New Delhi, June 17 (IANS) Rajiv Gandhi, the then prime minister, was fully informed after the home ministry decided to give safe passage to then Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson in the wake of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy and he did not object to it, M.K. Rasgotra, the foreign secretary at the time, said Thursday.
Setting at rest the mystery surrounding Anderson's safe passage from India after the deadly Bhopal gas leak that killed thousands December 2-3, 1984, Rasgotra said that Rajiv Gandhi "concurred" with the decision to grant Anderson safe passage and to release him after he was arrested in Bhopal.
In an interview to CNN-IBN, Rasgotra also asserted that granting safe passage to Anderson was "the right thing to do", but arresting him was "a breach of promise" made to the US.
Rasgotra's comments came a day before a Group of Ministers meets here Friday to discuss different aspects of the fallout of the Bhopal court verdict in the gas leak case. The GoM, headed by Home Minister P. Chidambaram, was reconstituted last month.
"He (Gordon Streeb, the then deputy chief of the US mission here) said Anderson wanted to come here," Rasgotra said. Anderson had requested "safe passage" through the US embassy, Rasgotra said. "There was a tragic situation and he wanted to see things himself, wanted to offer his condolences but he would come only if granted safe passage," said Rasgotra.
Recalling the chain of events that led to Anderson leaving the country, Rasgotra said "he got in touch with the home ministry and with the cabinet secretary," after the offer was made.
"Yes, he was given safe passage. The arrest was wrong," he said. "Rajiv Gandhi was not in Delhi. He was away electioneering. (P.V.) Narasimha Rao was home minister. I was content to leave the matter with the home ministry. I felt the home ministry will do the needful," Rasgotra added.
When asked whether Rajiv Gandhi knew about the decision, Rasgotra said: "Naturally, he would have been informed. He concurred with the decision. No, he did not object."
Rasgotra, however, stressed that Rajiv Gandhi was not consulted before the decision was made, but only after the home ministry had acceded to the US request to give then Union Carbide boss a safe passage.
Rasgotra justified the safe passage and the release of Anderson after he was arrested in Bhopal by citing difficult circumstances in India at that time. "We were living at that time in a very difficult phase. Indira Gandhi was assassinated over a month ago after Operation Blue Star. There were half a dozen mutinies in India and a looming election."
"In those circumstances, had this gentleman been arrested and tried in India unilaterally, how would the corporate look at India? It was obviously in India's interest," he added.