A group of former and current Indian Olympians organised a petition calling for athletes not to travel to London, British media reported last week. In the early hours of Dec. Activists say 25, people died in the immediate aftermath of the accident and in ensuing years, and about , people who were exposed to the gas continue to suffer today from ailments that range from cancer, blindness to birth defects.
Such imbroglios are not new to the Olympic Games. The effects of the Cold War on the Games were also exhibited when in the United States decided to boycott following the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
In the end, however, it is always the athletes who are most affected by such decisions. In , during the Mexico Olympics, African American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos wore black gloves and raised their fists in a salute to human rights during their own medal ceremony. Their message to the world was simple. India could take a lesson from such action. For example, many Indians believe that the country's cricket team could have refused to participate in the cricket series in England.
Perhaps this would prompt organizers of the London Olympics to take India's complaints more seriously. Just one year after hosting the Commonwealth Games, which was overshadowed by controversy, India is set to stage its first ever Formula One race.
From school and college students to children from slums and poor families, rugby is cutting across the educational, socio-economic and cultural divide in the otherwise cricket-crazy India.
Shortly after midnight on December 2, , the Indian city of Bhopal witnessed the world's worst industrial disaster. Visit the new DW website Take a look at the beta version of dw. Shivraj Singh Chauhan said: "The funds intended for sponsoring the Olympics would be far better spent in alleviating the misery suffered by the people of Bhopal.
The gas disaster dogs Dow through its full ownership of Union Carbide Corporation, whose subsidiary Union Carbide India ran the Bhopal pesticide plant.
Dow bought Union Carbide in and insists that the legal claims surrounding the incident were resolved long before it acquired the company — which the London organising committee accepts. Dow and Union Carbide are defendants in an Indian public-interest litigation case for clean-up of the factory site which campaign groups say continues to cause deformities and cancers among families using contaminated groundwater.
Other criticisms of Dow have included anger over its manufacture of the defoliant Agent Orange, used by the US in Vietnam.
In India's government blacklisted Dow AgroSciences India for five years for bribing government officials. Dow AgroSciences is a wholly owned Dow subsidiary. Ms Jowell said: "I believe Sebastian Coe and Locog [the organising committee] want to do the right thing.
India stands firmly committed to these ideals and the values they promote of friendship, unity, brotherhood and compassion," the letter from the Indian sports ministry stated. This being so we are dismayed that the IOC has not respected the sentiments of a large group of stakeholders including Olympians and withdrawn its association with Dow Chemicals," said the letter signed by Rahul Bhatnagar, the joint secretary in the ministry.
Campaigners believe that all government officials will boycott the ceremonies and are hopeful that Indian athletes may follow suit. The IOA is expected to meet on Friday to consider its next move.
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