August 06, 2008
Warkari leader blames govt apathy for violence at Dow Chemicals
Pune, August 05. Justifying the violent turn of events on July 25 at Dow Chemical complex in Shinde village, 60 km from the city, Banda Tatya Karadkar, leader of warkaris, said that he had been compelled to use force by the government.
“It is my experience that the government has never taken cognisance of peaceful movements. It is sad but they wake up only when the situation gets violent,” Karadkar said at a press conference in the city today. The leader of the Pune District Warkari Sanghatana said that his actions might be contrary to warkari tradition, but was harmonious with warkari teachings and philosophy.
“There is an abhang by Sant Tukaram we follow: To a good man, we will even give our loin clothes. But for a bad man, we will have our sticks ready,” he said. "The future course of action would be largely peaceful but due to government apathy towards the cause of the villagers, we will not hesitate to take recourse to alternate means," Karadkar said. With a view to educating the warkaris and gaining mass based support, Karadkar said that nearly a lakh warkaris would assemble at Dehugaon on August 9. “The police have already denied us permission, but the meet will go on, no one will be able to stop us,” said Vilas Sonawane, leader of the Lok Shashan, which has been spearheading the villagers’ protest against Dow Chemicals at the village. The role of the police in the village has also been called into question by Lok Shashan. “As most of the men in the village are absconding, the police have been misbehaving with the womenfolk, in a state of inebriation,” said Sonawane.
After a group of 100 villagers, including warkaris set fire to the Dow Chemical complex on July 25, the police arrested 15 villagers. Consequently, Karadkar publicly took responsibility for the turn of events, but the police did not arrest him.
“The behaviour of the state is strange. The police have arrested innocent people, but they do not want to question a person who has publicly taken responsibility for the act,” Karadkar said.
Accusing the government of dereliction of duty, Karadkar said that in a Rs 400 crore development project of the region sanctioned by the government, Dehu, Alandi and Bhandara have been included, leaving out Bhamchandra hill, where Sant Tukaram is said to have composed abangs. “If they had included the hill, the Dow Project would have to be shifted,” he said.
Posted by tim at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)
August 04, 2008
Dow row turns political as VHP backs villagers
Pune, August 04 Villagers of Shinde Vasuli, who have been protesting against a proposed Dow Chemicals project, have received support from unexpected quarters — the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). Dow proposes to set up a research and development facility over 100 acres in the village, but villagers are concerned that it would pollute the environment.
“We agree with the villagers’ concern. The Indrayani and Chandrabhaga rivers will get polluted due to the release of chemicals. Followers of Tukaram Maharaj take a holy dip in the river and the pollution would pose a health hazard to these followers, who come from across the state,” Venkatesh Abdeo, the VHP's national joint secretary, told reporters here.
Abdeo pledged to join villagers in the protest. He said the state government was not serious about the environmental threat and was inviting a repeat of accidents like that in Bhopal in 1984.
The western region unit of VHP passed a resolution against the project, demanding that the state government respect the sentiments of locals and block the project.
Abdeo justified a recent incident when protestors set fire to Dow Chemicals' construction site. “The police is protecting the company even though the protesting villagers are being threatened with dire consequences,” the VHP leader alleged.
Meanwhile, the VHP would continue with the nationwide bandh on the Amarnath land transfer row and would take a morcha to the residents of MPs, Abdeo said.
Posted by tim at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)
July 31, 2008
The backfire
Vinita Deshmukh, Intelligent Pune, July 31, 2008
In India, `political influence' plays a great role in ``getting things done.'' If you want to bend or break laws and quickly get to what you want, you need ministerial blessings. Once you are so favoured, government agencies are rendered to being spineless outfits and the rest seemingly looks smooth sailing. However, times are changing now and awareness amongst the rural folk about their precious land - thanks to information dissemination and communication at a lightening speed - has become a powerful citizen force to snub high-handedness and the wrong-doing of our elected representatives/authorities. And when such a citizen force turns pro-active and determined, then either there is a flare-up or introspection by the powers that be. Generally, it is the former, as the poor have to battle out their battles no matter how much any political party claims itself to be pro-poor.
This is exactly the turn of events regarding the case of the Multi-National Company, Dow,'s Chemical plant at Shinde Vasuli village, about 10kms from Chakan. Last week, the otherwise peaceful agitation over seven months to protest against the establishment of this company, flared up, literally. Dow, which has proclaimed to use 20 hazardous chemicals under the Schedule I of the Environment Protection Act (EPA) and has earned notoriety for being responsible for the world's worst industrial of Bhopal in 1984 (Union Carbide is its subsidiary company), has earned the ire not only of villagers but activists in Pune, Chennai, Bhopal and Delhi. The two issues that are being questioned by them are – why should a chemical factory be allowed in the midst of a village (and not in a chemical zone) and where's the guarantee that there will be no environmental hazard, given the background of this MNC which has a tarnished reputation even in its homeland, USA. Both these have remained unanswered by the government and not being convincingly found in the various official permissions sanctioned to Dow for the setting up of the plant here.
The trigger to last week's burning of Dow's machinery apparently worth Rs.2.5 crore, was firstly, the clean chit given to Dow recently by the high level committee which was instituted by the state government under Sham Lal Goyal, secretary, environment. The committee was set up to review the project, after villagers took to streets in early January this year. Secondly, quite shockingly, the committee gave a NOC to Dow to re-start its construction activity without making it binding on it to first submit the extremely stringent clearances that it itself imposed on Dow in its review report, not only from the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoeF) but other central/state agencies as well. Dow sought legal intervention from the High Court seeking protection from the state government to re-start construction, based on the NOC given by the committee. The state government gave a nod and thus, a posse of 300 plus policemen from Pune Rural swooped on the village on July 24 (the interim order was till July 25). While, it was a peaceful protest on July 24 under the aegis of former justices P B Sawant and B G Kolse-Patil, the next day 200 odd `Warkaris' (reports say they were not local villagers but people from surrounding areas who are extremely sensitive about Dehu (Saint Tukaram) and Alandi (Saint Dnyaneshwar) pilgrimages in the vicinity of Shinde Vasuli) as these are the bastions of the Warkari tradition, are said to have done the damage.
While 30 odd Warkaris are arrested and 150 more voluntary sought arrests at the Chakan Police Station, the fingers should be pointed to the arrogant and callous manner in which the state government and the MNC handled the issue. Firstly, there was utter secrecy over construction which began overnight in the last quarter of 2007. Villagers of Shinde Vasuli were kept in the dark about which factory is coming up despite repeated queries from local authorities. The MNC had not even put up the mandatory board to announce this. So, suddenly when the word spread early this January that it is ``Dow, the company responsible for the Bhopal gas tragedy,' that's coming up amidst them, villagers began to vent ire. Villagers say when they asked the district collectorate why such a `poisonous' factory is being allowed in their midst they were allegedly told ```the land belongs to the government so it has a right to set up any kind of factory.' The MNC, after such social pressure, gave huge advertisements to all major local newspapers swearing it is a pure `Research & Development centre' and its existence is only going to enhance the environment around. However, documents procured by `Intelligent Pune' by invoking Section 4 of the RTI Act in the offices of MPCB and MIDC in Pune and in secretary, environment office of the Mantralaya amply proved that Dow was given a consent for ``manufacture.'' After this exposure the government quickly changed its tone and in the review report changed the word to `R&D' in stead of `manufacture' with other things remaining constant, like the use of 20 hazardous chemicals or the haphazard explanation of where Dow is going to dispose of its toxic waste.
