The article “Bhopal gas tragedy: Justice at our cost” (April 9) patently paints Dow and its predecessor as victims. To say Dow is not a successor company of Union Carbide goes against the principles of ethical conduct of companies. Dow used the stratagem of a special purpose vehicle to take over Union Carbide assets minus its liabilities, another breach of ethical management conduct. Western management experts have held Dow as not only “accountable” but also “responsible”. If Israel could get hold of Adolf Eichman after several decades, why can India not get Anderson now? We do not become a banana republic nor does our judiciary turn capricious. When laws on corporate crimes are being tightened and punishment is being meted out to even board-level positions, it is not tenable to plead that directors attend meetings for a few hours. Dow-mania still haunts us for we had gifted another dangerous project to Dow in Pune and meekly listened to Americans asking us to abate the public outcry in India against Dow. National honour to which the article refers demands precisely that we act more vigorously.
S Subramanyan, Navi Mumbai
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