by Annie Murray
We were Hindus and Muslims, but in our group all differences melted away – we cooked together, ate together, shared our troubles and slept side by side. We began bonding with one another and the people we met saw no differences among us.
We were one.
During the walk, the group are warned that there are groups of ‘killer’ bandits, or dacoits, in the locality . . .
We weren’t scared. Who would waste time robbing people who had nothing?
The dacoits got to hear about us and sent word that they would not touch a hair of our heads.
The local police inspector said he believed this, but just to be sure, he and his men walked alongside us for almost 40 km.
At the edge of his territory, he parted from us in tears. ‘If I had the power, I would have agreed to all your demands long ago and saved you this trouble.’
Pain and loss
During the days of our walk, those who were menstruating were the worst sufferers. We used folded cloths as pads and walking with a cloth created rashes on the tender skin of the upper thighs. Walking became extremely painful, but we kept on.
Yashoda, who was five months pregnant, tragically lost twins she was carrying soon after we got to Agra.
And then there was Abeeda, who would faint every few kilometres. Gendabai’s 7-year-old son Rajendar was sick during the journey. His head would reel and his legs would give way under him.
We keep on
In spite of all the hardships, not once did anyone say, ‘Enough, let’s go back.’
After crossing twelve districts in four states in 33 days, we finally reached Delhi.
We were utterly exhausted, but our problems weren’t over. We did not know where India Gate was or how to meet the PM.
We were finally told Rajiv Gandhi was out of town.
Unlike the villagers who had supported us, Delhi was cold. Nobody offered to help us. Instead, they sneered at us. ‘What makes you think the Prime Minister of India would want to meet women like you?’
Tricked by our MP
We were camped on the grass by India Gate. The rains were due and no one would meet us.
Then our MP came along. He talked us into going back to Bhopal and assured us that once we got back, matters would be resolved. He promised personally to take care of our case and get our demands met. We trusted him and decided to go home.
All his promises he broke.
We won’t be fooled again
We are together still and we now know that we should not have come back empty-handed, but our long march had turned us into gritty, determined fighters.
We even got our audience with Rajiv Gandhi. He was in Bhopal at a public meeting. We forced our way in. After walking all the way to Delhi to meet him, were we going to let a few fat police wallahs stand in our way?
Rajiv Gandhi apologized to us. He said, ‘I didn’t know you had come all the way from Bhopal on foot to meet me. If I had known, I would have come to India Gate to meet you myself.’
Oh yes. A likely story.
In 2006 a group from Bhopal, mainly of women and including Rashida Bi, walk to Delhi once again to see Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, demanding the basic right to clean water for their families. They find support from many people including students and trades unionists and Amnesty International. In one demonstration in Delhi, Sajida Bano, fifty-five, whose husband and son were killed by the gas, is beaten and kicked by police before ending up in hospital.
As the PM continues to ignore them, two months after leaving home they stage a die-in on a street in Delhi and some of the women go on hunger strike. The temperature is over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Finally, the PM promises to meet four of their six demands. But at any mention of anything which would affect trade with Dow Chemical, the PM puts his hands over his ears. After five days the strike is called off. Some of the women protesting outside are locked up and beaten.
None of these promises was kept by the government.
All this, for clean water.
Once again – they are still waiting.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE
There are some good films about Bhopal which you can watch free online. There are also all sorts of clips if you google ‘Bhopal’. A full-length dramatization of the events of 2 December 1984, as well as various documentaries, can be found on YouTube. The film Bhopali can also be watched free on Amazon Video.
A number of excellent books have been written about Bhopal. Five Past Midnight in Bhopal by journalists Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro is a really good read. There is also the novel Animal’s People by Indra Sinha, who has been active for many years in the Bhopal situation. The Bhopal Marathon – a history with many first-hand accounts – is available from the Bhopal Medical Appeal, www.bhopal.org.
Another new group involved with campaigning for justice and a clean-up in Bhopal is www.actionforbhopal.org.
