'Dismayed' Indian govt asks IOC to drop Dow as Olympic sponsor

New Delhi, Feb 27 (PTI) After the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) failed to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to drop Dow Chemical as the London Games' sponsor, a "dismayed" Indian Government has stepped in to ask the IOC to "go beyond lesser considerations" and cancel the deal. In a letter to IOC President Jacques Rogge, India's Sports Ministry has sought Dow's removal as Olympic sponsor. Dow currently owns Union Carbide, the company responsible for the 1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy. The move comes after the IOC refused to entertain pleas by IOA. "We cherish and celebrate the noble ideals of the Olympic movement. India stands firmly committed to these ideals and the values they promote of friendship, unity, brotherhood and compassion," the letter stated. "We strongly believe that there is no better medium than sports to inculcate and foster the feeling of friendship and solidarity among the people of the world. 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we are dismayed that the IOC has not respected the sentiments of a large group of stakeholders including Olympians and withdrawn its association with Dow Chemicals," said the letter signed by Rahul Bhatnagar, joint secretary in the Ministry. The ministry said the IOC should cancel the sponsorship deal for the sake of the ideals of human rights as thousands had lost their lives in the tragedy and several more continue to suffer the after-effects. "The Government of India would therefore strongly urge the IOC to go beyond lesser considerations and in the larger interest of the ideals of human rights, compassion and solidarity, immediately take steps to cancel the sponsorship of Dow Chemicals for the London Olympics thereby apart from assuaging the feelings of millions of people, send a strong message to the world over, for upholding the noble ideals of the Olympic Movement," the Ministry's letter said. "You are no doubt aware that Dow Chemicals is the successor company of Union Carbide, which was responsible for the unprecedented and large scale human tragedy which occurred in 1984 in Bhopal. "For Dow Chemicals to be engaged as an official sponsor for an event like the London Olympics by IOC/LOCOG is extremely distressing, considering the fact that this company is linked with an event in which thousands of innocent lives were lost and an even larger number of people were incapacitated for life and for whom, even now everyday is a struggle for survival," it added. The IOC earlier while appreciating IOA's concern for the victims of the gas tragedy had drawn attention to the fact that Dow Chemical had no ownership stake in Union Carbide till 2000. IOA in its representation had urged the IOC and London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) to withdraw Dow as Games Sponsors. PTI Caption for pic: Victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy pose as dead to seek justice during a protest outside India's Sports Ministry in New Delhi on Monday. The lethal gas leak in 1984 at a Union Carbide plant in the central Indian city of Bhopal killed an estimated 15,000 people, injured another over half a million people besides causing lasting environmental damage. PTI Photo