`Right to Environment' is as good as a constitutional right in today's world of environmental degradation and India is a party to an international convention - `The Declaration of the United Nation Conference on Human Environment/Stockholm Declaration- 16.06.1972)'' by which it has to adhere to the `Trans-generational equity principle'' which means all common resources such as air, land, rivers, forests, mangroves air and so on are all held by the State not for itself but in trust for all citizens in common. Therefore, it is wrong to assume that the state can deal with these common resources, as it likes, without any reference to the people. Particularly, when people have reservations about a certain project they have a right to public hearing as well. None of this has been done in the case of Shinde Vasuli village. And as can be seen, it will be tough for the government to bulldoze, for the sake of economic prosperity! Also because, now villagers have been instigated by the humiliation meted out to them by the custodians of law.
Posted by tim at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
July 30, 2008
Dow`s tryst with a sacred river
Makarand Gadgil, Business Standard, July 30, 2008
Battle lines are drawn here in village Vasuli Shinde on the banks of river Sudha, near Chakan — the new automobile hub in Maharashtra’s Pune district.
The villagers and the people of the Varkari sect are on one side, while the state government and Dow Chemicals on the another. The bone of contention is the future of Dow Chemicals’ $100-million R&D project, for which 100 acres of land was allotted in the village near the Sudha, held sacred by the followers of a Bhakti cult called Varkaris.
The government is firm that the centre sees the light of the day, while villagers, social activists and the Varkari sect have vowed to ensure that the project doesn’t come up at the proposed site.
Last Friday, some activists of the Varkari sect and a few villagers ransacked the Dow Chemicals premises and burned and hammered down some temporary sheds. Chakan Police have arrested 16 persons in this connection so far.
On Monday, Banda Tatya Maharajah Karadkar, a prominent figure from the Varkari sect, dared the police to arrest by claiming responsibility for the attack.
However, police have so far not arrested Banda Tatya. “We cannot arrest someone just because he or she is involved in the act. We have to ascertain that person’s role in the crime before taking action,” said Inspector Vijay Ghadge, who is in charge of Chakan police station.
Karadkar’s act of defiance has given a new turn to the agitation by local villagers, which has been going on for the last six months under the aegis of the Jan Shashan Andolan. The grounds for the agitation were slightly different from what has prompted the Varkari attack.
The Varkaris, a powerful sect in Maharashtra with followers across party lines, oppose the Dow project on the ground that the land was sacred to saint Tukaram, a leader of the Bhakti Movement.
However, it seems the state government is ready to take on the might of the Varkari sect, supported as it is by a ruling of the Bombay High Court giving the go-ahead for the Dow project. When contacted, industry secretary Aziz Khan said: “We want to promote Maharashtra as an R&D hub and there is no change in our policy.”
“We have provided for police protection at the Dow premises and we will take all the steps to facilitate the setting up of the R&D facility at the site,” he added.
As for environmental concerns, a committee was appointed under the chairmanship of the environment secretary and the project has been given go-ahead only after the committee gave a green signal, he pointed out.
Says Kailas Panmand, a villager from Vasuli-Shinde: “We are against the project as it is going to pollute the Sudha, which flows from the area, and our livelihoods depend on it. The farmers in this area are quite prosperous, reaping three crops a year and if our water source gets polluted, our farms would be destroyed.”
When contacted, a Dow Chemicals spokesman refuted the charges that the R&D facility would pollute the river.
“Villagers wanted to know why we are digging bores at the site. They suspect that chemicals might be discharged through these bores. We have already clarified to them that this is an R&D facility and not a production unit and whatever chemicals we use for research purposes would be in small quantities. And even this will be disposed at a designated facility approved by the state government and not in the village itself.”
“As we are responsible not only to the local community, but also to the global community, we need to publish what is the level of arsenic or other chemicals in the ground before we start work at any facility. And to do that, we need to conduct soil testing. The bores were dug for that,” he added.
Speaking to Business Standard, Vilas Sonawane, the working president of Lok Shashan, asked: “In that case, why is the state government refusing to give details of the project report submitted by the company under right to information.”
Besides this, we also have reservations on the manner in which land was transferred to Dow. The 100 acres of land allotted to Dow is a common grazing land which belongs to the entire village. And before allotment, the state government didn’t feel the need to seek formal resolution by the gram sabha or gram panchayat, he claimed.
Varkaris admit that they have not spoken to Dow directly. “We conveyed our objection to the facility through the Andolan. When the company ignored the request, we razed the place,” says Varkari leader Sachin Sambaji Shinde.
“This is a place where Tukaram wrote the Gatha, which is a collection of Abhangs. Moreover, it is just 5 km away from Dehu, the birthplace of Tukaram Maharaj and is also near Alandi (the place of saint Dhyaneshwar, one of the earlier writers of Marathi language). This entire region is revered by the Varkaris who visit this region every year in large numbers.”
Posted by tim at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)
July 29, 2008
Dow row: Warkari leader dares arrest
PUNE: After leading an attack on the research and development (R&D) centre of Dow Chemical International Pvt Ltd (DCIPL) on Friday, warkari leader Banda Tatya Karadkar staged an agitation on Monday demanding that he be held responsible for the attack.
According to the local police, the agitation staged at the Chakan bus stand saw the participation of 50-60 of Karadkar's followers.
Earlier, the police had arrested 16 persons who were allegedly involved in the attack.
In a statement issued to the media, Karadkar said that he was among the first persons to attack the site on Friday, and hence should be taken into police custody. Karadkar also demanded the release of those who have been detained by the police.
Suresh Ghadge, police inspector, Chakan police station, said, "We have noted Karadkar's statement, but we have made no arrests in this regard as yet. Currently, the police are busy maintaining law and order to ensure that the palkhis return safely to Alandi."
"We will officially record Karadkar's statement after the palkhis have passed. We will take further action only after verifying his claim," said Ghadge.
He added that according to Karadkar, there were several locals involved in the attack. Earlier, B.G. Kolse-Patil, leader of Lokshasan Andolan, had also claimed the participation of local persons, which, he has now refuted, Ghadge said.
DCIPL has proposed the establishment of an R&D centre on a 100-acre plot at Shinde (Vasuli), about 20 km away from Chakan. The research centre has been an issue of debate, with various organisations like Lokayat and Lokshasan Andolan registering protests on grounds of health and environment hazards.
