"My dad's cousin was died by disaster"

I have interviewed with an Indian lady who is a member of the family affected by the disaster 25 years ago. She does not feel comfortable to give her real name. She lives in India, so I rang her up and I interviewed with her by phone.

I have asked the same questions in this interview as I asked to Hasan Suroor before, because I would like to show different answers by different views about Dow Chemical. This is the original transcript of the interview.

- Who is the person of your family affected by the disaster 25 years ago?

He is my dad’s cousin. He has died after for a while. I was really young. I have a dim recollection of it, but I remember that it was terrible days.

- What do you think about Indian people's reaction to Dow Chemical as an Indian?

The reaction to most Indian people was one of disbelief and one of hate at the same time.The root cause of the disaster was Indian politicians; a law was passed in India saying that at least 50% of the board of any company doing business in India had to be Indian nationals. So Union Carbide was forced to hand the control of the plant to a board dominated by Indian nationals, and that was when corruption set in and safety standards at the plant started to slip. After a decade or so of this decline, the disaster happened, and the Indians tried to blame the US Company. It’s a development that could lead to a diplomatic crisis between India and the UK. Dow Chemicals, which has yet to shake the Bhopal gas tragedy off its back, has now been named as one of the sponsors of the 2012 London Olympics.

-  How would the people and athletes of India react if Dow Chemical sponsorship went ahead?

The reputation has and would still come into disrepute. The Olympics is a sacred event for all the nations that take part in this prestigious event. Dow chemical will always be remembered for the Bhopal Disaster that happened nearly 25 years ago. Yes, arguably many say that sport should reunite and let sportsman bring the best into any nation or sponsor, but the effects of this disaster are so catastrophic that if they were allowed to sponsor then many Indians and athletes would be condoning what had happened.

- Do you think the bad publicity will affect the Indian athlete’s performance at the Olympics?

I do not think that it would affect their ability or their performance as they are professionals in their own right. I feel that it would have hindered their performances if the sponsorship would have been allowed. Bad publicity could have come in many forms but one for the Bhopal Disaster is immense for any Asian be it an athlete or a civilian. Fortunately, Indian athletes can now concentrate on the job at hand and do their utmost best for India.

- How will the cancelled Dow Chemical sponsorship affect the Indian economy during the Olympics?

The cancelled sponsorship will be catastrophic to the Indian Economy. However, the lives of those and affected and those who have died have, and should not be in vain for the economy of India’s Government. Admittedly, to sponsor something as big as the Olympics would be brilliant, however, the Indian athletes and the people of India has been put first.

- As Indian who knows someone affected, generally how do you feel about the situation? And what is the general feeling within the Indian community?

Dow chemical may pretend that they care but what they really created hear was simply a mirage. They try to cover up what they did by fabricating a vision to which stock holders of Dow chemical feel is the true vision of the company when really that vision is of nothing but Greed! Money once again has played its part in destroying life by letting fat cats in high places ignore what has happened in return for a tidy sum to buy that car they will never drive or that house they will never use!