The biggest carnival of sports have ended recently and despite all the negativities and controversies, the sporting extravaganza which took place between July 27 to August 12, 2012 were a huge success. The Modern Olympic Games which were the idea of Frenchman, Pierre de Coubertin are held every four years. However, behind all this excitement lies an incident that transpired in the year 1984 in the city of Bhopal in India.
Just to give a quick recap, in 1984 due to the leak of pestilential gas at Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), thousands of people living in Bhopal got affected by it not to mention the fact that hundreds of them were killed by this horrid event. Dow Chemical Company which now owns the Union Carbide is the sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic Games. There was a huge protest against this, as Dow Chemical is perpetrator for the victims of the gas tragedy.
Now I can draw two different approaches or outlooks to see check the gravity of the situation. The first outlook says that Dow Chemical has nothing to with Union Carbide which existed in 1984 as they bought in after 16 or 17 years, ergo Dow Chemical isn't guilty and had every right to sponsor the games. However, my second approach sees things differently. When Dow Chemical bought UCIL, they didn't just own a company or its finances, they also owned the moral and ecological onus of UCIL, so they shouldn't have been the sponsors.
Before the start of the London Games, the protest against Dow grew stronger as some NGO's came out in support of the victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy and they protested in London as well. However, what came as a shock to the victims of gas affliction was the fact that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) took a clear stand by enunciating that Dow Chemical would remain a part of the Games. The Indian Government too was in a dilemma as on one hand it was the question of giving justice to those who were perturbed by the gas tragedy while on the other hand it had to make sure that India's chances of getting medals was not in jeopardy.
(Image Reference: indianmuslimobserver.com)
