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Bhopal: Spurred by the NGOs working for
their welfare, the survivors and the victims of the 1984 Bhopal
gas tragedy, the world’s worst industrial catastrophe, paraded
their spirit of “Never say die” in admirable measure to
participate in “Bhopal Special Olympics” on July 26, 2012, a day
ahead of the opening of London Olympics 2012, to shame its sponsor
the Dow Chemical Company.
The Dow Chemical Company is the
current owner of the killer Union Carbide factory that brought all
round misery on people of Bhopal passing down from generation to
generation.
Nearly maimed by the poisonous gas that spewed out of the Union
Carbide pesticide plant, the survivors and their physically and
mentally disabled progenies by their participation in the “Bhopal
Special Olympics” exhibited their untold misery lingering for
nearly last three decades in front of the world media, which had
converged in to cover the games. In the process the survivors also
shamed the Britons, who have ruled better part of the world in
days of yore for centuries, by highlighting the atrocities
committed by their rulers on the people of the Indian
Sub-continent during their reign.
It may be recalled here that on the intervening night of December
2-3, 1984 Union Carbide pesticide manufacturing factory had spewed
nearly 40 tonnes of 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. About 100,000 people who were exposed to the gas
now suffer from ailments that range from cancer, blindness and
birth defects.
Poignant Scenes Witnessed
On July 26 poignant scenes were witnessed as physically disabled
and mentally retarded children, the progenies of the survivors of
the gas tragedy, participated in the “Bhopal Special Olympics” in
Bhopal to oppose the sponsorship of the Olympic Games by Dow
Chemical Company. Hundreds of the survivors of the deadly gas leak
assembled in Arif Nagar stadium overlooking the now defunct Union
Carbide pesticide plant with their children and grand-children
suffering birth defects to vent their ire and to shame Olympic
sponsor Dow Chemical on the eve of the London Games. Having failed
to get Dow's Olympic sponsorship quashed, Bhopal activists carried
through with their threat to hold their own "Special Olympics" to
showcase the devastation caused by the gas leak.
The disabled children, the second and third generation, the worst
affected in the disaster, whose future is as bleak as ever for not
fault of theirs, participated in the “Special Olympics” unaware of
what fate awaits them. They were also unaware of the fact that
they are victims of the world's worst industrial disaster that
claimed thousands of lives and that the games are being organised
to protest against the Dow Chemicals.
It was like a D-day in the lives of these chuckling children in
dozens in wheelchairs or limping on twisted limbs, cheered on by
their parents and activists, who raced for “glory” in their own
"Special Olympics". The enthusiastic participants put their best
foot and even hands forward to give their 100 per cent in the
games. The intermittent rains which marred the “Special Olympics”
could not dampen the enthusiasm of the participants and the
organisers as well.
About 80 teenagers and kids as young as 5 who have birth defects
blamed on their parents' exposure to the gas — struggled across
distances they normally would not attempt in spirited competition.
They took part in 10 sports events. Some of the events were
football, soft-ball throw, an "assisted walking" 25-meter sprint,
wheelchair races, and a "crab walk" in which participants unable
to stand on two feet race on their hands.
At the outset the “Bhopal Special Olympics” kicked off with a song
versifying the theme “From the East India Company to Dow Chemical
Company”, accompanying a “Jhadoos” (Broomstick) march by the
participants – some on their feet and some on wheelchairs assisted
by their parents. The “Jhadoos” symbolize their demand that Dow
clean up the plant,
The three-hour long event began with an opening ceremony marked by
march past by children with cerebral palsy, partial paralysis and
mental retardation parading in wheelchairs and walking with the
assistance of others around the stadium. The decision by London
2012 organisers to stick by Dow Chemical has caused anger in
Bhopal and led to complaints from the Congress-led Indian
government, which asked for the company to be dropped as a
sponsor.
A dance drama was presented after the march past. Organised by
Argya Kala Samiti, the ballet under the direction of Vaishali
Gupta enacted the arrival of British and their East India Company,
India becoming part of the British kingdom, the onset of the
Independence movement, the Industrialisation taking roots, and
ultimately the Union Carbide pesticide factory getting established
in Bhopal. The angst against the Dow Chemical Company could well
be adjudged amongst the audience as people present in the stadium
were seen clapping and enjoying whenever the Britons were seen
being over-powered by Indians during the show.
Baby Zehra
Cynosure of All Eyes
Zehra Javed, a completely disabled little baby girl, was cynosure
of all eyes who won the first position in 25-meter crab walk
event. Master Ali Iqbal came second in the same event while Master
Umar Farooq won the third position. The event stole the show as it
was planned for those who cannot walk. They ran through the
distance all on their four limbs. All the participants completed
the event, though some took their own time.
