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'Bhopal Special Olympics' to protest Dow
Chemical's Olympics sponsorship
Tuesday July 24, 2012 03:23:37 PM, Pervez
Bari, ummid.com
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Bhopal:
Five NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) working for the welfare
of the survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster, the
world’s worst industrial catastrophe, in Bhopal will jointly
organize “Bhopal Special Olympics” on July 26, a day ahead of the
London Olympics 2012 to oppose the sponsorship of the Olympic
Games by Dow Chemical, the current owner of Union Carbide.
Addressing a joint press conference here on Tuesday, leaders of
the organizations said that this event was being organized to
protest against the sponsorship of the London Olympics by Dow
Chemical that continues to evade civil, criminal and environmental
liabilities of Bhopal inherited from the erstwhile killer
pesticide factory of Union Carbide.
Mr. Satinath Sarangi of Bhopal Group for Information & Action said
that children born with disabilities due to poisoning by Union
Carbide would be taking part in the “Bhopal Special Olympics” to
counter Dow Chemical’s attempts to “green-wash” its crimes through
the sponsorship of the Olympic Games.
Mr. Sarangi the Bhopal Olympics will be organized in a stadium
right behind the abandoned Union Carbide factory that continues to
leach cancer and birth defect causing chemicals into the local
groundwater. Children affected by the toxic contamination will
take part in such sporting events as crab race, 25 metres sprint
and assisted walking.
The representatives of five organizations viz. Bhopal Gas Peedit
Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila
Purush Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pension Bhogi
Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal Group for Information & Action and
Children Against Dow Carbide are jointly organising the “Bhopal
Special Olympics”.
Ms Rachna Dhingra also of Bhopal Group for Information & Action
said contrary to the opening ceremony of the London Olympics that
is expected to highlight all that a British citizen could be proud
of, the Bhopal Special Olympics will open with songs and dances
focusing on matters that British people could feel ashamed of.
With the theme “From East India Company to The Dow Chemical
Company”, the opening ceremony will draw attention to the many
famines caused by British rule over India, the mass hanging in the
wake of the first battle for Indian independence in 1857, the
massacre at Jalianwala Bagh in 1919 and the support extended by
the British Prime Minister to the Dow Chemical Company, Ms Dhingra
added.
Ms Rashida Bee, leader of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery
Karmachari Sangh, said that their year-long attempt to get Dow
Chemical dropped as a sponsor came to a nought due to the shameful
defence of the company by the organizers of the London Olympics
including the British Government. They said that the "Bhopal
Special Olympics" underlined the irony of a corporation that had
disabled thousands of children in Bhopal, Vietnam, Nicaragua, New
Zealand, USA and other countries, sponsoring the Olympic Games.
It may be recalled here that in the intervening night of December
2-3, 1984 Union Carbide pesticide manufacturing factory had spewed
poisonous Methyl Iso-cyanate gas whereby 3000 people had perished
virtually instantly and over the years about 25000 have kissed
death and the sad saga is still continuing uninterruptedly. About
half a million are suffering from the side effects of the
poisonous gas and several thousand people have been maimed for
life.
(pervezbari@eth.net)
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