Paralympians protest Dow in Olympics

New Delhi, Feb 1 (IBNS) Prominent Paralympian and Para-athletes joined Bhopal victims and campaigners at a press conference in Delhi Wednesday to demand that the London Organizing Committee LOCOG cancel Dow Chemicals' sponsorship of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The delegates demanded that the Indian Government boycott the London Olympics if Dow Chemical, Union Carbide's current owner continues to be the sponsor of the Games.

Girraj Singh, who participated in the Athens Paralympics in 2004, said "Dow Chemical is yet to pay any compensation for the damage caused to the next generation of the survivors of the Union Carbide disaster. LOCOG is encouraging its owner to continue evade its legal liabilities towards the victims of the Bhopal disaster."

Singh, the only para athlete to win the Bhim Award instituted by the Haryana government, called upon the Indian government to boycott the London Olympics if Dow Chemical continues to be its sponsor.

Sachin Jatav (17) and Mohan Kumar (13), two second generation victims of the Bhopal disaster with congenital disabilities, held Dow Chemical responsible for the denial of proper medical care and rehabilitation for the thousands of children whose parents were exposed to Union Carbide's toxic gases.

"The Indian government has always been soft towards these criminal corporations. At least now when the whole world is opposing Dow Chemical, the government should ensure that the company is out of the Olympics." they said.

Both Sachin and Mohan have won medals at paraatheltic games in Hyderabad and Bhopal in the last two years.

Pradeep Raj, who participated in the Asian Games, appealed to national and international paralympians to put pressure on the International Paralympic Committee to dump Dow Chemical as a sponsor of the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action said that despite worldwide opposition to Dow Chemical´s sponsorship of the Olympic Games the Indian government is still refusing to take effective action to have Dow Chemical removed as a sponsor of the Olympic Games.

He charged the government with helping the American corporation get off cheaply.

"The Indian government is downplaying the damage caused by the Union Carbide disaster and asking for a paltry amount as additional compensation from Dow Chemical," he alleged.

While several UK members of parliament are protesting the presence of Dow in the Olympics, Meredith Alexendar, who was the Chairperson of the ethics committee of the London Olympics Committee, recently resigned over sponsorship of the London Olympics by Dow Chemical, current owner of Union Carbide.

Dow is likely to provide a plastic wrap that would encircle the London 2012 Olympics stadium during the sporting event.

Dow bought Union Carbide in 1999, the company whose Indian subsidiary owned the Bhopal pesticide plant the spewed the poisonous gas in Dec 1984 killing over 15,000 people and maiming and injuring countless eventually while many were born in later years with deformities owing to the effect of the gas.

Union Carbide had paid $470 million in compensation in 1989, but the survivors and activists said it was too small an amount for such a catastrophe and they should pay $1.2 billion more in damages.