CPIML pays tribute to Abdul Jabbar, an activist of the movement of the Bhopal Gas victims to hold corporate and government power accountable, who passed away on November 14, 2019, at the age of 62.
Abdul Jabbar was himself a victim of the Union Carbide Bhopal Gas Disaster in the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, and right from day one, he threw himself into relief work. He abandoned his job as a handpump fitter and began organising other victims. He single-handedly educated himself about the legal and medical issues associated with the gas disaster, equipping the movement to fight the lies peddled by Union Carbide and seek the specialised medical services as well as justice.
For the past three decades and more, Jabbar Bhai and the organisation of women survivors he helped set up in 1987, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan (BGPMUS) fought for justice for the gas victims. They fought on the streets and the courts, taking on a mighty transnational corporation, demanding compensation as well as medical services and rehabilitation.
Jabbar Bhai remained a grassroots activist all his life, taking on governments not only in the crusade against Carbide, but against communal attempts to poison Bhopal's secular social fabric, and to preserve environment and biodiversity in Madhya Pradesh.
CPIML extends condolences to all the comrades of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan and the Bhopal gas victims’ movement who will continue their struggle now without this brave fighter in their midst.
