[sacw] SACW #1. (08 Oct. 01)

Harsh Kapoor aiindex@mnet.fr
Mon, 8 Oct 2001 01:27:28 +0100


South Asia Citizens Wire | Dispatch #1.
08 October 2001
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

------------------------------------------

#1. Pakistan: A Regime Living Amid Its Ghosts
#2. India: Punish those guilty of violations of human rights in Jammu=20
& Kashmir.
#3. Book extract: Political Islam in the Indian Subcontinent -The=20
Jamaat-I-Islami
#4. India: A Public discussion "America & Indian Sub continent :=20
current situation" Mumbai 8 Oct.
#5. India: Action Alert - Unilever Abuses Workers Once Again

________________________

#1.

Los Angeles Times
October 7, 2001
PAKISTAN
A Regime Living Amid Its Ghosts

By PAULA R. NEWBERG,

Paula R. Newberg has written extensively about politics in South and=20
Central Asia
WASHINGTON -- If there is a place condemned to repeat history, it may=20
well be Pakistan. This year, Pakistanis have good reason to approach=20
the second anniversary of Gen. Pervez Musharraf's coup with=20
apprehension. As a U.S.-led coalition prepares to strike at global=20
terrorism and sets its sights on the Taliban, it should read recent=20
Pakistani history with care and ensure that sorting out Afghanistan=20
does not again leave Pakistanis out in the cold.
When the Soviet army marched into Afghanistan in the waning days of=20
1979, the world had virtually lost patience with Pakistan. Gen.=20
Mohammed Zia ul-Haq had seized power in July 1977 from Prime Minister=20
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whose lust for power, regional meddling,=20
authoritarian habits and nuclear ambitions had consigned him to the=20
outer reaches of U.S. foreign policy. But two years later, Zia's=20
repressive habits, and his execution of Bhutto, had strained=20
Pakistan's relations not only with the West, but also with his=20
backers in the Muslim world. Moscow's incursion into Afghanistan=20
changed everything. Soviet Premier Leonid I. Brezhnev's "Christmas=20
gift" to Zia, as local commentators dubbed the ensuing Afghan war,=20
resulted in an international campaign to bring down the Soviet Union.=20
Pakistan became the staging ground for a complex network of armed=20
Afghan exile groups and foreign fighters who helped transform a local=20
conflict into a global campaign to change the face of governance in=20
the region. At home, Zia used the Afghan war to justify the wholesale=20
denial of civil liberties to Pakistanis who opposed his rule, to prop=20
up Islamist parties and fringe groups to create the appearance of=20
popular support for dictatorship, and to solidify the military's hold=20
on the country's domestic and foreign policies.
When Zia took power, Pakistan was burdened by the combined weight of=20
Iran, then consumed by the hostage crisis and its own Islamic=20
revolution, and India, which was on at the cusp of economic reform.=20
In response, Zia changed Pakistan. With a handful of ordinances and=20
regulations, he rewrote Pakistan's political script, stripping=20
secularists of their constitutional rights and setting the stage for=20
a foreign policy that blended militancy and military might. Although=20
his regime ultimately imploded--felled as much by its own weight as=20
by Zia's death--his civilian successors never got a handle on the=20
army and, worse, couldn't grasp control of the state.
Fast-forward to 2001. The parallels are eerie. Musharraf appropriated=20
power Oct. 12, 1999, overturning the weak-limbed, intermittently=20
cruel, corrupt and nuclear-minded government of Prime Minister Nawaz=20
Sharif. Sharif followed Zia's chief tenet: Might makes right, even=20
when it's dead wrong. But his nuclear testing in 1998 wasn't=20
bellicose enough for Pakistan's army. Musharraf, the army chief,=20
wanted decisive victory in Pakistan's continuing struggle for Kashmir=20
and a clear say in Afghanistan's conflicts, and he toppled a civilian=20
regime to try to achieve both.
But Musharraf couldn't pull off the promise of his coup. The Kashmir=20
engagement and Afghanistan's war drag on, captive to extremists who=20
have compromised South Asia's security and to terrorists who have=20
endangered the rest of the world. It didn't take long for the=20
international community to dispense with Musharraf, leaving=20
Pakistanis to cope with a contorted politics, vanishing civil rights,=20
rising sectarian conflict, looming military debt and the terrors of=20
isolation in an increasingly global economy. But for the Sept. 11=20
terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the pendulum of=20
Pakistani politics might well have swung away from Musharraf.
Once again, international actors are likely to influence Pakistan's=20
political choices. When Soviet troops arrived in Afghanistan, the=20
U.S. appeared at the Khyber Pass to pledge arms for Afghans. Zia=20
turned that vow into a U.S. commitment to sustain military rule in=20
Pakistan for eight more years, and U.S. policy followed the Cold War=20
playbook.
This wasn't inevitable. The U.S. could have contained Afghanistan's=20
civil conflict rather than wage an enormous proxy war. It could have=20
treated Pakistanis--as distinct from their oppressive government--as=20
allies rather than as pawns in a struggle against a distant enemy.=20
When the Soviet army marched home in 1989, the U.S. could have stayed=20
to rebuild Afghanistan rather than try to manipulate vestigial=20
moujahedeen groups, and watch Afghanistan wither away. And it could=20
have reinforced the small stirrings of democracy in Pakistan, instead=20
of turning away from the hard work of stabilizing a Cold War-weary=20
state.
Pakistanis link their domestic historical markers--coups, wars and=20
occasional elections--to the beginning, middle and incomplete end of=20
the Cold War. Threaded among these events is Pakistan's=20
roller-coaster relationship with the United States, and the sad=20
fragilities that military alliances have imposed on Pakistani civil=20
society.
Neither the U.S. nor Pakistan need repeat its mistakes. Pakistan has=20
everything to gain from fighting terrorism at home and among its=20
neighbors. To rid their landscape of extremism, however, Pakistanis=20
need the same rights protections that Americans claim--and they need=20
to know that when the U.S. makes deals with the military, it also=20
stands for the promises of democracy.
The United States and its allies are preparing to do business with=20
all manner of governments and fighting factions across South and=20
Central Asia. Hoping to unseat extremists, they can easily fall prey=20
to the same false policy distinctions between security and rights=20
that weakened countries like Pakistan and created conditions of=20
profound instability. Guarding against easy answers is the only=20
insurance against backlash, blowback and reinforced belligerence.=20
Otherwise, the new century's background noise will be the sound of=20
history repeating itself in Pakistan.

Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times

_______

#2.

Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2001 3:54 PM
Subject: Srinagar Bombing

PUNISH ALL THOSE WHO ARE GUILTY OF VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN=20
JAMMU AND KASHMIR.

South Asia Forum for Human Rights, Kathmandu condemns the killing of=20
unarmed people in the suicide car bomb attack and firing in the=20
premises of the Legislative Assembly building in Srinagar on October=20
1, 2001. This is an act of terrorism.

According to press reports from Karachi, on October 2, the chief of=20
Jaish-e-Muhammad a Jihad organisation has publicly claimed=20
responsibility for the bomb explosion in Srinagar, which killed about=20
40 persons.

While appreciating Government of Pakistan's condemnation of this=20
attack and expressing our sympathy with the families of the victims,=20
we call upon the Government of Pakistan to take immediate actions=20
against the militant organisation based in Karachi and other parts of=20
Pakistan which have claimed the responsibility for this act of=20
terrorism which has nothing to do with the struggle of the people of=20
Kashmir. We also call upon the Government of Pakistan to stop=20
providing any kind of direct or indirect support to Jihadi=20
organisation who are responsible for such abuses of human rights of=20
the people of Jammu and Kashmir

We are concerned by the Chief Minister of Indian Jammu and Kashmir,=20
Dr. Farooq Abdullh's call for retaliatory military action against=20
Pakistan. We sincerely hope that Indian authorities will not act in=20
haste. In these days of heightened tension, any military operations=20
against Pakistan controlled Jammu and Kashmir has the potential of=20
escalating into a full-scale war between India and Pakistan.=20=20

The people of Jammu and Kashmir should not be used as pawns in a game=20
of political power play. Concern for human rights and justice should=20
guide the actions of the states. This act of mindless violence on the=20
innocent people of Jammu and Kashmir should not be used as an excuse=20
for further violence.

