Honourable Prime Minister,
Government of India,
North Block,
Raisina Hill,
New Delhi 110 011
December 2, 2014
Sub : 30th Anniversary Demands of the Victims of American Multinationals, Union Carbide and Dow Chemical, in Bhopal.
Sir,
On behalf of the survivors of the world’s worst industrial disaster, on the occasion of its 30th Anniversary, we urge you to consider the following demands of five survivors’ organizations to stop the ongoing disasters in Bhopal. In particular we wish to draw your attention to the 11 demands concerning effective action by the central government.
For a list of demands in English, click here. To view the demands in Hindi, click here.
As you will please see, demands 2 to 7 from the Central Government are on the civil, criminal and environmental liabilities of the American Multinationals, Union Carbide Corporation and Dow Chemical that are the principal authors of the two ongoing disasters : the gas disaster and the disaster caused by environmental contamination due to reckless dumping of hazardous waste.
In the last 30 years, the Government of India has been dragging its feet over taking effective action against the two US corporations with the understanding that justice in Bhopal would jeopardize the investment climate. Union Carbide and now Dow Chemical have taken full advantage of this hesitation on the part of the Indian government and both continue to break Indian laws and dare Indian courts. As you must be aware, Union Carbide is absconding for last 22 years and Dow Chemical has refused to appear in the Bhopal district court disregarding the court’s summons to appear on November 12, 2014.
We write this letter with the hope that your government will make Union Carbide and Dow Chemical obey the directions of Indian courts. We hope that you and your government will be as enthusiastic in making US corporations obey Indian laws, as you are of welcoming them to invest in our country. We write with the hope that you and your government are aware that Bhopal was the original “make in India” in the profoundest sense of the phrase.
Demands 8 to 10 related to the medical care and economic and social rehabilitation of the survivors, deserve your special attention and consideration. In the last three decades, while provision of funds by successive governments at the centre has been adequate, in the absence of any monitoring, the expenditures have failed to produce any results as is evident in the reports of the Monitoring and Advisory Committees set up by the Supreme Court. In 2008 the central government agreed to set up an Empowered Commission on Bhopal for long term relief and rehabilitation of survivors but the decision could not be implemented due to the intransigence of the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister who remains oblivious to the failure of his government in providing even a semblance of a life of dignity to the survivors.
Demands no. 1 and 11 are also deserving of your attention particularly since the former follows from recent agreement reached in New Delhi with Shri Ananth Kumar, the minister in charge of all matters concerning the Bhopal disaster.
We thank you for your time and await your response to the 30th Anniversary demands.
Thanking you.
Yours sincerely,
| Rashida Bi,Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh94256 88215 | Nawab Khan,Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha8718035409 | Balkrishna Namdeo,Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pensionbhogi Sangharsh Morcha9826345423 | Satinath Sarangi, Rachna Dhingra,Bhopal Group for Information and Action9826167369 | Safreen Khan,Children Against Dow Carbide |
Contact : C/o 44, Sant Kanwar Ram Nagar, Berasia Road, Bhopal. Website: www.bhopal.net.
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