Similarly, Master Hitesh, grabbed the first position in 25-meter
Wheel Chair race. Master Sachin Jatav came second while Master
Abdul Mannan grabbed the third position. While in the Walking with
Walker Race Ashish, Shifan and Arman were placed first, second and
third respectively. In the Assisted Walk event Karthik Sen emerged
first followed by Abdul Mannan and Harsh Rajak in the second and
third positions respectively.
Mrs. Jameela Bi brought her wheelchair-bound 11-year-old grandson,
Amaan, who has cerebral palsy, to show what the disaster did to
her family. "Today these children are participating, in spite of
what Union Carbide did to them," Mrs. Jameela Bi said. "We are
happy that they will walk. Those people will see that in spite of
what they did these children are still participating."
Mrs. Nusrat Jahan, Zehra Javed’s mother airing her views on the
occasion said: "We organised the Special Olympics at Arif Nagar as
a mark of protest against Dow Chemical which has shrugged off its
responsibility in connection with the Bhopal gas victims. The
London Olympic sponsorship is a tactic of Dow Chemical to divert
the attention of the world from its heinous act".
Baby Zehra's father Mohammad Javed is a victim of gas tragedy. "He
was severely affected after the MIC exposure. Consequently, his
eyes and kidney were badly affected," Javed's wife Nusrat said as
tears rolled down her eyes.
Baby Zehra is a second generation gas victim with congenital
physical problems. "After her birth, we came to know that she
could not speak and her one leg was not developed. Later, we got
to know that it was just because of the ill-effects of the gas
that she got from her father," Nusrat moaned recounting her woes.
Olympics - Philosophy of life
Earlier, former hockey Olympian Syed Jallaluddin Rizvi, who
represented India in 1984 Olympiad in Los Angles, inaugurated the
Bhopal’s mock-Olympics. Jallaluddin, in his speech, said: "It is
not just a game. It is the philosophy of life. It is bitter truth
that most parts of the world forgot about Bhopal after gas
disaster of 1984. Union Carbide abandoned the factory and went off
to the USA but hazardous waste that company had recklessly dumped,
is poisoning the ground water and soil.
Jallaluddin said that the most painful fact is that even after 3rd
December 1984, the factory has not stopped causing damage. Even
today, 28 years after the disaster, lethal poisons from the
factory are leaching into the soil and the water. Because of the
parents’ exposure to poisonous gases, children are born with
disabilities, and hundreds of children are also being born
disabled because of the contamination of ground water due to
thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste buried in and around the
factory. Recent scientific studies have shown that, there are
cancer and birth defect causing chemicals in the ground water, up
to 3 kms from the factory. Till recently, up to 40,000 residents
from the neighbourhood of the factory were drinking water laced
with chemicals that damage the kidneys, lungs, liver, brain and
other organs.
“I am an Olympian and as an Olympian I am ashamed that the
organisers of the Olympic Games have made Dow Chemicals a sponsor
till 2020. Instead of spending dollars on protecting the children
of Bhopal from poisons, Dow Chemicals has given a 100 million
dollars for the Olympics. This is a betrayal of the fundamental
principles that I mentioned before of the Olympic Games. I and 25
of my fellow Olympians wrote to the organisers of the Olympic
Games and requested them not to make Dow Chemicals a Sponsor, and
provide it with an opportunity to green-wash its crimes. But the
organisers which include British Olympians such as Sebastian Coe
did not respond to our letter, let alone drop Dow as a sponsor”,
the ex-Olympian lamented.
“As an Olympian, and particularly as a Bhopali Olympian, today I
am proud that these children are keeping the spirit of the
Olympics alive. I salute the spirit of these children, their
courage and their sheer enjoyment in making the effort”,
Jallaluddin said.
Amitabh Bachchan Flayed
NGOs condemned Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan for
carrying the Olympic torch at Southwark, a day before the opening
ceremony of the sporting spectacle. UN Secretary General Ban Ki
Moon and NRI businessman Laxmi Mittal were among others who were
part of the relay team. Bachchan even tweeted: "A proud moment for
me and the country".
Meanwhile, 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 jointly organised the
“Bhopal Special Olympics”.
According to organizers' spokeswoman Ms Rachna Dhingra of Bhopal
Group for Information & Action, the protests against Dow's
sponsorship of London Olympics, which has a sponsorship agreement
with the IOC until 2020, have been going on for a year now. “We
wanted them to be dropped but we have realized this is not going to
happen", Ms Dhingra said.
Dow, which bought Union Carbide in 2001, has repeatedly denied any
responsibility for Bhopal and has refused demands, including from
the Indian government, to increase a $470-million compensation
package that Union Carbide paid to victims in 1989.
A Sad Commentary
It is a sad commentary that despite the hype given to “Bhopal
Special Olympics”, not a single political leader, not even the
local MLA, or any prominent social worker turned up during the
event or to sponsor refreshments to the participants in the event.
