Background - November 30, 2002
November 28, 2002: Representatives of the International campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB), a coalition of local, national and international organizations, announced their decision to postpone the planned toxic material containment action inside the abandoned Union Carbide pesticide factory, owing to non-availability of protective gear, equipment and the expertise at short notice. The campaigners also demand to know whether the Madhya Pradesh government will be on the side of the criminal corporation Dow-Carbide, or of the gas victims and their supporters campaigning for justice in Bhopal.
Will the police be order to act against the criminals in Bhopal - Dow?
The campaigners, including leaders of survivors' organization
and foreign experts who had volunteered to this public safety
action, strongly condemned the confiscation by the police of the
safety masks and equipment and transport hired in Bhopal for making
the toxic wastes safe. They condemned the fact that in 18 years,
the police have not taken a single step against Dow-Carbide - the
criminal corporation responsible for the poisoning of soil and
groundwater. Instead, the police and the State Government have
shown remarkable alacrity in seizing the equipment and violently
removing people engaged in containing the toxic wastes lying inside
the factory.
To substantiate their allegation they attached a complaint filed
at the Gautam Nagar police station on 2nd April, 2001 against Ravi
Muthukrishnan, Managing Director of Dow Chemical India regarding
the incident of fire inside the factory on March 21, 2001 in which
32 families of Atal - Ayub Nagar suffered damages and thousands of
people were exposed to toxic gases.
Calling the police seizure of safety equipment illegal, the
campaigners reiterated their decision to repeat the stalled action
of 25th November at a later date. The ICJB campaigners were certain
that given the tremendous local support to their planned action,
their next attempt would be successful. They regretted the negative
attitude of the state government towards their formal application
for permission to carry out the action, and condemned the state
violence on victims of the gas disaster involved in containing the
toxic wastes.
Survivors and their supporters have invited the Government to
participate in the model containment action by sending a team of
observers to ascertain and understand that the planned
mini-containment was being done in the interest of the victims of
Bhopal.
The campaigners condemned the state government's attempts to
deny the foreign activist's freedom to offer humanitarian help by
questioning their visa status. They remarked that the state
government was being virtually run by agents of foreign capital
like the Asian Development Bank, DFID and the World Bank and it was
ever welcoming towards multinational corporations. At the same time
the government unleashes brutalities on foreign guests fighting the
crimes of multinationals. The Government now stands exposed as
gas-affected communities have come out in open support of the
actions of the ICJB people engaged in containing the poisons at the
Carbide site.
The ICJB announced that towards the build-up to the 18th
anniversary, there are many events are planned which include Raghu
Rai's exhibition of photographs of Bhopal Gas disaster at Madhya
Pradesh Kala Parishad, a Corporate Crime Film festival at Technical
Teacher's Training Institute and participation in the anniversary
rally with survivors of Bhopal and victims from other Indian toxic
hotspots.