Hundreds of Kundli Industrial Area workers observed a mashaal march on December 3, 2021 from Niftam Chowk in Sonipat Haryana to the Singhu border farmers protest site, as a tribute to the workers who died during the Bhopal Gas tragedy.
Between December 2 and December 3, 1984, over 2,000 people died immediately after a gas leak incident in the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The incident is considered among the world’s worst industrial disasters. Even today, many people continue to be affected by the gas, while some families of victims of the tragedy still haven’t received their compensation.
On Friday evening, thousands of laborers from the Labour Rights Organisation marched towards the farmers protest site at the national capital’s border to pay homage to the workers who died at the time.
“Such companies should be condemned. Families are still waiting for their compensation while the gas continues to pollute the area. This needs to be addressed,” said President Shiv Kumar.
On top of demanding compensation for the victims, he demanded that all companies with poisonous gas and chemicals should be set up outside densely populated areas. Similarly, members decried the exploitation of workers in all industrial areas and oppressive regimes at the hands of the governments, police administration and companies that allowed this abuse to continue.
Labourers condemned contract practice that resulted in their economic and physical exploitation. Further, they asked that company layoffs should be stopped. Instead, they called for minimum wage, worker safety and cancellation of the four anti-labour codes.
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