An accomplished politician, Arjun Singh has been adept at making headlines. But he has refused to speak to the media on this issue, saying it was an old matter.
He had gone into oblivion after being dropped from the UPA-2 Cabinet. Former Union human resource development minister Arjun Singh, however, is at the centrestage of a controversy that has rocked the nation 26 years after the event took place.
On December 7, 1984, even before the dust could settle on the massive leakage of methyl isocyanate from Union Carbide’s pesticide plant in Bhopal, Union Carbide Corporation chairman Warren Anderson was flown out in an aircraft provided by the state government.
Singh, who was Madhya pradesh chief minister then, is the only person who has the answer to these questions: Why had he let off Anderson and at whose behest? Why had he helped a fugitive against whom his own police had registered a case?
An accomplished politician, Singh has been adept at making headlines. But he has refused to speak to the media on this issue, saying it was an old matter. Earlier too, when the Liberhan Commission tabled its report on Babri demolition, he had chosen to remain silent.
“I am writing my autobiography. Wait for that work to be released, and all your questions shall be answered,” was his reply.
His silence has angered his party. Commenting on the current situation, Janardan Dwivedi, chief Congress spokesman said: “All questions must be answered.” Dwivedi did not name anybody in the context, but the reference is obvious. The Congress expects Singh to clarify the situation. More so when there are hints that the Centre, then under prime minister Rajiv Gandhi — who also held the external affairs ministry — caved under US pressure.
Arjun Singh has spent more than six decades in politics and is a meticulous keeper of records. He is in the habit of recording his public speeches, press conferences and exclusive interviews. So that there is no misquoting and the record can be set straight in the event of a controversy. Now, it is up to him to set the record straight in the matter.
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