Bhopal: Death of Abdul Jabbar, a champion of thousands of gas victims, for want of proper healthcare, has exposed the poverty of medical facilities for the gas-hit in Bhopal. Jabbar fought for the rights of the gas victims from the very day the gas tragedy struck Bhopal in December 1984. Lakhs of people were affected by the deadly gas that leaked from the Union Carbide factory, which was located in the midst of a populated area.

In the wake of the tragedy, Jabbar constituted an organisation called the Bhopal Gas Pidit Mahila Udyog Sangathan. A majority of the members of this organisation were women, including burqua-clad Muslim women. They participated in street demonstrations and often visited Delhi to lay siege to the residences of Union ministers. It was because of the untiring and uninterrupted efforts of Jabbar and his organisation that the gas victims won many a battle.

The relentless protests ultimately forced the Union Carbide to shell out 470 million dollars for providing relief to the gas victims. Special courts were set up to decide the quantum of compensation to be awarded to individual gas victims. In one of its judgments, the Supreme Court freed Union Carbide from the charge of criminal negligence.  Jabbar approached the Supreme Court against the Union Carbide and it was because of the efforts of Jabbar that the apex court reversed its decision and held that Carbide cannot escape from its criminal responsibility.