Bhopal gas victims' strong protest against US govt for shielding Dow Chemicals

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BHOPAL: Survivors of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal staged a major protest against the United States of America (USA) over denial of justice to the victims.

They today burnt effigy of US President Barrack Obama for continuing to shield Dow Chemical Company from the ongoing criminal proceedings on the disaster in the Bhopal District Court.

Leaders of survivors’ organizations expressed outrage at the White House’s recent response to a petition by well over 1000, 000 signatories calling for the US Department of Justice to serve the Bhopal court’s notice on Dow Chemical.

Supporters of the Bhopal survivors will be holding actions outside American consulates in India demanding that the US government stop protecting Dow Chemical. Supporters will also send out tweets @POTUS and @PMO asking them to make Dow Chemical appear in its hearing on 19th August in the Bhopal Court.

“The White House has said that asking the US Department of Justice to serve notice on Dow Chemical would be exercising “undue influence”. This is extreme duplicity. How can asking the Department to follow the terms of the treaty between India and US be improper?” said Balkrishna Namdeo, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pensionbhogi Sangharsh Morcha.

Nawab Khan of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha said “The US government’s refusal to follow its treaty with India under the pretext of not using undue influence is heavy with irony. There is documentary evidence of the US government using undue influence to help Union Carbide set up the killer factory in Bhopal and to protect its chairman Warren Anderson from criminal proceedings in the Bhopal court.”

“We are shocked that the Indian government and particularly the Indian home ministry that sent the Bhopal court’s notice to the US Department of Justice has chosen to remain quiet about the repeated violation of the 25 year old Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) between India and US” said Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action.

She said that the organizations have sent letters to the PMO and the Home Minister demanding that the Indian government refuse to honour requests from the US Department of Justice under MLAT till it serves the Bhopal District Court's notice on Dow Chemical.

Safreen Khan of Children Against Dow-Carbide said “President Obama vowed to kick the ass of a British corporation for the oil spill disaster in Gulf of Mexico but when it comes to an American corporation he seems to be kissing instead of kicking”.