Boycott Olympics, not just opening and closing ceremonies

Meredith Alexander was a member of the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, a position she resigned in protest against the involvement of Dow Chemicals as a sponsor of the London Olympic Games. Writing in The Guardian , she detailed the reasons for her decision.

 “…last year, LOCOG, the London Games organiser, invited companies to tender for a major contract to provide a wrap for the main Olympic stadium. Dow won this bidding process. Many groups and individuals raised questions and finally the commission was asked to investigate. I was shocked to see that the result of our investigation was a public statement from the commission that essentially portrays Dow a responsible company. I had been providing information about Bhopal to commission members and I was stunned that it publicly repeated Dow’s line that it bears no responsibility for Bhopal. I did everything I could to get the statement corrected or retracted. When it became apparent that this would not happen, I realised that the only way to ensure that my name was not used to justify Dow’s position was to resign,”

As far as Alexander was concerned, her objection was to Dow being portrayed as ‘a responsible company’ – almost a mandatory pre-requisite to be a sponsor of the Games. [caption id=“attachment_230237” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“India officials are now thinking of boycotting the opening and closing ceremonies of the London Olympics 2012. Reuters”] [/caption] Alexander believed that ‘the only way to ensure that’ her name ‘was not used to justify Dow’s position was to resign’. Alexander resigned, distancing herself from the Dow involvement completely. While Alexander’s action makes a clear and unambiguous statement, the Indian government is discussing a boycott of the opening and closing ceremonies by the officials – not the athletes. And that in itself is seen as significant. “A boycott by officials would be a distraction for organisers, but would also be a blow to the British government at a time when it is hoping to use the Games to boost inward investment and build trade links with key partners including India. The absence of athletes from the ceremonies would also raise the potential for the issue to become a major embarrassment,” says The Guardian . Why stop at a boycott of just the cosmetic opening and closing ceremonies? If there is conviction that Dow’s involvement is untenable, do as Alexander has done. Distance India completely and unambiguously from the Games – boycott the Games itself. An announcement that India is boycotting the Games would send an unequivocal message that Dow’s involvement is unacceptable to India. Cosmetic boycotts will remain just that – cosmetic.