We call upon the Government of India to hold an impartial official=20
enquiry into this incident. We also urge the Indian government to=20
institute similar impartial enquiries into all other incidents of=20
abuses of human rights so that those responsible for such abuses and=20
wanton acts of violence are brought to justice. Unfortunately in=20
past, political considerations seem to have stood in the path of=20
bringing the perpetrators of human rights abuses to justice. The=20
impunity with which the human rights of the people of Jammu and=20
Kashmir are disregarded serves only to encourage the perpetration of=20
such acts of violence and terrorism.

We call on the governments of India and Pakistan to immediately=20
resume the official dialogue to resolve their longstanding dispute=20
over the territory of Jammu and Kashmir. We also urge the governments=20
to take immediate steps to demilitarise the embattled region of Jammu=20
and Kashmir and allow the divided people to meet across the Line of=20
Control so that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are able to=20
participate in a political dialogue to determine their political=20
future in a non coercive atmosphere. We believe that without the=20
participation of the peoples of Jammu and Kashmir, no lasting=20
solution can be found.

Kathmandu=20
Tapan K. Bose

October 7, 2001=20
Secretary General

_____

#3.

A tangled web

Political Islam in the Indian Subcontinent
The Jamaat-I-Islami

By Fr=E9d=E9ric Grare

(A publication of the French Research Institutes in India)
Manohar [ New Delhi, India]
Rs 200
International Relations/ Politics

Fr=E9d=E9ric Grare's Political Islam in the Indian Subcontinent tries to=20
uncover the mechanisms through which the Pakistani authorities make=20
use of the Jamaat-i-Islami to promote their regional interests,=20
particularly in Kashmir and Afghanistan, as also the way in which=20
Pakistan's rivals, India in particular, make use of the same=20
mechanisms to bring disparagement to Pakistan.

In the following extract, Grare argues that local factors apart, the=20
continuation of the war in Afghanistan was the result of the=20
unresolved problem of Pushtunistan, of Pakistani ambitions in Central=20
Asia and of the persistence of Indo-Pakistani rivalry, as also=20
Russian preoccupations over Central Asia and the issue of the Caspian=20
Sea. The American policy with regard to Iran also affected, directly=20
and indirectly, the manner in which events unfolded in the zone.

The two conflicts in which the Jamaat has been particularly involved,=20
those of Afghanistan and Kashmir, have also demonstrated the limits=20
of its action. They need therefore to be examined closely. The=20
intimate links between the Jammat-i-Islami and the ISI during the=20
Afghanistan war have already been established. Relations with the=20
Pakistani government deteriorated, however, in 1992, when General=20
Hamid Gul had to give up his position as the head of the ISI. After=20
Najibullah's fall, indeed, Islamabad decided to accept a settlement=20
which went against the Mujahideen groups of Sayyaf and Gulbuddin=20
Hekmatyar, which had been favoured by the Jamaat.

The disagreement between the Mujahideen, more specifically between=20
Masoud and Hekmatyar, was not new. Dating to before the Soviet=20
invasion of Afghanistan, the antagonism between the two men was only=20
exacerbated during the conflict, their personal animosity leading to=20
differences over matters of strategy. While Massoud preferred to=20
fight, Hekmatyar spared his forces with a view to taking control of=20
Kabul at the appropriate moment. Once the Soviet left, the rivalry=20
between the two warlords increased. Massoud captured the Afghan=20
capital in 1992, while Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was forced to position=20
himself at its threshold, in Tcharasyab. The Jamaat then tried to=20
bring about a reconciliation between the two before once again=20
asserting its support to Hekmatyar when it became apparent that the=20
antagonism between them was irreconcilable.