"It's because, this is not the election time. The sympathy of
leaders for the gas victims peaks during the election time, but
dies down soon after that. No one bothers about the plight of
victims once the elections are over," said Balkrishna Namdeo of
the Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pension Bhogi Sangharsh Morcha,
one of the five organisations fighting for the gas victims.
"But our protest would continue as Dow still remains the sponsor
of the Olympics. The demands of gas victims were once again
overlooked probably because even our government was not keen on
taking up the issue," said Ms Dhingra.
Referring to the participants like Zehra, Ms Dhingra said: "This
is what we wanted to convey to the London Olympics organisers that
despite facing odds in the life, even small kids affected from gas
would keep protesting the decision of taking sponsorships from Dow
chemicals."
"But our protest would continue as Dow still remains the sponsor
of the Olympics. The demands of gas victims were once again
overlooked probably because even our government was not keen on
taking up the issue," said Ms Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for
Information and Action."
Dow, which is sponsoring a decorative sheath around London's
Olympic Stadium, was trying to use the Games to wash away its
responsibility to the people of Bhopal, said Satinath Sarangi, a
protest organizer. "Dow Chemical as a sponsor violates the very
spirit of the Olympics," he said.
Survivors say Dow should pay $8 billion in compensation to the
victims and their families and clean up the soil and groundwater
around the plant.
Survivors’ Demands
Meanwhile, the demands of Bhopal Survivors from The Dow Chemical
Company include: 1. Provide medical information on the leaked
gases withheld by wholly owned subsidiary Union Carbide
Corporation; 2. Present wholly owned subsidiary Union Carbide
Corporation that is absconding for the last 20 years from the
ongoing criminal case in the Bhopal District Court; 3. Pay
additional compensation of 8.1 billion US dollars for deaths and
injuries caused due to the gas disaster; 4. Clean up buried
hazardous waste and contaminated ground water in and around the
abandoned factory in Bhopal up to international standards and 5.
Pay compensation for health damages, birth defects and deaths
caused due to toxic contamination.
Ongoing Cases Against Dow Chemical
The ongoing cases against The Dow Chemical Company, USA in India
are: (i) In High Court of Madhya Pradesh regarding summons from
Bhopal District Court to make Union Carbide appear in the ongoing
criminal case; (ii) In High Court of Madhya Pradesh regarding
clean up of contamination and payment of compensation for
environmental and health damages; (iii) In Supreme Court of India
regarding payment of additional compensation of 1.2 billion
dollars for deaths and injuries caused by the gas disaster and
(iv) In District Court of Patiala case against Dow Agro Sciences
India Pvt. Ltd. regarding bribing of Indian officials for
expediting registration of Dursban, Nuril and Pride pesticides.
Dow Chemical Denial
Meanwhile in a statement, Dow reportedly expressed sympathy with
the victims but accused activists of trying to rewrite history.
The company reiterated that it never owned the pesticide plant. It
is linked to the tragedy because 16 years later, in 2001, it
bought the Union Carbide Corporation, an American company that had
a majority stake in the Bhopal plant.
Dow said the legal case was resolved in 1989 when the Union
Carbide settled with the Indian government for $470 million, and
that all responsibility for the factory now rests with the
government of the state of Madhya Pradesh, which now owns the
site. "Those trying to attach Dow to the incident are misinformed
or misguided," said Scot Wheeler, a Dow spokesman.
“Jhadoos”
Meanwhile, to trace the “Jhadoos” (broomstick’s) associations with
the Bhopal campaign, asserting “Women’s power against Dow
Chemical” women leaders of organizations of survivors of the Union
Carbide disaster in Bhopal had launched the “Jhadoo Maaro Dow Ko”
[Beat Dow with brooms] campaign.
“We will take care of all Dow’s designs and all their advisory
panels with our jhadoos” said a confident Mrs. Hajra Bi [40] from
Jaiprakash Nagar, a community just opposite the Union Carbide
factory. She described their current plans to collect used brooms
from individual households in the affected communities and deliver
them to Dow Chemical’s head quarters in Mumbai.
“We will bury Dow in a mountain of “Jhadoos” so they know that
they cannot survive in this country unless they clean up the
continuing mess in Bhopal”, said a confident Mrs. Sheila Thakur
[50] who is still grieving the death of her severely exposed
husband after years of confinement in bed. Mrs. Sheila played a
prominent role in the relay fast that was joined by over 1500
hunger strikers from ten different countries. She described their
plans to visit different parts of the country to launch a
nation-wide ‘Jhadoo Maaro Dow Ko” campaign. “The broom is one of
every woman’s personal weapon against injustice. We will turn it
in to a political weapon for justice in the worst corporate crime
in history” said Mrs. Sheila.
(pervezbari@eth.net)
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