Bhopal tragedy: Don’t boycott Olympics, play to mark protest

While athletes from across the world would be exerting themselves hard responding to the Olympic motto ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ — Swifter, Higher, Stronger — in London mid-next year, there would be a set of people reminding the world of one of the biggest industrial tragedies in human history: the Bhopal gas leak of 1984. On the night of 2–3 December that year, poisonous methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a pesticide plant in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. There is no clear estimation of people who died due to exposure to the gas but the number of those killed immediately and afterwards varies between a conservative 8,000 and a realistic 20,000. Thousands are still suffering from the effects. The plant belonged to Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), then owned by US firm Union Carbide Corporation. It is the same firm which was bought by Dow Chemicals 2001. Dow would create a seven million pound wrap around the Olympic Stadium to make it the visual centerpiece of the mega event. Activists around the world and some politicians in England find this outrageous. How can a company be responsible for so many deaths be part of an event so humane and so rich in history? The London Olympics Organising Committee has defended the deal, saying that the ownership and operation of the plant when disaster struck was not the responsibility of Dow. It’s the same line taken by Union Carbide Corporation. It wants Bhopal to be a thing of the past, a closed chapter. The activists are not convinced. Neither is India. [caption id=“attachment_148744” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“CEO of Dow Chemical Andrew Liveris. Reuters”]  [/caption] India has a special grouse against the company since it escaped light by paying a Rs 750-crore ($470 million) compensation. The central government raised this issue in February this year seeking a higher compensation — Rs 7,700 crore— for the victims. The sports ministry wants the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to lodge a strong protest against the sponsorship deal between the organising committee and Dow. It asks the committee to get out of the deal. “The matter of Dow’s liability, in respect of the Bhopal gas tragedy victims is sub-judice and that the government of India has itself filed a suit against the company. Strong public sentiments exist in this matter and a number of eminent ex-Olympians have also raised concerns,” the letter from the sports ministry told the IOA. Former Olympians from the country, too, are unhappy. “We feel that it will be against the basic principles of the Olympics charter to partner with Dow Chemical, which is responsible for the disaster in Bhopal,” they wrote in their petition. The IOA has made it clear that it won’t boycott the Olympics over the issue, a demand made by certain sections of the athletes’ community. A boycott by India, not a strong medal contender in most of the events, would not make a difference to the event. Moreover, the organisers are not likely to drop the sponsorship deal at this advanced stage of preparations. It would be an embarrassment for them. Such a decision would also put to waste the preparation made by the Indian athletes. It would serve the case of the gas victims better if the Indians participated in the event and made a strong statement against Dow in London itself through symbolic gestures. The approach should be to make it take note of India’s grievance. The issue going international will help cause of the victims better. It shouldn’t be difficult. Amnesty International is already critical of Dow’s link to the Olympics. It has said sponsorship deal was slap on the face for the survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy. The presence of other human rights groups could give the issue the global attention it deserves. For those not in the know, the company has recently refused to additional compensation to the victims. But there’s one question which rankles: why did it take the Indian government so long to raise the issue? The deal was signed more than a year ago and Dow’s involvement in the games became as early as July last year. Pressure at that stage could have been more effective.