This Article is From Jun 14, 2010

Bhopal: Surviving victims to petition Obama for help

Bhopal: Seeking justice for the victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984, its survivors have started a signature campaign for a memorandum to be sent to US President Barack Obama against Union Carbide Corporation (UCC).

"Your (Obama) tough stand against British Petroleum for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is worthy of emulation by other governments around the world and the same yardstick should be applied to the Bhopal Gas tragedy involving a US company," the memorandum, scripted by, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan, an NGO working for the disaster victims, said.

"Your order that judicial process be allowed, both in the US and India to take their course in fixing responsibility of Union Carbide Corporation and individuals of the US, responsible for the Bhopal carnage is crucial to restore the subverted system of justice," it said.

In the memorandum, Obama has been asked to set in motion the process to make Dow Chemicals (now the owner of US-based UCC) take the responsibility for liabilities, that includes cleaning up the toxic mess that remained dumped in the now defunct Union Carbide factory.

Following the pressure of US Reagan administration in 1984, Warren Anderson, the then CEO of UCC was sent back from India even though he was arrested after he was booked for toxic leak from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) factory on December 2-3, 1984, it said.

"We are going to sent the memorandum to Obama shortly," the NGOs convenor Abdul Jabbar said.
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