Chouhan demands Arjun reply on Bhopal tragedy
Many of the AICC functionaries on Friday found a friend in BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, as the latter also demanded an explanation from one of his predecessors and senior Congress leader Arjun Singh on how former Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson fled the country. Mr Chouhan, however, also claimed that his government would go to “any extent” to get justice for the Bhopal gas victims.
Mr Chouhan, who was here to discuss and finalise the state plan outlays for the year 2010-11 with the Planning Commission said, “Let Arjun Singh explain it. Whether he did it (gave permission for providing state aircraft) himself or anybody told him to do so. We want a reply from him if a wrong direction was given. And after all, why such a direction was given.”
Claiming that there are many questions, which need to be answered, the chief minister said, “Why the CBI filed no appeal when the charges in the case were diluted in 1997. If Mr Singh gives a statement things would be clear. The state and the country want to know about these circumstances.”
Noting that the people of the state felt “let down” following the gas tragedy verdict, Mr Chouhan said he has written to Mr Singh and asked for a reply on the circumstances that led to Mr Anderson’s escape.
Mr Chouhan, however, pledged that his government would go to “any extent” to get justice for the Bhopal gas tragedy victims. “We will go to any extent to get justice for the victims... This is not an issue of Bhopal or the state. It should act as an example of how to give punishment in such cases.”
Informing that he has constituted a five-member team of legal experts, the chief minister said, “It will look into the issue and examine what could be done legally to get the victims justice. The interim report of the team would be out in the next 10 days.”
Asked about the conflicting statements of Congress leaders like Digvijay Singh and Satyavrat Chaturvedi on Mr Anderson fleeing the country, Mr Chouhan said he did not want to make any political point over the issue but added that this was only leading to confusion.
“Somebody is saying the Centre is responsible while somebody else says the issues come under the state. Different people are speaking in different tones... One wants to protect somebody while the other wants to trap someone else, he said.
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