DCIPL, whose international headquarters are in USA, is planning to invest Rs 400 crore here. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena through a release announced staging an agitation on July 30 at Chakan on Pune-Nasik highway. Arvind Sawant and MP Shivajirao Adhalrao-Patil have organised the stir against Dow.
Posted by tim at 07:27 PM | Comments (0)
Torcher of Dow's R&D centre in Pune fails to get arrested
Statement by one of the organisations fighting Dow in Pune
Friends,
as per our earlier reporting, Banda Tatya Karadkar Maharaj Karadkar, one of the most respected Kirtankar of Warkari Sampraday (sect) who had led warkaris in destroying the construction of the notorious Dow Chemicals, marched on the Chakan Police Station near Pune to get arrested. The Police, however, did not arrest him. Tatya had written a letter to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra taking the responsibility of the demolition and ready to face the consequences. He demanded that Dow Chemical should not only be thrown out the Sant Bhoomi (sacred land,) but also out of our country. In his letter he categorically states that if the government dares to again start the construction, the warkaris will again do the same kind of agitation. He demanded the immediate release of the innocent villagers who have been fighting peacefully and non-violently against the proposed plant of the notorious Dow Chemical.
Banda Tatya, standing next to Justice Kolse Patil, reads out a declaration of his responsibility for the burning down of Dow's Pune centre
On this occasion, the police requested him not to march on the Police Station - instead they came to Chakan Bus Stop where the warkaris had assembled. The gathering was converted into a protest meeting where Banda Tatya Maharaj Karadkar clarified his position and publicly submitted his letter to the Police officials and demanded his own arrest. Even with this, the Police officials did not dare to arrest Tatya. The police said to the assembled warkaris and people that the statement of Banda Tatya would be taken "as and when required"! But they did not arrest him!
The police look on impotently as Banda Tatya asks to be arrested for torching Dow's centre
The government has no courage to take any action against the Warkari, but at the same time they want the Dow Chemical plant. Now there is a deadlock, which is bound to be resolved in the throwing Dow Chemical out of our country and throwing its supporters out of power.
Shashi Sonawane,
National Convenor - Yuva Bharat
Posted by tim at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2008
Villagers attack Dow's upcoming research facility
PUNE: The agitation against Dow Chemical's research centre at the Shinde Vasuli village, about 40 km from here, took a violent turn on Friday, with a mob of about 250 people going on the rampage at the company's construction site.
The attack resulted in major damage to the construction machinery and other material, including glass panels and air-conditioners. The attackers tried to set on fire the temporary shelter erected by the company comprising two rooms.
Assistant police commissioner Shrikrushna Kokate said, "A mob of 200 to 250 people arrived in vehicles and attacked the centre early in the morning. A criminal offence under sections 395, 427, 435, 436, 317 of IPC 149 was filed by the security men of the centre. Ten people have been detained."
Nandkumar Sangalikar, public affairs director of Dow Chemical International Pvt Ltd (DCIPL), said, "A mob of 80 people carrying kerosene cans attacked the centre. The attackers used hammers to damage the building. Water tanks, crane and partly constructed rooms were set afire at the site. The company has filed a complaint with the Chakan police station."
Most of the attackers were outsiders and not villagers. They came in sport utility vehicles and vandalised the centre, Sangalikar alleged.
However, B.G, Kolse-Patil, retired judge of the Bombay high court who stays in Pune and is against Dow's centre, said, "The action was taken by the villagers and not by outsiders. It's true that we too are opposing the centre, but villagers indulged in violence."
On Thursday, officials from the company had visited the centre in the wake of the high court order to the state government to ensure resumption of work at the construction site. Some of the villagers, who are against the centre, had blocked the road. A police force was called in to control the situation.
In a statement, the company strongly condemned the vandalism at its facility. "It pains us to see these acts of vandalism taking place at an upcoming science and technology centre. It is clearly an attack on the growth of science," the statement said, adding that the company is fully committed to a peaceful resolution of the situation through dialogue.
"We have engaged the village community during the past six months. An overwhelming majority of the local residents are now desirous of the research centre shaping up in their neighbourhood," the statement added.
The company has been facing strong opposition since January, as critics have alleged that the research centre may create health problems for villagers. The construction work, suspended for some months following protests, had resumed after a committee set up by the state government gave the green signal.
Posted by tim at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)
Agitators burn shed at Dow Chemical's construction site near Pune
Mumbai: The agitation against a research center being set up by Dow Chemical, which now own Union Carbide in India, took a violent turn on Friday with a mob about 100 people setting fire to a shed at its construction site at Shinde Vasuli village, about 40 km from Pune.
The agitators also damaged construction machinery and other materials, including glass panels and air-conditioners.
Security personnel at the centre have registered a criminal complaint against the rampaging agitators under sections 395, 427, 435, 436, 317 of IPC, said assistant police commissioner Shrikrushna Kokate, adding, that the police have detained ten people.
Dow in India is synonymous with the Union Carbide which caused the catastrophic industrial accident in Bhopal in 1984, when tonnes of toxic gas leaked from a pesticide plant owned by the then Union Carbide.
Over 3,800 people died of exposure to the gas and tens of thousands more were made sick. Union Carbide later became a subsidiary of Dow but the controversy over who should clean up the polluted site continues.
Dow is setting up a research and development centre with an initial investment of Rs400 crore ($90 million) near Shinde village. The company claims the new research centre, planned to open this year, will house 500 scientists by 2010, looking into energy conservation, water purification and pharmaceuticals.
Dow officials claim the attack was directed from outside and not from within the village, but there is wider opposition to the plant in the area.
Some of the villagers, who were against the centre, had blocked the road leading to the site while Dow officials visited the centre in the wake of the high court order to the state government to ensure resumption of work at the construction site.
The construction work had resumed after a committee set up by the state government gave the green signal. Critics, however, argue the research centre will create health problems for villagers.
Posted by tim at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)
Villagers barge into Dow complex, torch premises
Pune, July 25: Around 150 people, including some locals from Shinde-Vasuli village of Khed taluka, forced their way into the Dow India complex and torched the premises on Friday. The resulting fire lasted over two hours and was extinguished by fire tenders rushed from Pimpri-Chinchwad. The Pune rural police have arrested 15 villagers on charges of vandalism.
Khed Tehsildar Subash Badge said this was the first time the villagers had resorted to ransacking of the complex. Till now, they had limited themselves to non-violent protests against Dow India.
The police said two storerooms, a JCB, a crane and a water tanker had been set on fire. The watchman’s post was ransacked while the compound wall was partly smashed. At the entrance to the Dow complex, a board was left behind with the words ‘‘Sadguru Sant Tukaram Maharaj Warkari Vidyapeeth’’ scribbled on it.
‘‘Our warkaris were involved in the incident. This is the holy place of Sant Tukaram. We fear that given Dow’s history in Bhopal and elsewhere, its presence here would adversely affect the environment,’’ said Pune Zilla Warkari Maharashtra president R K Ranjane.
