We aren’t in favour of boycotting the Olympic Games. It is every athlete’s dream to represent the country in the Olympics and we do not want out sportspersons to suffer because of this controversy. But at some point in life, you need to stand for what is right. Dow’s association with the London Games is totally unacceptable. And it is not just we who are saying it. There are 25 MPs in the British House of Commons and hundreds of social workers across the globe backing us.
Our stand on this issue is pretty simple: remove Dow as sponsor. How would the world have reacted if it were London tragedy and not Bhopal? Would they have still gone ahead and signed a deal with Dow? Just because we are a third world country, it does not mean we do not have the right to make our voices heard.
Even the Western countries have boycotted earlier editions of the Olympics citing moral issues. They banned South Africa during the apartheid period.
Dow wants to show to the world they have no liability whatsoever towards to lakhs of victims. But the truth remains that when they took over Union Carbide, they inherited their liabilities and are trying to portray themselves as a company with a clean reputation. When this issue was raised with the organising committee chairman Sebastian Coe, he started acting as if he is the spokesperson of the company, which was quite frustrating.
I hail from Bhopal and have seen how the city has suffered because of the tragedy. But if people accuse us of being emotional, then aren’t the organisers being materialistic and thinking only about the sponsorship money?
We hope that we do not reach the stage where the participation of our athletes is compromised. Our preparation for the Olympics must go on and never should we think that we will have to boycott the Games. We are confident of winning this battle and Dow will not remain the sponsor.
Khan is an Olympic gold medallist and chairman of Olympian Association of India. He spoke to Mihir Vasavda
