The chuckle in her face, and to say that her philosophy is that “everyone would die one day”, NIrmalaji was a learner and teacher at heart till she unfortunately breathed her last on the 9th of September in Kymore. With heavy heart we mourn the untimely loss, as she was all geared to take on the world, recognising late in her life the deadly nature of asbestos.
Mrs Nirmala Gurung was throughout her life teacher in a school largely attended by children of the workers from the vicinity of the Asbestos Cement sheet manufacturing in the small town of Kymore in Madhya Pradesh. She confessed once that she was for long oblivious of the hazard. Ultimately, she was a victim of the deadly fibre herself, diagnosed with parenchymal asbestosis. She left us fighting for life and for banning asbestos.
Nirmala Ji and her composed manner of communicating the need for moving away from the mineral is poignantly captured in the documentary Breathless. At the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva she went on to tell the delegates about the issue of asbestos contamination and negligence by the companies in her village. She almost mesmerized the audience her integrity and authenticity. In her words “the companies are working for profit and not people, so we need to be together and work collectively.
Although Nirmala JI has left us, the spirit she left behind will last forever in the hearts of each of us in the India Ban Asbestos Network. Our heartfelt condolences to her husband, Bhim Ji, who in his own words “loved her for her beliefs and will always love her”, and the more near and dear ones.
We rededicate ourselves to fight this important cause.
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