July 18, 2005 — PRESS STATEMENT
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
BHOPAL, JUNE 18, 2005: Survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide disaster today celebrated their success in torpedoing a lucrative business deal between Indian Oil Corporation [IOC] and the Dow Chemical Company.
The eight month long campaign by survivors and their supporters demanded that IOC cancel its plans to buy technology from Dow for its proposed mono ethylene glycol plant in Panipat, Haryana.
Indian Oil has now communicated to Dow that the deal is off. The reason cited is that critical submissions made by Dow as part of contract negotiations had proven to be false. In its response to IOC, Dow officials have alleged that the cancellation of the deal has caused a loss of 1.5 million US dollars, the publication of this complaint caused further delight to the Bhopalis. The Indian government has yet to communicate its final decision on this matter.
It was Bhopal campaigners who gave the lie to Dow’s assertions. They presented the Indian government with evidence that confirmed the Meteor process being offered by Dow is technology that had been patented and is owned by American multinational Union Carbide.
Union Carbide is officially a fugitive from justice in India, Since 1992 the company has been absconding from ongoing criminal proceedings in which it and its top executives are charged with causing the death of over 20,000 people in Bhopal and injuring half a million more.
Union Carbide Corporation wound up its business in India in 1994 and in February 2001 merged with US multinational Dow Chemical. Dow had an eye to expanding its business in India and Asia by building on the network of the tainted corporation. While cashing in on Carbide’s assets, Dow denies having inherited Carbide’s liability for Bhopal, a position which is widely regarded as untenable under both US and Indian law.
Survivors in Bhopal today hailed this first serious setback to Dow’s expansion plans with drums and dancing on the street opposite the abandoned Union Carbide factory. “This is just the beginning,” cried numerous voices. “Dow must accept responsibility for Bhopal or be swept out of India.” “With our brooms we’ll sweep them away.” Dow can no longer dismiss such speeches as mere rhetoric.
In their campaign against the proposed IOC-Dow deal Bhopal survivors and their supporters launched a nationwide boycott of IOC’s petrol pumps under the banner “Don’t fill your tank with Bhopali blood”.
Survivors also wrote letters to the Prime Minister in their own blood calling for cancellation of the Dow deal.
Supporters of the Bhopal campaign staged a rally in Mayiladuthurai, near Chennai, the parliamentary constituency of Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar.
More information:
Rashida Bi, Champa Devi Shukla
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
+91 9303132298
Syed M Irfan,
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
+91 9329026319
Shahid Noor
Bhopal ki Aawaaz
+91 9826182226
Satinath Sarangi, Rachna Dhingra,
Bhopal Group for Information and Action
+91 9826167369
Contact :
House No. 12, Gali No. 2, Near Naseer Masjid, Bag Umrao Dulha, Bhopal 462 010
For official confirmation of this news please contact Mr. Srikumar, Head of Corporate Communications, Indian Oil Corporation at +91 98113 54000.
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