Corporations value a Bhopal survivor’s life at 100 times less than that of an Alaskan sea bird. This seems unbelievable but it’s actually true. In 1989 Exxon spent $51,000 on the rehabilitation of each bird affected by its oil disaster. It was the same year India struck its infamous settlement with Union Carbide that granted $494 compensation to 93 percent of Bhopal gas survivors.
This sum was meant to last for the rest of their lives, but it barely covered medical bills for a few months. Over 34 years of suffering it amounts to $14 per year – or less than 4¢ per day. Not even enough for a single aspirin.
WE NOW HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO HELP REMEDY THIS TRAVESTY – BUT WE ONLY HAVE A FEW DAYS.
This month India’s Supreme Court is due to hear a ‘curative petition’ that seeks adequate compensation for Bhopal survivors. Filed by the Indian government, it has taken eight years for the petition to be heard. The Indian government is asking for only USD $1 Billion as additional compensation, based on a factually incorrect figure of 5295 deaths. Actual data from hospitals and the ICMR shows that the number of deaths exceeds 20000, while injuries and chronic illnesses affect more than 500,000 survivors. The compensation should be approximately USD 8 Billion.
Survivors have been insisting for years that the Government of India and the Government of Madhya Pradesh revise the figures of death and injuries in the curative petition. They say the figures must be based on hospital records and research carried out by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which reflect the real human impact of exposure to Carbide’s gases. Indian officials have done nothing to correct the figures.
THIS IS OUR LAST CHANCE TO HELP ENSURE SURVIVORS GET FAIR AND ADEQUATE COMPENSATION.
The situation couldn’t be more urgent. Please help. Before the chance is gone forever, we must bring huge pressure upon the newly elected Government of Madhya Pradesh, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, and the Prime Minister of India to represent survivors’ reasonable claims before the Supreme Court of India.
THERE ARE TWO WAYS YOU CAN HELP: tweet using your twitter account and send an email from your email address.
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To send an email to the Prime Minister’s office, Chief Minister of MP and the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, please follow the three steps below:
1. Copy this suggested email text
I understand that in April 2019 the Hon’ble Supreme Court will hear the civil curative petition for additional compensation for the Bhopal Gas Disaster. The petition intends “to cure the gross miscarriage of justice and perpetration of irremediable injustice being suffered by the victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.”
The petition therefore seeks to remedy the callous denial of Bhopal survivors’ legal, constitutional and human rights over the course of 35 years, and counting – a denial of rights directly responsible for the immeasurable suffering of hundreds of thousands of Indian citizens.
A remedy can only cure when a disease is correctly diagnosed. The present petition does not offer the remedy that Bhopal survivors need. It cannot remedy the long standing denial of their rights because it does not reflect the established reality of how many died, how many were maimed, or how their injuries were neither minor nor temporary but permanent, for the remainder of their lives.
As a concerned citizen, I request you to revise the figures of death and injuries to reflect the hospital records and research carried out by Indian Council of Medical Research. I stand in solidarity with survivors of the Bhopal Gas Disaster, who have borne the brunt of the worst industrial disaster in history, and their demand for additional compensation of $8.1 billion (as opposed to the $1.2 billion stated currently).
Please remember India’s national motto Satyameva Jayate – Truth Alone Triumphs. So, let us be truthful and transparent. And let us at long last ensure justice for the survivors of the Bhopal Gas Disaster.
Sincerely,
[NAME]
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2. Click on the ‘compose email’ button below to open your default email application. The email addresses and subject will be filled in automatically. (If you do not wish to use your default email application, see the **note below)
3. Paste the text that you copied above in the body of the email and add your name at the bottom (you may edit the text if you wish to), and then SEND IT.
Compose Email!**Suggested subject: Present the correct figures of death and injuries in Bhopal Disaster in front of Supreme Court
Email addresses: connect@mygov.nic.in, narendramodi1234@gmail.com, sadananda.gowda@sansad.nic.in, sadanandagowda@yahoo.com, mos-planning@gov.in, kncmmp@gmail.com
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