A relatively new phenomenon appeared in the autumn of 1994 with the=20
emergence of Taliban. Coming from the traditionalist madrassas,=20
initially without any political agenda they were nevertheless able to=20
restore order in some of the regions they controlled by putting an=20
end to the atrocities of the local petty warlords. Gaining the=20
sympathy of the people without having, in fact, to fight much, they=20
advanced without difficulty up to the doors of Kabul. Hekmatyar=20
himself was marginalized shortly thereafter and forced to abandon his=20
base at Tcharasyab, which was soon occupied by the Taliban. The=20
latter proved, however, as incapable as the Islamist leader of=20
capturing Kabul and found themselves once again subjected to the=20
crossfire of warring parties. Massoud then succeeded in allying=20
himself with the Uzbek troops of General Dostom as well as with the=20
pro-Iranian Shia party, Hezb-i-Wahdat. There was a stalemate=20
thereafter between this alliance and Taliban, the latter occupying=20
about 60 per cent of Afghan territory.

The Jamaat played a significant role in Afghanistan for the last time=20
when the Afghan Jamaat-i-Islami concluded a power sharing agreement,=20
on 26 May 1996, with the Hezb-i-Islami. On 26 June, Gulbuddin=20
Hekmatyar became Prime Minister once again of the government in Kabul=20
and entered the Afghan capital after having been received with full=20
honours by his sworn enemy, Ahmed Shah Massoud in his own base. The=20
Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan, particularly its chief Qazi Hussein Ahmad,=20
played, it seems, an important role in bringing about this agreement.=20
It was, in fact, on the invitation of the Afghan President Rabbani=20
that he undertook the mission of mediation which was to lead to the=20
reconciliation between the former enemies.

The Jamaat acted in this negotiation in accordance with its specific=20
interests as it considered Afghanistan to be the battlefield of=20
Western interests. Qazi Hussein Ahmad refused to help in establishing=20
a secular regime in Afghanistan 'which would be a negation of the=20
very reason why so many people had been killed over the years and=20
whose shadow he saw emerging behind the Taliban. As regards the=20
latter, the Jamaat chief felt they were being manipulated by foreign=20
forces and refused to entertain the possibility of all of Afghanistan=20
falling into their hands, although he did not exclude their eventual=20
participation in the government of the country at some future date.=20
He considered the renewal of the alliance between Rabbani and=20
Hekmatyar as a first step towards a general reconciliation in=20
Afghanistan. It is true that in his eyes the alliance did not=20
constitute a major change on the military plane, but it could prove=20
to be psychologically important. The 26 May 1996 agreement, which=20
took concrete shape in end June with the entry of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar=20
in Kabul, only gave rise, however, to an extreme polarisation of the=20
situation in Afghanistan. This was followed by the fall of Jalalabad,=20
followed shortly after by that of Kabul on 27 September 1996. After=20
this last event, the Jamaat found itself totally marginalized in=20
Afghanistan.

To understand the full impact of the victory of the Taliban on the=20
Jamaat-i-Islami, it is necessary to view the Afghan conflict in its=20
regional and global context. Like every conflict, the Afghan war had=20
both intrinsic and extrinsic value. The struggle for power in Kabul=20
was a wager by itself for the Afghan parties, but this conflict also=20
crystallized wagers external to it but of greater importance to=20
certain regional and even extra-regional powers. Local factors apart,=20
the continuation of the war in Afghanistan was the result of the=20
unresolved problem of Pushtunistan, of Pakistani ambitions in Central=20
Asia and of the persistence of Indo-Pakistani rivalry, as also=20
Russian preoccupations over Central Asia and the issue of the Caspian=20
Sea. The American policy with regard to Iran also affected, directly=20
and indirectly, the manner in which events unfolded in the zone.

For Pakistan, the turn that events took in Afghanistan involved=20
merely a change of tactics in the pursuit of long established=20
objectives. It was important, first of all, to put an end to Afghan=20
irredentism on the matter of Pushtunistan. From 1947 till the Soviet=20
invasion of Afghanistan, the Afghan government constantly demanded=20
the return of the Pushtun areas situated on the Pakistani side of the=20
'Mortimer-Durand' line. This had poisoned relations between the two=20
countries and served, above all, as a justification for the reverse=20
alliance between Kabul and Delhi which the Pakistani government was=20
trying hard to checkmate. Undoubtedly, the Afghan 'peril' was by=20
itself, politically and militarily, manageable by Islamabad, but it=20
could take on a different dimension in the event of a renewed=20
conflict with India as Pakistan would then have to fight on two=20
fronts

______

#4.

