Press Statement
May 25, 2011

Leaders of five organizations of the survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal today condemned the recommendations of the government appointed Peer Review Committee (PRC) on remediation of toxic contamination in and around the abandoned Union Carbide factory.

In a letter submitted to the Chairman of the Oversight Committee on Bhopal Environmental Rehabilitation, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, the organizations charged that the recommendations of the Peer Review Committee were unscientific, unilaterally decided and were designed to help Dow Chemical get away from its Bhopal liabilities by paying a pittance for environmental remediation.

Goldman Environmental prize winner Rashida Bee of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Stationery Karmchari Sangh who took part in the meeting organized by the Oversight Committee today, said that two of the members of the PRC have direct links with Dow Chemical Company, U.S.A. that, as 100 % owner of Union Carbide, U.S.A. is legally liable for the toxic contamination in and around the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal.

May 12, 2011
By TCN News, http://twocircles.net

Boston: More than 26 years later and thousand miles away from Bhopal, the call for justice for the victims of the Union Carbide gas leak is still strong. Hundreds gathered here on Saturday May 7th, 2011 in a benefit concert to raise funds for this noble cause.

Divine Strings, a benefit concert featuring Carnatic and Jazz music, was held on the in Northeastern University’s Fenway Auditorium. Aishwarya Venkataraman, an ever smiling eighteen year-old violinist took center-stage to enthrall a crowd of well over two hundred with brilliant artistry.Aishu was accompanied on the Mridangam by her father Prof. Vinod R. Venkataraman, Marc Rossi on the piano, Bob Tamagni on the drums, and Bill Urmson on the electric bass.

Press Statement
May 11, 2011

“Today will go down as another black day for justice,” Bhopal survivors’ organisations said in reaction to the Supreme Court's order rejecting the curative petition filed by the CBI. “Further to the dismissal of the revision petition filed by three Bhopal organisations against Justice Ahmadi's controversial 1996 order, the Supreme Court today has heaped yet more injustice on the Bhopal victims,” five organisations said.

In 1997, the Supreme Court dismissed a review petition filed by three survivor organisations without conducting even one hearing. The petition was against Justices Ahmadi’s order that quashed the charge of culpable homicide against the Indian officials of Union Carbide and instituted a charge of death caused by negligence.

Today's Supreme Court order is problematic on many counts. First, by saying that the 1996 Supreme Court order was not binding on the trial court, it expects a lower court to act against a specific order of the Supreme Court. This presumption is entirely contrary to the universal practice of the courts. FIRs quashed by the Supreme Court are never reborn by magisterial acts. More importantly, the Supreme Court has ignored the gross miscarriage of justice suffered by the victims through the practical effect of the 1996 judgment.