Dear Olympians
We are organisations working among the survivors of the 1984 gas disaster. We are writing to seek your help in urging the International Olympic Committee to dissociate itself with The Dow Chemical Company – one of the key sponsors of the Olympics, including the 2012 London Olympics. Dow and its subsidiary, Union Carbide Corporation, have refused to own up to their liabilities in rehabilitating gas victims and cleaning up the toxic contamination left behind at the Bhopal site.
More than 150,000 gas victims are chronically ill, and 50,000 or so are too sick to even work for a living. Till date, more than 25,000 have died as a result of exposure to the poison gases. The toxic waste that lies strewn in and around the factory has leaked its poisons into the groundwater. More than 25,000 people have consumed this toxic groundwater for years, and there are serious health effects among these communities.
Both companies have refused to submit themselves to the jurisdiction of Indian courts on various matters relating to the disaster and other environmental fallouts. Union Carbide has even been declared a fugitive from justice by the Indian courts. Dow and Union Carbide are directly responsible for the massive human tragedy that continues to unfold in Bhopal. Children of gas affected parents, and those of parents consuming contaminated water have severe and debilitating birth defects. The Olympic organisers could not have chosen a worse partner than Dow. The partnership goes against the spirit of the Olympic Games, and violates its commitment to justice, peace and environmental sustainability.
We request you to take a moment to read and endorse this petition, which will be sent to the Olympic organisers and other concerned people.
To read the letter and petition in Hindi, click here.
You can email your endorsements to [email protected] or you can post them to:
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, 44 Sant Kanwar Ram Nagar, Berasia Road, Bhopal, MP-462001
Contact: 9826167369
Thank you.
