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March 31, 2008
Bhopal Victims Like Orphans, CPI Secy Raja says
Press Statement
CPI, Forward Bloc Extend Support to Bhopal Survivors' Struggle
NEW DELHI, 31 March, 2008 – Bhopal survivors sitting on dharna at Jantar Mantar since 28 March received a major shot-in-the arm after CPI National Secretary D. Raja and Forward Block Secretary Devarajan visited their sit-in and extended their support.
CPI National Secretary D. Raja and Forward Block Secretary Devaraja at the Bhopal dharna today
CPI National Secretary D. Raja said: "When you look at the conditions of the Bhopal victims, they are living like orphans. This is very painful and the UPA Government has to be more sensitive to this situation. It is very distressing to see that the influence of multinational corporations is increasing on the policies of the Government. Union Carbide is one of the most notorious multinational corporations in the world. I feel people are being let down by UPA Government, for no sin of theirs. There are many apprehensions in the minds of people. How long will the legal case go on? Whether the UPA Government is determined to fight this case in the interests of the victims of the Bhopal tragedy? How long can Dow Chemical play with the lives of the people of Bhopal?"
Mr. Raja told Bhopal survivors: "On behalf of the CPI, I assure you that CPI will be in the front in taking up these issues, and in raising these issues inside the parliament, and we'll also support the struggle outside the parliament."
D. Raja, National Secretary, CPI
Mr Raja specifically said that "The Government must fight the case in the High Court with determination, and must secure money from Dow for clean-up. It must extradite Anderson, and make Dow pay its dues. The Government should not come under pressure from multinationals, and should ensure that Bhopal survivors are not left to live like orphans."
Mr. Devarajan of Forward Block promised to take up the matter in the parliament. He noted that "Many people are suffering at the hands of multinational corporations, and the Government is unable to take any steps. It is only taking cosmetic decisions. The Coordinating Committee on Bhopal set up by the Government has had only one or two meetings, and done no work."
Mr. Devarajan expressed his "total support for your demand for a Commission to take care of rehabilitation and to take care of the coming generations." He said that it appears that the Government has forgotten Bhopal and will only wake up if another Bhopal happens. "It is important to learn from Bhopal and deal with the issues raised by the disaster well in order to ensure than other Bhopal does not happen again."
Fifty Bhopal survivors arrived in Jantar Mantar on 28 March, 2008, after walking 800 km from Bhopal to Delhi. They have demanded a National Commission to implement rehabilitation schemes and environmental remediation, and a commitment from the Government that it will pursue legal action against Dow Chemical and Union Carbide.
For more information, contact: Nityanand Jayaraman: 9717516003.
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
B5/136, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi 110 029.
Posted by tim at 02:12 AM | Comments (0)
March 29, 2008
30 Gas Affected Children and Women from Bhopal Arrested at India Gate
30 people, including children and old women, were arrested today evening at India Gate during an awareness raising event on the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal (see photos of the time just as the police moved in below). Many of those arrested arrived yesterday after walking 800kms from Bhopal demanding justice for the Bhopal victims.
The Bhopal victims had staged a die-in before India gate, covering themselves with white shrouds and lying on the ground. Their supporters in Delhi held candles and spoke to bystanders about the demands of the Bhopal to New Delhi padyatra.
The Bhopal padyatris are demanding that the Prime Minister set up an empowered commission for Bhopal for long term medical care and rehabilitation of victims and legal action against Union Carbide and Dow Chemicals who are the principle authors of the Bhopal disaster.
“The PM turns a blind eye to the continuing deaths and misery in Bhopal and we get arrested just for trying to make people aware of our plight” said Nafisa Khan who was part of the Bhopal to Delhi padyatra with her two daughters aged 11 and 13 years. She and others who have walked to Delhi will not go back without getting their demands met by the Prime Minister.
