Rifat portrays how one photographer single handedly documented one of the world’s deadliest corporate crime risking his own life and how his work has been the key driving force for the struggle for justice till date, even after twenty years the disaster struck.
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1984 - A horrendous industrial disaster struck the land of Central India in Bhopal. I was not old enough to understand the real consequence of it, yet a picture of the burial of an unknown child kept memories of the incident alive in my mind. Twenty years later, I was one among the many to demand justice for Bhopal survivors in Pune city. We could not think of any strategy other than organizing an exhibition of pictures about the industrial disaster to generate empathy in a class considered to be an influential citizenry of the city. We were supporting the Bhopal gas survivors against one of the largest democracies in the world – the Indian Government - to do justice to the survivors. Raghu Rai, the name behind these pictures is known to have risked his own life and document the worst industrial disaster by using his camera. No doubt, the picture of the burial of an unknown child has become the icon of the tragedy caused by the US multinational chemical company, Union Carbide.
Undoubtedly, for the past 23 years, it is the courage of Bhopal gas survivors who have been campaigning against the Indian Government’s decision to let go the culprit (then Union Carbide and now DOW Chemicals) scot free without owning the responsibility of the disaster in 1984. On the fateful midnight of December 2, around 41 tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanate gas and its reaction products leaked from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. It resulted in the immediate death of over 15,000 people and untold suffering of thousands. Since then, more than 20,000 have died from the complications caused by inhaling the gas that night. Over 1,20,000 continue to still suffer. The hazardous chemicals buried at the company site when the plants were operating, and those left behind after the disaster in 1984, have polluted the soil and underground water severely affecting the health of a very large number of people. The survivors are treated offhandedly while the government bends over backwards to accommodate the company interests. Moreover, the compensation to the victims is averaged only to US $500 (Rs 21,400) per person-barely enough for a lifetime of sickness.
For all these years the pictures clicked by Raghu Rai strongly stand against the government’s claim post disaster that it has done justice to the victims. These are documents about the sufferings of the poor and the heinous corporate crime which was condemned the world over.
The pictures have become an inseparable part of any talk on the subject and campaign world over. The pictures - of a man carrying the body of his wife past the deserted Union Carbide factory, the source of the toxic gas that killed her the night before is no less horrifying than the picture of Mh. Aziz as he looks at the skeletons that have come out of the graves. Each picture in this series is in black and white (there are several online links where one can access these).
Pictures of Bhopal gas disaster have been exhibited all over world till date and still are subject of interest for many working against corporate crime and gross human rights violations. These have become tool to support campaign on cause. This is one example of using photography for a human cause where justice is more important than portraying beauty.
-Rifat Mumtaz
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About the Author: Rifat works with campaign support unit in National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS), Pune. She Works on key issues of livelihood rights with specific focus on Land Rights.
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1984 - A horrendous industrial disaster struck the land of Central India in Bhopal. I was not old enough to understand the real consequence of it, yet a picture of the burial of an unknown child kept memories of the incident alive in my mind. Twenty years later, I was one among the many to demand justice for Bhopal survivors in Pune city. We could not think of any strategy other than organizing an exhibition of pictures about the industrial disaster to generate empathy in a class considered to be an influential citizenry of the city. We were supporting the Bhopal gas survivors against one of the largest democracies in the world – the Indian Government - to do justice to the survivors. Raghu Rai, the name behind these pictures is known to have risked his own life and document the worst industrial disaster by using his camera. No doubt, the picture of the burial of an unknown child has become the icon of the tragedy caused by the US multinational chemical company, Union Carbide.
Undoubtedly, for the past 23 years, it is the courage of Bhopal gas survivors who have been campaigning against the Indian Government’s decision to let go the culprit (then Union Carbide and now DOW Chemicals) scot free without owning the responsibility of the disaster in 1984. On the fateful midnight of December 2, around 41 tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanate gas and its reaction products leaked from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. It resulted in the immediate death of over 15,000 people and untold suffering of thousands. Since then, more than 20,000 have died from the complications caused by inhaling the gas that night. Over 1,20,000 continue to still suffer. The hazardous chemicals buried at the company site when the plants were operating, and those left behind after the disaster in 1984, have polluted the soil and underground water severely affecting the health of a very large number of people. The survivors are treated offhandedly while the government bends over backwards to accommodate the company interests. Moreover, the compensation to the victims is averaged only to US $500 (Rs 21,400) per person-barely enough for a lifetime of sickness.
For all these years the pictures clicked by Raghu Rai strongly stand against the government’s claim post disaster that it has done justice to the victims. These are documents about the sufferings of the poor and the heinous corporate crime which was condemned the world over.
The pictures have become an inseparable part of any talk on the subject and campaign world over. The pictures - of a man carrying the body of his wife past the deserted Union Carbide factory, the source of the toxic gas that killed her the night before is no less horrifying than the picture of Mh. Aziz as he looks at the skeletons that have come out of the graves. Each picture in this series is in black and white (there are several online links where one can access these).
Pictures of Bhopal gas disaster have been exhibited all over world till date and still are subject of interest for many working against corporate crime and gross human rights violations. These have become tool to support campaign on cause. This is one example of using photography for a human cause where justice is more important than portraying beauty.
-Rifat Mumtaz
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About the Author: Rifat works with campaign support unit in National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS), Pune. She Works on key issues of livelihood rights with specific focus on Land Rights.
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Click here to see Raghu Rai's photos on the disaster.
