A rally in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday (December 3, 2025) to mark the 41st anniversary of the 1984 gas tragedy ran into trouble after a group of right-wing activists objected to an effigy, which they alleged portrayed a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker, with a First Information Report (FIR) lodged against the organisers.
Two effigies were seen in the rally taken out by four organisations working for the tragedy’s survivors in the old city area near the now-defunct Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) factory — one effigy portraying DOW Chemical, a United States-based firm that now owns the UCIL, and the other of a man in white shirt and khaki half-pants.
On Bhopal gas tragedy eve, survivors' groups slam BJP over 'denial' of justice
As the rally progressed, a group of RSS and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers obstructed the way and objected to it, leading to a heated exchange between the two sides.
Rakesh Baghel, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Hanumanganj told The Hindu that an FIR had been lodged against various organisers — Rachna Dhingra, Satinath Sarangi, Balkrishna Namdeo, Sarita Gupta and others — under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 196(1) and 223.
