Bhopal:
A day after London Olympics Organising Committee Chairman Sebastian Coe defended Dow Chemicals' association with the Games, despite protests from India, a Bhopal tragedy activist has come out with a fresh call for a boycott of the event.
"Coe is acting like a mouthpiece for Dow... The government should boycott the 2012 Olympics," said the activist, Satinath Sarangi.
Mr Coe yesterday said that Dow Chemicals' links with Union Carbide - which was responsible for the 1984 Bhopal gas leak - came 17 years after the Bhopal gas leak and it cannot be held responsible for the tragedy.
"I understand the human scale of that suffering, but these are two completely different issues. Dow were never the operators or the owners of that chemical plant in 1984, nor were they the operators or the owners of the plant in 1989 when the final settlement was agreed... Dow became the major shareholders in that company only in 2001, some 17 years after the tragedy. And the final settlement was upheld on two separate occasions by the Indian Supreme Court," Mr Coe had said.
"I feel comfortable after analysing the history of this case," he added. Mr Coe is a legendary middle-distance runner who won 1500m gold in 1980 and 1984 Olympics.
Over 15,000 people died and lakhs were disabled in 1984 when gas leaked out of a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal. Dow bought Union Carbide in 2001.
Following outrage over the sponsorship deal, the Union Sports Ministry last week wrote to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), asking it to convey India's concerns over the company's involvement to the organisers. Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken had said that the government too could take up the matter directly, if needed. A group of British MPs had also come out in protest against the deal.
But a report on Telegraph.co.uk, quoted IOC president Jacques Rogge as urging Indians to desist from calls for a boycott. "We have advised the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) to enter into a dialogue with their athletes and this is what they will do. I would hope the interest of sports and interest of the athletes will prevail," Mr Rogge reportedly said last week.
The United States-based chemical manufacturer will pay for a curtain-style wrap to encircle the Olympic Stadium in east London under a deal announced in August.
(With PTI Inputs)