You might also enjoy a look and singalong to the running songs used in the story by Jo, Pat, Sunita and Hayley!
‘Kashmir Main Tu Kanyakumari’ from the film Chennai Express and ‘Sugar, Sugar’ by The Archies can both be watched on YouTube.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Our work as writers of fiction is one that deals in the business of empathy. So, my thanks first of all to Jeremy Trevathan, the head of fiction at Pan Macmillan, for listening to my idea of writing this story and for agreeing to fit another book into the already crammed publishing schedules. A big thank-you also to my editors Trisha Jackson and Jayne Osborne for their kind support and editorial insights, and to the other Pan Macmillan staff who have contributed their creative energy at every stage of the process.
I owe a particular debt of gratitude to my long-time, wonderful agent Darley Anderson, who not only gave generous moral support to this book, but also contributed all the normal agency fees to the Bhopal Medical Appeal.
Another big thank-you to Colin Toogood, the British Campaigns Manager of the Bhopal Medical Appeal for his help in setting up our visit to Bhopal in January 2018. In Bhopal Martin and I would not have got far without our interpreter Syed Tabish Ali, to whom we owe thanks for his quiet patience and steady management of a motorcycle in the Bhopal traffic. To Satinath Sarangi (Sathyu), who found time for a chat at the Sambhavna Clinic and to the parents and children at the Chingari clinic who it was a privilege to meet.
My thanks also to Tim Edwards, Executive Trustee of the Bhopal Medical Appeal for taking time to fact-check the text of the end material.
Also to Dave Lyddon, retired academic from Keele University, who gave his time by pointing me in the direction of fascinating information regarding accidents, industry and the law in Britain.
Special thanks to Sally Stinton who kindly welcomed me to her home to tell me about her neighbourhood. My apologies for any liberties taken with Birmingham’s Hollywood!
And to our lovely yoga class here in Purley-on-Thames who have been an inspiration, but I promise you none of you appear in the book . . .
To the other brilliant writers who helped – friends in Oxford Narrative Group and above all to Sophie Morgan, Katy Murray and Polly Wright, who took the time to read all of it and give their comments and insights.
And above all to my husband Martin, an engineer well-versed in the prevention of industrial accidents, whose first-ever visit to India plunged him into the life of Bhopal and the Bhopal Medical Appeal, hair-raising motorbike rides, a visit to the ghostly remains of the Union Carbide factory and many other things. Our particular thanks to the Manohar Dairy on the Hamidia Road in Bhopal, which was a case of love at first sight. Thank you for coming with me, Martin – it would never have been the same without you xx
About the Author
Annie Murray was born in Berkshire and read English at St John’s College, Oxford. Her first ‘Birmingham’ story, Birmingham Rose, hit the Sunday Times bestseller list when it was published in 1995. She has subsequently written many other successful novels, including the bestselling Chocolate Girls and War Babies
. Mother and Child is Annie’s twenty-fourth novel. Annie has four children and lives near Reading.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Birmingham Rose
Birmingham Friends
Birmingham Blitz
Orphan of Angel Street
Poppy Day
The Narrowboat Girl
Chocolate Girls
Water Gypsies
Miss Purdy’s Class
Family of Women
Where Earth Meets Sky
The Bells of Bournville Green
A Hopscotch Summer
Soldier Girl
All the Days of Our Lives
My Daughter, My Mother
The Women of Lilac Street
Meet Me Under the Clock
War Babies
Now the War Is Over
The Doorstep Child
Sisters of Gold
The Silversmith’s Daughter
First published 2019 by Macmillan
This electronic edition published 2019 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
The Smithson, 6 Briset Street, London EC1M 5NR
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www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5098-9539-7
Copyright © Annie Murray 2019
Cover: Woman © Jeff Cottenden
Boy © Mark Owen/Trevillion Images
Background © Gary S. Crutchley
The right of Annie Murray to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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