‘‘For the last six months, we have been protesting non-violently but the Government’s inaction has prompted us to take this move,’’ he added. ‘‘We want to build a school at these premises.’’
Dow India did not put any figure to the losses incurred but company director (Public Affairs), N Y Sanglikar said that the damage was in crores of rupees. "Our officers are currently reviewing the site and a financial estimate of the damage should be known soon. However, a lot of records on computers have been destroyed and data on soil and water conditions have been lost. Such damage cannot be estimated in terms of rupees," he said.
It all began at 9 am when the villagers barged their way into the complex and forced the security guards to relinquish their cell phones to thwart them from calling for help. "They finished what they
came to do in about half an hour," informed Badge.
"The police arrived by 10.30 am and the fire tenders were on the spot by 11 am. The fire was put out by noon," he said.
The Pune rural police said that three teams had been assigned to arrest the offenders. "Fifteen villagers have been arrested. At present close to 100 policemen, including 15 officers from the State Rural Police Force (SRPF) and two striking forces, have been posted here," said Pune Rural Police Additional SP Ashok Morale.
He said that the security arrangements would continue till the investigations are complete. "The security guards have given us the names of close to 25 villagers. We will detain them once they are tracked," he said.
Shinde village wore a deserted look, with most people working in the fields. No one was willing to comment on the morning's incident. The Zilla Parishad school was also nearly empty following the ruckus at the Dow complex and due to the heavy police presence. On Thursday, the Dow company directors had visited the area under heavy police bandobast.
On July 11, the Bombay High Court had directed the district authorities to grant protection to Dow India's complex, following the latter's petition in court.
Posted by tim at 12:48 AM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2008
Indian villagers burn Dow Chemical building site
Burnt Dow... the end of a corporate dream?
MUMBAI, July 25 (Reuters) - About 100 people worried about industrial pollution set fire to a construction site of a local unit of Dow Chemical Co in western India on Friday, police and a Dow official said.
The company is setting up a research and development centre with an initial investment of 4 billion rupees ($90 million) near Shinde village, about 200 km (120 miles) from Mumbai.
Dow Chemical Co is the largest U.S. chemical maker.
For many Indians, Dow is synonymous with the catastrophic industrial accident in Bhopal in central India in 1984, when tonnes of toxic gas leaked from a pesticide plant owned at the time by Union Carbide.
Nearly 3,800 people died soon after exposure to the gas, while tens of thousands more people were made sick. Union Carbide later became a subsidiary of Dow. There is still argument over who should clean up the site, which remains polluted.
Intruders broke into the construction site at around 8.30 a.m. and set an office and two vehicles on fire, said Ravindra Kadam, a superintendent of police in the area. No one was injured. Four people have been arrested.
"It was an act of vandalism," said Nandu Sanglikar, a spokesman for Dow India. The extent of the damage was being assessed.
He said some of the intruders were villagers, some of whom were convinced the centre would pollute the area's soil and water, while others were activists from outside the area.
Dow says the new research centre will open in 2008 and house 500 scientists by 2010, looking into energy conservation, water purification and pharmaceuticals.
Sanglikar said the villagers' pollution fears were unfounded and the site would have "zero liquid discharge". (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav and Jonathan Allen; Editing by Alistair Scrutton)
Posted by tim at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2008
IITians say no to Dow
Mumbai: Addressing the media in Mumbai Monday, Janak Daftari, an IIT-B alumni, said: "A group of IIT-B alumni, mostly from Silicon Valley, in total disregard to the sentiments and the callous practices being followed by the firm in their (alumini's) origin country, has gone ahead and under the aegis of IIT-Bombay Heritage Fund are organizing a two-day golden jubilee function in New York between July 18-20."
The Bhopal gas tragedy, which is often considered as one of the world's biggest industrial disasters, took place December 3, 1984. A Union Carbide subsidiary pesticide plant released 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate, which killed more than 3,800 people and affected many thousand more. The Dow Chemicals now owns Union Carbide.
Daftari said that over 1,000 students signed a petition last year urging the IITs to debar Dow from on-campus recruitment or sponsoring programs, "purely because of Dow's mishandling of its subsidiary Union Carbide's environmental and criminal liabilities in Bhopal and its disregard for Indian courts."
He said the company was forced to call off its recruitment plans in Mumbai, Chennai, Kharagpur and New Delhi and "IIT Kanpur and IIT Delhi returned Dow's sponsorship at the last minute, succumbing to pressure from alumni, faculty and students".
"It is a sheer irony that in 2005, the organisers of Global IIT Conference in the US, cancelled their invitation to the then CEO of Dow, William Stavropoulos. And here the IIT-B Heritage Fund has gone ahead and not just accepted the sponsorship but has even put the firm at the pedestal of gold sponsor," Daftari said.
Asked whether IIT authorities have given any approval to the contentious event, Daftari said an invitation has been sent to all senior members of the institution.
"Obviously, the golden jubilee celebration is being done privately but then there is a tacit approval from the senior administrators. After all they are seriously contemplating to attend the event even though scores of faculty members have opposed the sponsorship itself," he said.
In Delhi, Ravi Kuchimanchi, another alumni, said he, like scores of others, was shocked that the organisers of the conference could even think of associating themselves with a company that has caused such an enormous disaster and given birth to innumerable tales of agony.
"In 1984 when the gas leaked in Bhopal, I and other students in IIT-Bombay were shocked and angry. Today I am shocked to see, instead of forcing Dow to fork up money and clean up the Bhopal site, the organisers of the 50th anniversary celebrations have sought its money. As IIT alumni we can do better," a disappointed Kuchimanchi said in a press statement in the national capital.
Continue reading "IITians say no to Dow"
Posted by tim at 01:35 PM | Comments (0)
July 15, 2008
IIT-B unruffled by criticism on Dow sponsorship row
Organisers of the IIT-Bombay Jubilee celebrations in New York apparently reacted with nonchalance - albeit anonymous nonchalance - when asked about the storm raised by IIT faculty and alumni over Dow's sponsorship of the exclusive event. A typhoon of comments subsequently buffeted the website that posted the story - see below... ed.
New York, July 15: The organisers of the IIT-Bombay Golden Jubilee conference in Mumbai have rejected criticism by an organisation working with people affected by the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy for accepting a sponsorship from Dow Chemicals.
The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) had criticized the organisers -- IIT Bombay Heritage Fund -- for accepting gold sponsorship from Dow Chemicals, saying that the company which was responsible for the tragedy had failed to address concerns of the victims.
However, the Heritage Fund said accepting financial assistance did not amount to promoting the controversial company.
"By accepting sponsorship, the organisers are not promoting, sponsoring or advocating any product and it is a purely financial arrangement," a spokesman said.
So far as legal issues are concerned, the organisers leave them for the courts to decide, he added. Union Carbide, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemicals, had a pesticide plant in Bhopal which leaked in December 1984, killing thousands of people and leaving many with permanent damages.
