Victims of the 1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy today held a demonstration here protesting US President Barack Obama’s India visit and sought to know why he and his predecessors kept mum on the world’s biggest industrial disaster.
In an open letter to Mr. Obama through the American Embassy, the gas victims said, “Despite knowing that over 25,000 persons have died till now due to leak of poisonous gas from the Union Carbide factory here, why the previous Presidents of America, in the last 26 years, and Mr. Obama himself did not bother to utter a word on the Bhopal Gas Disaster?.”
“This clearly shows that Mr. Obama like his predecessors wants to protect the criminal US company Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), Dow and former UCC Chairman Warren Anderson,” they said.
Though Mr. Obama was unable to make UCC-Dow take future responsibility of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, he is coming to India with 250 CEOs of multi-nationals for controlling Indian market, the victims charged.
Stating that inadequate compensation was given to the Bhopal Gas victims, they also asked him, “when will we be paid adequate compensation according to international norms?.”
The victims also requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to raise their issue with Mr. Obama.
