Bhopal gas survivor organisations ask PM for harsher punishment against Dow Chemical
The leaders are hopeful that in the process of responding to the petition the US Department of Justice will serve the Bhopal District Court's notice on Union Carbide's owner Dow Chemical so that it appears in the criminal case on July 13.
The organisations said that they have sent a letter to the Prime Minister seeking directions to the prosecution, Central Bureau of Investigation to call for harsher measures against Dow Chemical if it fails to appear on July 13.
Said Rashida Bee, President of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationary Karmchari Sangh: "One month is not yet over and we have collected more than 117 thousand signatures on our petition. As per the terms of the Whitehouse website, the US government is obliged to respond to our petition within the next 30 days."
President of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pensionbhogee Sangharsh Morcha, Balkrishna Namdeo said: "We are hopeful that the Prime Minister will take note of this historic challenge by the Bhopal survivors and their international supporters and instruct the CBI to seek issuance of non-bailable warrant against Dow Chemical if it fails to appear in court on July 13."
Nawab Khan of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha thanked Hollywood actor Martin Sheen, MIT professor Noam Chomsky, Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, Association for India's Development, USA, The Logical Indian, Chennai rapper Sofie Ashraf, US trade union AFL - CIO, Greenpeace,USA, Amnesty, Story of Stuff network and students from different US universities for their contributions towards making the petition a success.
"Once Dow Chemical appears in court it will have to present Union Carbide to face trial. A successful trial can very well lead to Union Carbide having to pay heavy criminal fines in keeping with its grave criminal acts and its terrible consequences. Hopefully the fines will be large enough to supplement the meagre compensation victims have received so far." said Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action.
Safreen Khan of Children Against Dow Carbide said "US government’s support to Union Carbide and its criminal practices dates back to 1975 when the then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger facilitated EXIM bank loans for the pesticide plant in Bhopal. This is the first time that the hypocritical and unethical stand of the US government has been successfully challenged."
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