7 Oct 2001

Friends,
Pakistan India Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) has organised
a public meeting in Mumbai on Monday, October 8,2001 at Vanmali hall=20
(near Dadar station, west) at 6.00pm
Topic:
"America and Indian Sub continent : current situation."
Speakers: Admiral L Ramdas, Kumar Ketkar, & Manisha Tikekar
All are welcome to attend.

Jatin and others
for PIPFPD

______

#5.

From:
Labour Notes South Asia
7 October 2001
http://www.egroups.com/group/lnsa
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)
Dindigul District [Tamil Nadu, India]

Action Alert Action Alert Action Alert

UNILEVER ABUSES WORKERS ONCE AGAIN

Unilever and its subsidiary, Hindustan Lever Ltd.,
have been found dumping huge quantities of mercury and
other toxic substances near their Kodaikanal plant.
After the plant was shutdown, workers have been
demanding compensation and medical records, which has
not been granted.

On Monday, October 1st, the local plant management
announced that it would be transferring all its
workers to Kandla, Gujarat (about 1000 miles away in a
state whose culture is vastly different and whose
people speak a different language). Some more details
are in the history below. The transfer order seems
clearly to be a move to break the workers' struggle
for compensation for mercury related injuries. It was
followed by a three day sit-in in the factory by
workers, which was called off on Friday evening
(October 5th) after assurances from the district
Labour Commissioner that the company was willing to
negotiate and perhaps acquiesce on all the workers'
demands. It remains to be seen if this is true.
Further demonstrations may occur next week , and as
negotiations are beginning soon, letters and pressure
could be of great help to us right now.

Below is a sample letter to Unilever HQ and a more
detailed history. Please, please help us pressure
Unilever to be a responsible corporation and not a
criminal one.

SAMPLE LETTER
To: Debasis Ray, Corporate Communications Manager, HLL
Debasis.Ray@u...

Shalabh Atray, Communications, HLL
Shalabh.Atray@u...

Niall Fitzgerald, Chairman, Unilever Board ofDirectors
niall.fitzgerald@u...

Executive Committee, Unilever:
clive.butler@u...
antony.burgmans@u...
keki.dadiseth@u...
alexander.kemner@u...
rudy.markham@u...

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
I am writing in regards to an urgent issue
that has arisen at your former thermometer plant in
Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, India. Workers at the plant
have been informed that they will now be transferred
to a plant in Kandla, Gujarat, in the name of
redeployment. Gujarat is an enormous physical,
cultural, and linguistic distance away, and no
indication has been given of provisions for housing,
schooling, or other adjustments for the workers. This
order is in clear violation of applicable Indian law.
When no compensation has been paid to the workers for
the injuries they have already suffered from mercury,
this move can only be seen as adding insult to injury.
The workers are staging protests against this
decision. Please take active steps to ensure the
following:

The cancellation of this transfer order;

The workers are allowed to exercise their right to
free assembly, without undue harassment from the
police or factory security;

The workers' medical records are handed over to them
and a new medical survey performed by a neutral doctor
from outside the community;

The workers and former workers of the factory are paid
adequate and significant compensation for the injuries
they have suffered from mercury contamination;

The basic labour and human rights of the workers and
surrounding community are respected;

and

Hindustan Lever Limited organizes and funds an
impartial cleanup operation to remove any remaining
mercury contamination.

We request your immediate action, given the urgency of
the matter.

Sincerely,

WORKERS' BASIC DEMANDS
Medical Records for past 18 years
A New Medical Survey by a Greenpeace-chosen doctor
Cancellation of Transfer Orders
Just Compensation to Workers for Work-Related
injuries

HISTORY

Hindustan Lever Ltd., the Indian subsidiary of the
Anglo-Dutch corporation Unilever, used to run a
mercury thermometer factory in the hill town of
Kodaikanal in southern India. The factory was the
largest mercury thermometer factory in the world and
was estimated to produce over a third of the world=EDs
newly manufactured mercury thermometers.