For more details contact Rachna Dingra 09826167369 or Shalini – 09891442037
Events move quickly as the poice moved in tonight:
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karamchari Sangh
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangarsh Morcha
Posted by tim at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)
March 28, 2008
Bhopal Survivors Arrive on Foot to Remind PM of Unkept Promises
28 MARCH, 2008. NEW DELHI – Marking two years since their last padayatra from Bhopal to Delhi, 50 people, including survivors of the 1984 gas tragedy, their children, people exposed to contaminated drinking water and their suupporters, today concluded their second 800 km march by walking from Nizamuddin park to Jantar Mantar. "We were forced to undertake this grueling walk because the PM failed to keep his word. This time, we are not going back until we get a public declaration from him that he will deliver on his promise," said Hazra Bee, a survivor and one of the padayatris.
The PMO has rejected a request for an appointment with the PM, and two further requests have not elicited a reply. However,international support for the survivors is pouring in. More than 1300 faxes from 18 countries have already reached the PMO, prompting officials there to threaten survivors with legal action. Yesterday, members of the Scottish parliament marched to the Indian embassy in Edinburgh, even as other Bhopal supporters in London went to the Indian embassy there to submit a memorandum urging the Prime Minister to meet the Bhopalis' demands.
On April 16, 2006, the Prime Minister ended a 21 day strike, including a 6-day hunger strike by the Bhopalis, by promising to meet the demands of the survivors. The survivors had demanded an empowered Commission to implement social, medical and economic rehabilitation schemes for survivors and their children, in addition to cleaning up Union Carbide's toxic wastes, providing clean water to water-affected communities, and taking legal action against Dow Chemical and Union Carbide. However, the PM suggested a Coordinating Committee to oversee implementation of rehabilitation schemes and environmental remediation.
Over the last two years, the Coordination Committee has had three meetings and accomplished nothing. More than 25,000 people continue to consume poison-tainted groundwater in the absence of reliable and good quality water supply. More than 5000 tons of toxic wastes remain buried and spread in and around the factory site, and no efforts have been taken to contain them or export them to the US for final disposal. No rehabilitation schemes have been implemented.
Government inaction on rehabilitation and environmental remediation has placed Bhopalis at the receiving end of two disasters – the 1984 gas leak and the ongoing water contamination -- both with pronounced effects on children and future generations. Despite a 1991 Supreme Court order directing the Government to extend insurance benefits to 100,000 gas-affected children, not one child has been covered, leading to a spurt in destitution among families with sick children. In contamination-affected communities, congenital deformities among newborns is a rising trend.
The future generations are in danger. That, say Bhopal survivors, is why any Commission that is set up has to execute its schemes over at least 30 years. The Bhopalis estimate that the Government needs to invest in a corpus of Rs. 2000 crore to provide an annual budget of Rs. 100 crores for the Commission throughout its term.
In contrast to the inaction on Bhopal, the Government has, in the last two years, openly advanced the cause of Dow Chemical and Union Carbide. Information unearthed from the PMO through RTI indicates that ambassador Ronen Sen, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Ratan Tata, P. Chidambaram and Kamalnath have all written letters supporting Dow Chemical. In response, the Cabinet Secretary has suggested exonerating Dow Chemical keeping in mind the scope of investments by Dow and other US companies in India.
In less than a decade, Dow Chemical has chalked up an impressive list of violations of law and due process. In February 2007, Dow caught for paying more than Rs. 80 lakhs in bribes to Indian agriculture ministry officials to register three toxic pesticides. In 2005, Indian Oil revoked a technology deal with Dow after it found out that Dow was trying to sell Union Carbide's technology by lying that it was its own. Recently, Dow has managed to convince Government of India to approve the sale of Union Carbide's technology to Reliance Industries despite the fact that a 1992 court order directs the Government to confiscate all Union Carbide's assets in India.
"This is a repeat of the betrayal of 1989 where the Government colluded with Union Carbide to shortchange the people of Bhopal on the compensation settlement," said Satinath Sarangi, another padayatri and a long-time Bhopal activist from Bhopal Group for Information and Action. "23,000 people have died, and the collusion still continues. We're determined to break this corporate-Government nexus that plays havoc with people's lives."
For more information, contact:
Nityanand Jayaraman. 9717516003.
Read the PMO files (Right to Information).
Posted by tim at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)