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) | Bhopal gas verdict: Questions over political culpability)
Speaking to NDTV from America on Thursday morning, 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?)
Digvijaya's remarks raised eyebrows and speculation, privately for his party, and publicly for the BJP, about whether he was targeting Arjun Singh, or, indirectly implicating the central government at that time, headed by Rajiv Gandhi. Digvijaya made his position clear in another statement on Thursday evening: "Rajivji left his campaign and came to Bhopal as PM. He did not release Anderson. Why don't you ask any of the following persons: Swaraj Puri, then SP, Bhopal; Moti Singh; then collector Bhopal; Brahm Swarup, then Chief Secretary, and Arjun Singhji, then Chief Minister?"
That's in keeping with the party line. Without naming then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Arjun Singh, a Congress spokesperson on Thursday said Anderson's exit must be explained by those who organised it.
"The party has always maintained that all questions that are raised in any such situation must be answered properly and responsibility should be fixed. The same norm applies to this case," AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters here.
Of the officers Digvijaya names, Moti Singh, who was Collector of Bhopal, has suggested that the orders to provide safe and immediate passage to Anderson came from the top. "The Chief Secretary at that time called me to the room and told me to arrange for the departure of Warren Anderson," he told NDTV.
"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."
Speaking to NDTV from America on Thursday morning, 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?)
Digvijaya's remarks raised eyebrows and speculation, privately for his party, and publicly for the BJP, about whether he was targeting Arjun Singh, or, indirectly implicating the central government at that time, headed by Rajiv Gandhi. Digvijaya made his position clear in another statement on Thursday evening: "Rajivji left his campaign and came to Bhopal as PM. He did not release Anderson. Why don't you ask any of the following persons: Swaraj Puri, then SP, Bhopal; Moti Singh; then collector Bhopal; Brahm Swarup, then Chief Secretary, and Arjun Singhji, then Chief Minister?"
That's in keeping with the party line. Without naming then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Arjun Singh, a Congress spokesperson on Thursday said Anderson's exit must be explained by those who organised it.
"The party has always maintained that all questions that are raised in any such situation must be answered properly and responsibility should be fixed. The same norm applies to this case," AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters here.
Of the officers Digvijaya names, Moti Singh, who was Collector of Bhopal, has suggested that the orders to provide safe and immediate passage to Anderson came from the top. "The Chief Secretary at that time called me to the room and told me to arrange for the departure of Warren Anderson," he told NDTV.
"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."
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