---------------------------------------------------
Comments - 24 Skip the lunch campaign
by Akshay Damarla on 18 Jul 2008
I took a look at the program schedule and noticed that lunch on Saturday July 19th at this event is being sponsored solely by DOW. Some of us are planning on requesting attendees to 'Skip the Lunch'. If you or anyone you know are interested please join us at 45th street Times Square. Thank you.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Their Salt
by Dushyant on 18 Jul 2008
Akshay, This is really a good idea to help these IITians save their last bits of self respect...Let the losers eat the salt...
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
...Their salt
by dushyant on 18 Jul 2008
I meant ....eat Dow's salt....
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Time
by Akshay Damarla on 18 Jul 2008
We will be assembling by around 4:30 for the above action.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Akshay: Please send email address
by Nityanand Jayaraman on 18 Jul 2008
Dear Akshay:This is excellent. I'm circulating this call on the Bhopal listserves, and to the people who signed the petition, and on any alumni listserves. Please send me your email address.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Financial arrangements
by Aquene Freechild on 16 Jul 2008
I am sure IBM's sales of computers to better organize the murder of 11 million people was purely financial as well. Those who equivocate boycotting a country with boycotting a corporation are missing the point. Dow must clean up Bhopal NOW and face criminal charges today - there are specific things Dow can do to stop the poisoning and murder of Bhopal's children. The fact that other corporations and nations like the US also use murder and poison is no excuse endorse Dow's doing it too. To those who suggest action is impossible or futile, I am sure Gandhji had as many "practical' detractors as well. To you I ask - What are you doing to stop injustice in the world? If you feel strongly about Guantanamo, then join the campaign to close it. Pick your battle and make a difference.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Wrong questions lead to tendentious conclusions (continued from below)
by Tim Edwards on 16 Jul 2008
In reply to skep_tic: The two 'legal processes' attempting to bring accountability for the contamination in Bhopal (Jabalpur
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
rest of the comment (the system would not accept an ampersand)
by Tim Edwards on 16 Jul 2008
... and New York) were both initiated by citizens of Bhopal, not by state or judiciary. These citizens are thereby showing a faith and belief in the rule of law that appears to be missing from their elected representatives. Bhopal survivors asserting Dow's responsibility in public forums are no more pre-empting these legal processes than is Dow in publicly denying either the existence of the contamination or the criminal proceedings, or its responsibility for them. Besides, recent RTI discoveries reveal that the Indian Law Ministry agrees that “if there is any liability, it must be borne by Dow”. A better question to ask would be, how does a nation state bring the rule of law to bear upon a multinational company not headquartered within its borders and intent on conducting itself with utter impunity?
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Dow's contempt for India and Indians
by Indra Sinha on 16 Jul 2008
Never forget the comment of a top Dow executive that "$500 is plenty good for an Indian". This was $500 "compensation" for a lifetime of illness and pain. Dow also bribed govt officials to license as safe for domestic use in India a pesticide called Dursban which is banned for domestic use in the US. Dow paid an out-of-court settlement of $10,000,000 to the family of an American child damaged by Dursban. When deformed and brain damaged children start being born all over India as they are in Bhopal, then it won't be $10,000,000 per child, because $500 is plenty good for an Indian. India doesn't need Dow. India has enough resources and knowhow. Dow needs India, but to exploit. Kick Dow out of India. Kick hard. Kick now.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Pseudo Patriotism
by Partha Sarathy on 16 Jul 2008
Why is no one protesting against IITians choosing USA to celebrate their Golden Jubilee? After all it was USA which pioneered the atom bomb which killed countless in Japan. If DOW is unacceptable then USA is also not acceptable. All IITians should stop working in USA. Will they?
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Organisers fail IIT students
by Rohit on 16 Jul 2008
In accepting the sponsorship from Dow, I think the organisers would be failing the students and faculty of IIT who rejected Dow from their campuses in unison last year. I think it is an opportunity for the organisers to cure their myopia and show that they can think beyond 'a purely financial arrangement'. The insensitivity shown by the organisers quite resembles the Indian Prime Minister's willingness to be subservient to American dollars rather than address the issues of his own countrymen. While the fund itself is called IIT Bombay Heritage Fund, I wonder if the key people involved have ever given a thought to what legacy they would leave, when they accept Dow's blood money. No wonder the men involved are hiding behind un-named spokesmen.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
IIT-B: Dow sponsorship row
by anomani on 16 Jul 2008
The organizers must withdraw themselves from receiving any sort of funds from DOW chemical company. This is an ethical issue and hence cannot be decided in any court. Even if the authorities are not doing any sort of advertizing for the sponsors, the outcome will be nothing but promoting the company, DOW. And if the company is that much interested in doing social service, if that is the reason they are providing the sponsorship, let them do clean the polluted Bhopal environment and give proper compensation to the affected people. I strongly protest against the unethical actions of the organizers who are purposefully forgetting the horrible situation of a helpless community.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Eveready is ready, Is Dow?Dear
by Nityanand Jayaraman on 16 Jul 2008
Dear Skep-tic:You are right that the management of Union Carbide India Ltd (now Eveready Industries) is also jointly responsible for the disaster, and the environmental fallouts. You have missed out that besides Eveready, the Indian Government and the Madhya Pradesh Government are also responsible. The campaign for justice in Bhopal has not targeted only Dow Chemical. For the last 4 months, the Bhopalis have been camped out in Jantar Mantar -- on a sidewalk in New Delhi -- demanding the Indian Government to act responsibly. Further, the only reason you see Dow projected as big, bad corporation is that it is not letting the law take its course. There are two key cases -- criminal and for environmental liability. In both Dow is one of several defendants/respondents/accused named. In all cases, Eveready is named. In all cases, Eveready is appearing. In all cases, Dow and Union Carbide are absconding. How will law take its course, when Dow and Carbide behave like there is no rule of law.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Leadership comes hand-in-hand responsibility
by Anuj Grover on 16 Jul 2008
Dow, Eveready and others are leaders in their domain... However, with leadership also comes responsibility.Dow "has" to be held responsible for the disaster in Bhopal, because when you acquire assets of some other company, you also acquire its liabilities.Also, letting Dow go scot-free will set a terrible precedent... Any company - Indian or transnational - will blatantly refute safety provisions and then abscond - finally sell its assets to someone else - and the hopes of people looking for relief getting dashed...We have to set a culture of corporate responsibility. While this can start with acts of responsibility proactively taken up by corporates, in their absence, it has to be ensured that we demand this responsibility from them.So, Dow IS responsible for Bhopal. And, if we do not by-cott them for all purposes at all events, we are FAILING to demand right corporate conduct standards from Dow and other organizations working with hazardous material.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Shame on Heritage Organizers
by Somu K on 16 Jul 2008
Shame on you IIT-B heritage organizers and alums to be remotely associated with DOw chemicals, forget funding or not.DOW chemicals has still not accepted Bhopal liability and cheating all Indians and its ridiculous for you to join hands with them.Please don't forget poor Indians, including Bhopalis, have subsidized your IIT education. Please show them atleast half the loyalty you show this rich corporates.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Legitimising Dow's Stand
by Just another reader on 16 Jul 2008
This act on the part of the IIT-B heritage fund will give some legitimacy to DOW's stand that it cannot be held responsible for UC's criminal conduct. It will set a very bad precedent.The time is probably ripe to take this opportunity to conduct a major soul-searching debate within the IIT's themselves so that they can come to a unified position as to where they stand with respect to DOW.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
bad precedent for what ?
