A rally held in Bhopal on Wednesday to mark 41 years of the Bhopal gas tragedy turned tense after BJP supporters alleged that protesters were preparing to burn an “RSS effigy” along with one representing Dow Chemical, the current owner of Union Carbide. The rally was organised by four survivor groups and began at Bharat Talkies, but it was stopped midway following the dispute. The march was meant to pass the city bus stand and end at the gas memorial near the closed Union Carbide factory in JP Nagar, where protesters planned to burn the effigies. Assistant police commissioner Rakesh Singh Baghel told PTI that a complaint was received during the rally about an effigy that looked like it depicted workers of a particular organisation. After verifying the complaint, police removed the effigy, saying some people found it offensive. Baghel warned that any attempt to target an organisation or ideology would lead to action.“If any attempt was made to create a controversy at the rally, strict action will be taken,” the police officer maintained. RSS worker and BJP mandal president Ashish Singh Thakur claimed the effigy showed an RSS “sevak” and accused protesters of planning to burn it. He called it “anti-national” work and demanded a case against those involved. Survivor groups rejected the charge and said their effigies represented people responsible for the 1984 disaster, not any group. The gas leak on the night of December 2–3, 1984, killed at least 5,479 people and left thousands injured. As every year, an interfaith prayer was held on Wednesday at Barkatullah Bhawan.
