'Ma, Mati, Manush' — CPM invokes Mamata’s slogan

Invoking the slogan that helped Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee virtually flatten the ruling Left Front in West Bengal Lok Sabha and civic polls, Front chairman Biman Bose appealed to all members of parliament in the state on Wednesday to oppose the civil liability for nuclear damage bill for the sake of ‘Ma, Mati, Manush’.

His appeal comes in the wake of a Madhya Pradesh court verdict in the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy case. The court sentenced seven officials of Union Carbide India Limited for negligence leading to a gas leak at the company’s plant in Bhopal that killed over 15,000 people in 1984. The officials were, however, immediately granted bail. 

Bose said his appeal was in the interest of the people of India.
“In the interest of the land, Indian people and mothers and sisters, all Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members elected from West Bengal should oppose the civil liability for nuclear damage bill. If the bill is allowed to sail through, the entire liability in case of a nuclear mishap would be on India. More Bhopal-like tragedies will take place and their perpetrators, especially from the US, would go scot-free,” he said after a Left Front meeting in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Bose said the Front would soon draw up a programme to create awareness about the bill.

About the Front’s civic polls debacle, he said the issue was discussed at the meeting. “Allies have been asked to individually asses their civic polls performance, following which the Left Front will meet again, if possible this month itself,” Bose said.