by Sudipta N. Sinha on 16 Jul 2008
Why don't you use your real name ? While you seem to be aware about UC's criminal conduct, are you aware that DOW has been ignoring summons to appear in court ? Dear 'Just another reader' and IITians, does it really require soul-searching to realize whats going on ? As for your statement 'It will set a very bad precedent' -- can you please explain what you mean.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Re: Legitimising Dow's stand
by Just another reader on 16 Jul 2008
'bad precedent' for doing business with a company that's blatantly evading corporate responsibility. I guess what needs to be done is to make this evasion more expensive for the players involved than it currently is. If Bhopal were in USA they could not have gotten away like this because it would have been very expensive for them to do so. They would have had to shut their shop down and clamped with billion dollar class action lawsuits. The most effective pressure group for a corporation is its shareholders. If they can be made to force the leadership to take notice ( for example by a concerted campaign by Bhopal sympathizers aimed at Dow's stock ), then probably Dow will come to Indian courts to give its attendance or agree to a proper out of court settlement, as it would have become too expensive to ignore the issue anymore.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
yes i agree
by Sudipta on 16 Jul 2008
Sorry I misunderstood you earlier, didn't read carefully. I agree with you whole-heartedly.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Eveready
by skep_tic on 16 Jul 2008
Just curious as to why only Dow is in everyone's cross-hairs and not Eveready et al. Also, can anyone explain as to why the legal process in India should be pre-empted by those who are absolutely convinced that Dow (and only Dow and not Eveready et al) is guilty? If we must override the Indian court system and the Indian Govt., then the only conclusion is that there is no rule of law in India.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
How about Khaitan Group and Eveready Industries?
by skep_tic on 16 Jul 2008
Shana - before indicting Dow by acting as judge, jury and executioner, do you even know that the Union Carbide plant in India was bought by the Eveready Industries and the Khaitan Group. Why aren't you and other activists insisting that the Indian company that actually bought the company that caused the tragedy is made to pay? Why isnt there a boycott of Eveready batteries, one of India's most popular brands? Do facts matter or is it just about showing sympathy, without regard to who is legally responsible?
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Dow bought the polluter, not Eveready
by Tim Edwards on 16 Jul 2008
Skep_tic, there’s a substantial fallacy within your assertions concerning Eveready. EIIL bought Union Carbide Corporation’s (UCC) subsidiary UCIL, true enough, but no court still handling the fall out of Bhopal (in Bhopal, Jabalpur or New York) has considered UCIL either singly or substantially responsible for either the disaster or the contamination. That’s because UCIL was subject to the overarching control of majority owner UCC throughout its occupation of the Bhopal plant site. UCC was the controlling entity at the time the vast majority of the pollution was incurred; UCC designed the methods for handling waste at the plant; UCC oversaw the inadequate remediation efforts at the plant prior to 1994; UCC’s trained manager continued the work after 1994. See here for details. Who bought the controlling corporate entity substantially responsible for both the disaster and contamination? Dow, not Eveready. Ergo, the entity succeeding UCIL, Eveready, may be partly responsible, but Dow is substantially so.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
The polluter who must pay is Dow
by Tim Edwards on 16 Jul 2008
Here's the link to Union Carbide documents detailing the contamination history, which leave no doubt about the primarily culpable party: bhopal.net/oldsite/poisonpapers.html
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
legal responsibility
by Sudipta N. Sinha on 16 Jul 2008
Dear Skep_tic, wonder why you had to use an alias for your post. Are you aware that the Bhopal Chief Judicial Magistrate in January 2005, summoned Dow to produce Union Carbide in the ongoing criminal case. Why do you think DOW continues to abscond from the court ? If they are innocent, why don't they appear in court.This is not about 'who is to pay' -- this is outrage against a corporation which believes in hiding its own trade-secrets on medical information which could have been used to save lives AFTER the tragedy, a corporation which promises clean drinking water for thousands but does nothing about its liabilities in Bhopal.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Answer the post please
by skep_tic on 16 Jul 2008
Instead of answering the post about Eveready batteries - and I bet you use them every day! - you are off on a fishing expedition about "hiding trade secrets or medical information". This is the kind of sensational "let's blame the big bad American corporation" approach instead of actually dealing calmly with facts. Dow is not a saint, but neither is any corporation, including any number of Indian companies including Reliance. I wonder what would happen if you applied the Dow test to each and every product or service you use in India today - one would practically have to live in a cave in the Himalayas! Let's hold Dow responsible but not use one-sided and biased boycotts against some but not all the culprits (e.g. MP Govt., Eveready Group etc.)
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
answer
by Taru on 16 Jul 2008
No one is avoiding your question i feel.Every ready is also questioned and definetly not let out of the legal battle.And it is more important to emphasis on the "hiding trade secrets or medical information" because that is causing the elongated suffering amongst the Bhopalis.True, if we take the same test many or most things in this world would have to be banned. The more we strive for the perfect solution the more we bring out a worser chemical/product/... but we can live without them? Try is urself??and about the non use of Evryready.. do u do it your self?Cause many who stand for the cause don't use it..
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
regarding suppression of medical information
by Sudipta N. Sinha on 16 Jul 2008
Dear Skep_tic, thanks to you and Nityanand, I learnt about the involvement of Eveready group. No corporation should get away with mass murder of 23,000 dead and 100,000 chronically ill (Source:ICMR). Regarding the actions of central and the state governments, their inaction and silence is shameful. But that does not reduce the responsibility of the corporation any bit. As for the crime of suppressing medical information, please see Chapter 9, The Bhopal Reader, Apex Press 2005 for the facts.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
disgrace
by Shana on 16 Jul 2008
There is no such thing as "purely a financial arrangement." Especially when one of the partners in the arrangement is so clearly unpure. Dow has made it clear that they think that poisoning Indian people and leaving them poisoned for decades is a forgivable and forgettable act. Remember Dow's statement "$500 is plenty good for an Indian"? Well what is the price IITB Heritage Fund is willing to accept to help Dow acquire flawed legitimacy? Is it a few thousand?IITB Heritage Fund Organizers: is it worth your tarnished reputation among hundreds of IIT alums and faculty? It is worth selling out to the murderers of fellow Indians?
