the plane. I closed the door. It was a one-hour-35- minute flight. We landed in Delhi. An ambassador picked him up from next to the plane. I left him with the airport manager. Another car was waiting for him there." (Read and watch complete interview)
He also said, "He (Anderson) was alone in the aircraft. Only one person received him at the airport. He was looking tired and upset. It was a state government plane. We did not know who he was. It was kept a secret."
In Delhi, Anderson met President Giani Zail Singh and then flew out of the country, never to return.
The government now says it has tried repeatedly over the years to get America to extradite Anderson, who lives in New York state.
But on Tuesday, BR Lall, who headed the CBI's investigation into the Bhopal tragedy from April 1994 to July 1995, told NDTV that he had received a letter from the Ministry of External Affairs, asking him to drop proceedings connected to the extradition request for Anderson. (Read: Was told to go soft on Warren Anderson: Former CBI official)
Not true, says K Vijaya Rama Rao, who was the Director of the CBI at that time. "At no stage... neither the MEA nor the CBI... gave up efforts to extradite Anderson. MEA is sharing with us their difficulties which are very simple that is the unwillingness of US to extradite him to India."
The External Affairs Ministry too on Wednesday said it had time and again requested for Anderson's extradition, but had been turned down by the US for want of more "evidential links". (Read: US had rejected Anderson extradition plea, says ministry)
The Congress, now scrambling for face-saving measures, claimed on Wednesday that the government could still get Warren Anderson. (Read: Bhopal tragedy - justice strangled by successive governments?)
"Congress is of the firm opinion that the extradition process should be completed and he (Anderson) should be brought back. We hope government will take it to its logical conclusion," Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters in New Delhi.
Also under intense pressure now, the Congress-led UPA government has changed the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Bhopal with a new chair and a new mandate. Home Minister P Chidambaram will head the reconstituted panel instead of Arjun Singh. Singh was a minister in the previous UPA government but is no longer one.
Other members of the panel GoM are Ghulam Nabi Azad, M Veerappa Moily, S Jaipal Reddy, Kamal Nath, Selja, M K Alagiri, Prithviraj Chavan and Jairam Ramesh, sources said. Madhya Pradesh Minister in-charge of rehabilitation will be a permanent invitee, they said.
The GOM, which the BJP dismisses as an "eyewash", is as yet the Congress' best defense. Reacting to her party colleague Digvijaya Singh's words, Minister and senior Congresswoman Ambika Soni said, "Nobody is indicting anyone at this stage... everything is conjecture... the PM has set up a GOM... they will look into all these questions raised."
Also See:
No lessons from Bhopal, N-Liability Bill diluted
Govt reconstitutes GoM on Bhopal case: Sources
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