Fri27Jul - OLYMPIC PARK - Police Limit Dow Protest Nos.

[TonyGosling]

Dow protest planned for Olympics opening day
By Sheena McKenzie
July 26, 2012 -- Updated 2157 GMT (0557 HKT)

Members of the Bhopal Medical Appeal plan to hold a demonstration outside the Olympic Park.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Dow Chemicals protest planned for day of opening ceremony
Bhopal Medical Association will gather at 10.30am outside Olympic park
Campaigners claim Dow has responsibility for 1984 Bhopal gas leak tragedy
Dow denies claims, buying Union Carbide 16 years after disaster

(CNN) -- The day of the Olympic opening ceremony, demonstrators are set to gather outside the stadium in protest against major sponsor Dow Chemicals.

Members of the Bhopal Medical Appeal plan to hold a 'die-in' Friday morning in protest against the company it claims has responsibility for the fatal 1984 gas leak in India.

Dow Chemicals is a major sponsor of the Olympics, with the multimillion-pound deal including a fabric wrap around the stadium in east London.

However, the deal has caused controversy with campaigners arguing Dow holds responsibility for the disaster in Bhopal, which killed an estimated 15,000 --- a claim which it denies.
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Dow bought Union Carbide -- the company which ran the plant -- 16 years after the disaster and argues it has no responsibility.

Protesters plan to gather at 10.30am outside the gates of the Olympic park, and say they are one of few campaign groups given permission by the Metropolitan Police to do so.

The 50 campaigners will be dressed in shrouds and pretend to be "dead" -- a reference to victims of the fatal leak at the pesticide plant.

They say the number of protesters was limited to 50 in an agreement with the Met.

Former Olympics sustainability commissioner, Meredith Alexander, said the Games were a chance to highlight Dow Chemicals' role in the disaster.

"The Olympics are about hope and my main hope is that it reignites the fight for justice for the 500,000 people who were exposed to poisonous gases at Bhopal," Alexander told CNN.

"I think the Olympics belong to all of us -- it's supposed to be about celebrating our common humanity. But when you look at the sponsors, I find it impossible to see how the International Olympic Committee can square that with the ethics of these companies.

Alexander quit her role as a commissioner of the Olympic sustainability watchdog earlier this year after Dow Chemicals was awarded the sponsorship deal.

Dow Chemicals told CNN it remained "fully committed to our partnership with the IOC and to contributing to a successful, positive London 2012 Games" and questioned whether the protest should go ahead.

"The use of the Olympic Games to protest has become an unfortunate part of what should be a global celebration. We believe in freedom of speech and encourage debate on this important issue," said a Dow spokesman in a statement.

"However, we regret the misinformed and misdirected allegations and actions of some, which are not constructive to the resolution of the issue or consistent with the spirit of the Olympic Games."

[TonyGosling]

Bhopal victims stage own ‘Olympics’ to protest Dow sponsorship (VIDEO, PHOTOS)
http://www.rt.com/news/olympics-bhopal-games-dow-disaster-160/

Dozens of disabled kids affected by the 1984 Bhopal disaster, one of the world’s worst-ever industrial catastrophes, have held their own Games to protest against the London Olympics sponsorship by Dow Chemical.

The children, aged five to 16 and cheered by their nearest and dearest, have participated in 10 sports in Bhopal during the “Special Olympics". The move was aimed to attract attention to the responsibilities of the company, which has a contract with the IOC until 2020 and, in particular, is a sponsor of London Olympics.

Dow Chemical has repeatedly denied any involvement in the tragedy and refuses to add to the $470-million compensation paid out in 1989.

The Bhopal "Olympics" kicked off with children suffering from cerebral palsy, partial paralysis and mental disabilities parading in wheelchairs and walking with the assistance of others around an outdoor stadium in the shadow of the old pesticide plant.

One of the competitions was called "the crab walk": three children who were unable to stand propelled themselves down the 25-meter racecourse with their hands.

And one little boy was running back and forth on the field even when no race was on.

"The children are born like this because of the gas," Kesar Bai, a 45-year-old mother from a slum near the old pesticide plant, told AFP. She firmly believes that the disaster and its long-standing influence caused her son Pratap's severe cerebral palsy.

"I was thinking 'If there hadn't been this tragedy, then so many would not be born like this'," she said, adding that in the area around her shack there were 10-12 ill kids.

An Indian mother of a disabled child suffering the effects of the 1984 Bhopal disaster, cries during a "Special Olympics" in Bhopal on July 26, 2012 (AFP Photo / Prakash Singh)

Jamila Bi brought her wheelchair-bound 11-year-old grandson Amaan to take part.

"Today these children are participating, in spite of what Union Carbide did to them," Bi told AP. "We are happy that they will walk. Those people will see that in spite of what they did these children are still participating."

Some 25,000 residents of Bhopal died in the aftermath of a massive 1984 gas leak in a pesticide factory owned by the American company Union Carbide.

Immediately after tonnes of toxic gas leaked, survivors remember the slums surrounding the pesticide plant being packed with people, many unconscious, vomiting or frothing at the mouth.

"We woke up at 2am in the night. Everyone was running. If you fell down, they ran over you," Bai remembers.

In 2001, Union Carbide liable for the disaster was purchased by Dow Chemical.

The latter, however, has done little to improve the situation in the disaster-stricken zone.

According to activists’ estimates, 500,000 people are still suffering from illnesses developed after the tragedy, including cancer, blindness and various birth defects.

"We have been protesting against Dow's sponsorship [of the Olympic Games] for a year now; we want them to be dropped," organizers' spokeswoman Rachna Dhingra told Reuters. "But we have realized this is not going to happen."