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
my message continued
by Sudipta N. Sinha on 15 Jul 2008
Till one month ago, I knew little about what had happened in Bhopal. My history books in school didn't tell me, neither did the grown-ups. No one asked me to do anything for Bhopal and I was busy with my own stuff. Its quite likely that many of you are in the position I was in a month ago - unaware of the real facts and unable to separate 'fact' from 'fiction'. I request you to pick up a copy of 'The Bhopal Reader - Apex Press 2005 and find out for yourself the magnitude of the crime committed, the degree of greed and inaction that has happened in Bhopal. Find out about the people who say 'they want justice, not money'. When you see their faces, its easier to relate to what this is all about. If you do so, the voice within you will urge you to do the right thing. I sincerely hope that this happens. As for those calling you 'shameful', 'sold out', they will forget you eventually - but you will not forget your own 'financial arrangement' with the perpetrator of this inhumane crime.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
A reminder for those who made 'this purely financial arrangement'
by Sudipta N. Sinha on 15 Jul 2008
Suketa Mehta wrote in Village Voice, Dec 3,96:[Big people like you have snatched the peace and happiness of us poor people. You are living it up in big palaces and mansions. Moving around in cars. Have you ever thought that you have wiped away the marriage marks from our foreheads, emptied our laps of children, bathed us in poison, and we are sobbing, but death doesn't come. Like a living, walking corpse you have left us. At least tell us what our crime was, for which such a punishment has been given. If with the strength of your money you had shot us all at once with bullets, then we wouldn't have to die such miserable sobbing deaths.You put your hand on your heart and think, if you are a human being: if this happened to you, how would your wife and children feel ? ....]- Sajida Bano's husband was the first victim of Carbide in 1981. On that 1984 night, she lost her son too.Carbide had their own financial arrangements. You have yours. Organizers, hope you sleep well at night.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
IITB disgraceful to sell out
by Jasbir on 15 Jul 2008
This is the sad pattern in India now. Groups like IITB chasing money so blindly that they sell out their own people in favor of a US corporation. Indians should stop making US companies their deity and start to improve their own country. But IITB will never see the light through their greed filled eyes.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Shame on IITB for forgetting Bhopal
by Mona on 15 Jul 2008
What kind of example is IITB setting in highlighting DOW as a sponsor and thus forgetting the injustices of Bhopal. Shame on Anil Kshirsagar, Sunil Shenoy and Nandan Nilekani (alum organizers) for forgetting Bhopal and putting DOW as part of its celebrations and washing their hands with the tears and suffering of the Bhopal survivors. Shame on them! I am really disgusted to see that IITB, which should be paving the way for future leaders is stepping on the hearts and minds of hundred and thousands of Bhopali survivors by this deed.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
disgusting
by Raj on 15 Jul 2008
We all knew that IIT's were merely serving as SEZs for talented minds, trained at low cost. But this is new that now they are even joining hands and accepting funding with the corporation that has blood of poor Indian/Bhopalis stained on its hands...Several US universities have denied to accept million of dollars from Dow for thsi reason. It is absolutely digusting that IIT is accepting this money for the sake of doing this Golden Jubilee tamasha...!! I think IITs have no right to have that first I on their name.. they should just be Institutes of Technologies... thats it.!!
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Is there a Difference?
by Aashish Gupta on 15 Jul 2008
24 years ago, thgousands died, and many more suffered incurable damage, because a corporation decided that it wanted to save some money on its plant. Today, the country's leading institue of technical education has decided to overlook completely unethical and anti-people strategies of the same company, so that the institute can celebrate 50 years of being. Arent we supposed to do good deeds on our birthdays? But the heritage funds, wants to earn money. I hope i am wrong, but i see little difference between the managers of union carbide then, and the organisers of this golden jubilee conference. Just a question? in stead of Gold sponsorship, can the iitb chaps call it poison sponsorships?
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
IITB Alumni have lost their ability to differentiate between right and wrong
by Shweta Narayan on 15 Jul 2008
Its amazing to see that while the students of IITB last year had refused to work for Dow Chemicals for its pending liability in Bhopal the Alumni has decided to shake hands with the very same Criminal of Bhopal. IITB Alumni's decision to accept money has clearly exhibited that they have left their ethics, morals and their sense of differentiating between right and wrong back in their classrooms for corporate greed and profit. Accepting blood money from Dow is also sending a message that corporate profits do not care for humanity and IITB Alumni is clearly making this statement. Shame on you IITB Alumni!
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Shame Shame IITB alumni assocn
by Nityanand Jayaraman on 15 Jul 2008
The criticism was not targeted at IITB, but at Anil Kshirsagar, Sunil Shenoy and the likes of Nandan Nilekani, who are alumni organisers of the IITB Golden Jubilee celebrations in New York. I'm not surprised that the spokesman for the organisers chose to keep his identity a secret. I would too if I were forced to make insensitive and inane statements that say that accepting sponsorship is nothing but a financial agreement. If that were the case, would the organisers accept money from the Bin Laden Group, a legitimate corporation, or from the Medellin Drug Cartel? Many IIT alumni and students and faculty have shown remarkable sensitivity and high ethical standards when they demand that institutions carefully screen who they associate with. Shame on the organisers. These are the modern-day Mir Zafars, the turn-coats who will sell India for a purely financial arrangement.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Soul Curry
by Partha Sarathy on 15 Jul 2008
Money got by selling fish does not stink. What if Union Carbide had been owned by one of the weighty and mighty of the Indian Business group in Fortune list and who becomes member of the parliament of India?
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
disingenuous denial
by Tim Edwards on 15 Jul 2008
The IIT Bombay Heritage Fund spokesman misses the point by a rather wide margin. The strong objections made by IIT faculty, students and alumni do not concern the marketing of Dow products: they concern the fact that a prestigious Indian technological institution has allowed itself to accept lucre from a thoroughly dicredited, apparently remorseless serial offender against Indian citizens. By associating with Dow, and by implictly legitimising its presence in India, the IIT Bombay heritage fund simultaneously dishonours itself and its members and conveys the message that it's fine to kill and maim Indian people, just so long as palms are sufficiently greased. There is no such thing as a 'purely financial arrangement' in this instance: Dow knows full well what it is paying for.
Reply | Forward | Report Abuse
Misleading headline and article
by Abhinav on 15 Jul 2008
HiIIT Bombay and Alumni has been the one opposing the DOW's Sposorship from tarnishing the brand name of IIT's. IIT Heritage should not accept any kind of money from DOW which refuses to take responsibility of cleaning of Bhopal plant.
Posted by tim at 11:24 PM | Comments (0)
IIT-B alumni oppose Dow sponsorship of NY event
Mumbai, July 14 Some Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) alumni have floated an online petition urging organizers of the Golden Jubilee Conference 2008, to be held in New York from July 18 to 20, to refuse sponsorship from Dow Chemical.
