Bhopal:
Dow Chemicals will remain a sponsor for the London Olympics. Chief Executive of the Games, Paul Deighton, categorically said on Friday that the resignation of the Ethics Committee's chief Meredith Alexander will have no bearing on Dow sponsorship. In fact he added that it is India's responsibility to clean up the gas tragedy site in Bhopal.
Reacting to Meredith Alexander's resignation, Mr Deighton said, "It is absolutely her right to resign. She is one of 12 members of that sustainability commission who signed off on the way we approached awarding the wrap to Dow. I think that it is great that we have got this independent function to oversee so all this is washed through transparently. I think that is fine but we are moving on."
"We have raised our voice before. We will continue to do so," said Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley.
"We will protest. There is still some time to the Olympics," said Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken.
The voices, which largely remained silent till now, have stacked up against the decision of London Olympics 2012 organisers to go ahead with Dow Chemical as a sponsor.
However, no Indian politician of prominence has visibly fought for the withdrawal of Dow even though activists from the world over have been camping in protest for months in London and several British politicians have taken a strong stand.
Senior Labour Party figures Keith Vaz and Tessa Jowell have demanded an audit into Dow's sponsorship deal.
Meredith Alexander quit on Thursday in protest but organisers seem in no mood to drop Dow as the sponsor of the wrap around the main stadium, a 7 million pound deal besides which the company also has a 10-year 100 million pound sponsorship arrangement with the International Olympic Committee.
Rubbing salt to wounds, it has gone so far as to say that it is exclusively India's responsibility to clean up the Bhopal tragedy site.
"It's time Indian politicians took a stand. Investigations need to be made into the Dow tender. Pressure needs to come from India. They will put as much pressure as they can anticipate. More protests are coming from other quarters, but not from India," said Barry Gardiner, a Labour MP from UK.
The only sustained protests in India are from Bhopal, from people who have been living the injustice for 27 years.
Dow bought Union Carbide 15 years after the tragedy and washed its hands off saying all legal claims were resolved as Union Carbide had paid $470 million as compensation which the victims call a mockery given the quantum of damage.
More than 5,000 people had died in the first week of the tragedy in 1984; 28,000 deaths have been reported so far. And the misery continues as there are more and more reports of deformities because much of soil and water are still toxic following the spread of the deadly Methyl Iso Cynate gas from the Union Carbide plant.
Victims hope that India pushes harder and taps into the larger global mood of protests against corporate crimes to make Dow pay in a way which sets a precedent. But where are those powerful and impactful voices that will carry more leverage that these feeble letters from the Indian Olympic Committee to London?