Dow Chemical is one the ‘gold’ sponsors of the Golden Jubilee event for which over 600 alumni have registered and are slated to visit New York. In 2001, Dow Chemical bought Union Carbide that caused the industrial disaster in Bhopal in 1984 claiming more than 3000 lives and affecting thousands of others.
At a press conference on Monday, environmentalist Janak Daftari, a ‘75 alumnus, said, “We are extremely disturbed to see Dow Chemicals listed as the gold sponsor for the event. Dow has been barred from recruiting at IIT-B since October last year because of students and alumni outrage regarding Dow Chemical’s treatment of Bhopal survivors. In addition, IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras and IIT Kharagpur have also not allowed Dow to recruit on their campuses.”
The petition signed by over 600 alumni so far and an ‘open letter’ by 43 faculty members of IIT-B have been sent to New York based Anil Kshirsagar and Suresh Shenoy, organizers of the event. “Dow Chemical clearly aims to acquire legitimacy and credibility by forging relations with IITs. The reputation of IITs will certainly be tarnished by any association with Dow Chemical,” the letter states.
Dr Ajit Ranade, chief economist, Aditya Birla Group and the president of the IIT-B alumni association said that he was aware of the online petition. “I think the issue is fairly divisive. The mandate of the IIT-B alumni association is to engage with the activities of the golden jubilee celebration and to help the institute and alumni. Individual alumni are free to express their opinion.”
“We strongly believe that it would be against our national interests to accept or encourage any offers made by Dow Chemical. We also believe that the acceptance of sponsorship would set an incorrect precedent and would wrongly help legitimize Dow’s ongoing attempts to set up alliances with various academic institutions and other national organisations,” said Daftari.
Posted by tim at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)
IIT alumni condemn association with Dow
NEW DELHI: Alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) have criticised the institution for accepting Dow Chemical Company as one of its sponsors.
Dow is the current owner of Union Carbide, whose plant leaked toxic gas killing 3, 500 people in Bhopal in 1984.
IIT Mumbai has accepted Dow as its gold sponsor for its golden jubilee celebrations this year, sparking protests among its alumni.
Praful Bidwai, a columnist and an alumnus of IIT, said the premier institute should in no way associate itself with Dow.
"About 500 alumni of IIT Mumbai and 43 faculty members have written letters to the organizers of the IIT Golden Jubilee conference, basically condemning the association of Dow Chemical Company with the programme of the conference as a sponsor, as a high profile gold sponsor," Bidwai said.
Bidwai also said that any association with Dow would harm national interests.
"We strongly believe that it would be against our national interest to accept or encourage any offer by the government. We also believe that the acceptance of the sponsorship from Dow for the 2008 golden jubilee conference for July 18-19 would only help to legitimize Dow's ongoing efforts to set up alliances with various academic institutions, forty-three faculty members have signed unprecedented letter," he said.
Over 3,500 people died in the days and weeks after toxic fumes spewed out of a pesticide plant in Bhopal on the night of December 2, 1984.
Officials say nearly 15,000 people have died from cancer and other diseases since then.
Activists have put the toll at 33,000 and claim that toxins from thousands of tonnes of chemicals lying in and around the site have seeped into ground water.
Union Carbide in 1984 accepted moral responsibility for the tragedy and established a 100 million dollars charitable trust fund to build a hospital for the victims. Later Union Carbide was taken over by Dow Chemicals.
The company also paid 470 million dollars to the government in 1989 in a settlement reached after a protracted legal battle.
The victims were paid 25,000 rupees in case of illness and 100,000 rupees or so to the next of kin of those killed.
Michigan-based Dow Chemical says it is not responsible for the clean up as it never owned or operated the plant. The Madhya Pradesh state government now owns the abandoned plant.
Posted by tim at 01:42 PM | Comments (0)
Dow with sponsorship: ex-IITians
Mihika Basu, Daily News & Analysis, July 15, 2008
Golden jubilee organisers asked not to associate with the chemical company
Even as the alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) are getting together in July to celebrate 50 years of their alma mater, a section of them have condemned the organisers of the 2008 IIT-Bombay Golden Jubilee Conference for accepting Dow Chemical as a Gold Sponsor.
In a letter titled “stop Dow from polluting IIT’s Golden Jubilee” sent to organisers in June, the alumni requested the organisers to refuse Gold Sponsorship from Dow until the company owned up to its responsibility towards Bhopal. The conference is scheduled to be held in New York from July 18 to 20.
Janak Daftari, former secretary of the Mumbai chapter of the IIT-B Alumni Association, who has been spearheading the campaign in the city said, “In future too, I will protest if any IIT fraternity gets associated with Dow.”
Apart from the alumni, 43 IIT-B faculty members have condemned the organisers in an open letter dated June 10. The letter states, “Dow Chemical aims to acquire legitimacy and credibility by forging alliance with IITs. The reputation of IITs will be tarnished by any association with Dow Chemical. We believe that it would be against national interest.” The letter notes that the acceptance of sponsorship “would set an incorrect precedent”. A disclaimer states that the letter was in their capacity as concerned citizens of India, and did not represent the institute’s official position.
Milind Gokhale, former CEO of the IIT-B Alumni Association and an elected director on the association’s board, said the conference was being organised by the alumni in USA and the institute had nothing to do with organising it. “The Alumni Association is a Section 25 company and does not take a stand on social and political issues,” he said.
DB Phatak, convener of golden jubilee celebrations, said sometime back, when Dow had come to IIT-B with a set of proposed projects in research and development, several faculty members and students had opposed it and demanded a debate on the issue. “IIT-B, as an institute, refused to take a stand on it, but allowed individual faculty members to make individual proposals.”
Posted by tim at 03:49 AM | Comments (0)
July 14, 2008
IIT alumini group oppose Dow Chem funding
About 500 people, including alumni and faculty members of IIT-Bombay on Monday protested the inclusion of US chemical giant Dow Chemical as a sponsor for its golden jubilee conference in New York, alleging that the firm failed to provide adequate compensation to Bhopal gas tragedy victims.
An 'open letter' signed by 43 faculty members of IIT-B along with an alumni petition came in response to the organisers' "callous" approach towards addressing the issue and accepting Dow Chemical as its main sponsor "despite the company's tarnished reputation and its disregard for Indian law," a statement released by the IIT-B alumni said in New Delhi.
The conference is being organised by the IIT-B Heritage Fund from July 18-20, 2008, in New York.
"DOW's mishandling of its subsidiary Union Carbide's environmental and criminal liabilities in Bhopal, its track record of unethical and illegal business practices, and its disregard for Indian courts disqualifies it in our eyes from any legitimate alliance with institute that believes in excellence, fair play and dignity," the statement said.
Attempts by Dow to develop relationships with IITs had been thwarted by students, alumni and faculty last year too, when 1000 IITians signed a petition urging the IITs to bar Dow from on-campus recruitment or sponsoring programmes.
The company had to call off its recruitment and sponsorship plans in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Kharagpur and New Delhi after the protest.
Posted by tim at 04:21 PM | Comments (0)