In March of this year, several local organizations
discovered evidence of massive abuse of the
environment and flagrantly illegal dumping practices
inside the HLL factory. This included simple dropping
of mercury-contaminated wastes on the slope outside
the factory, burying waste mercury within factory
grounds without any protection, and often supplying
workers with inadequate or faulty protection equipment
(when supplied at all). Massive demonstrations and
government pressure followed, and later that month the
Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board ordered the closure
of the factory. Greenpeace coordinated a worldwide
mobilization of pressure on Unilever to ensure prompt
compliance with Indian law, compensation for injured
workers, and funds for cleaning up the mess the
factory left behind.=20

Since then HLL has continuously been stalling on
paying compensation to its injured current workers and
ex-workers. Mercury is a deadly toxin and can cause
skin diseases, respiratory difficulties, delirium,
insanity, and eventually death in those who are
regularly exposed to it. Almost all of the workers
report some kind of health problem now, as do some
community members in surrounding areas. Because of
the delays involved the workers have not as yet
initiated court proceedings.

This Monday, October 1st, HLL suddenly announced to
workers that they would be closing this plant down
permanently and transferring them all to its plant in
Gujarat (approximately 1000 miles away). As per the
Companies Act HLL gave the workers the absolute
minimum of 15 days notice, and has said that the first
batch of workers must report to work in Kandla,
Gujarat, on October 15th.=20

The plant in Kandla, it is rumoured, is a seasonal
production plant and probably cannot accommodate so
many workers. Besides, Gujarat is a different state
whose people speak a different language, and the
company has agreed only to compensate workers for
travel and 'shifting costs' - no mention has been made
of schooling, housing, or other basic amenities. It
is feared that, following a short period, HLL will
simply lay off or obtain forced resignations from
these workers. Should that happen, there will be
little or no chance of wringing compensation from the
company.

This sudden 'mass transfer' is in clear violation of
the Industrial Disputes Act, the Factories Act, and
the basic labour rights of the workers as guaranteed
in Indian law and international conventions. However,
the company has clearly chosen to give the workers
insufficient time to bring these facts to a labour
tribunal or court of law.

The workers have naturally refused to go, and all 130
current employees have occupied the factory and
refusing to leave. They have encountered some police
harassment despite police permission and some police
protection having been granted for their
demonstration. HLL has not spoken to the workers yet.

This 'mass transfer' is a transparent attempt to break
the workers=ED union and their spirit. HLL and its
parent Unilever are some of the biggest corporations
in the world, but apparently they cannot afford to
take responsibility for creating an environmental
disaster and causing severe injury to their workers.=20
This latest move only speaks to the extent the company
is willing to go to escape the consequences of its own
actions and the need for basic respect for labor,
community, and human rights.=20

India has already had one Bhopal. Let's not let it
have another.

ooooo

More background information is posted below:

[The following is Press Note from Greenpeace India availaable
at
http://zope.greenpeace.org/z/gpindia/recentpress]

Hindustan Lever suppresses information to evade
environmental and health responsibility 27, Sep 2001

Hindustan Lever suppresses information to evade responsibility
Chennai, 24 Sept 01

The Tamilnadu Alliance Against Mercury, Toxics Link, United
Citizens Council, Kodaikanal, PUCL and Greenpeace condemn
Hindustan Lever Ltd's efforts to evade responsibility for the
damage caused to the environment and health of the community
of Kodaikanal by its mercury polluting thermometer factory in this
tourist hill resort.

After local community groups and Greenpeace exposed
Hindustan Lever's hazardous mercury waste dumped at a
scrapyard in Kodaikanal in March, HLL temporarily closed its
factory, to review its functioning. When the community monitored
the cleanup of the scrapyard they found not 5.3 tons of waste,
which the company claimed it had exported, but 7.4 tons. The
company's "meticulous record keeping" was off by 40%! When
the community raised questions before the Tamilnadu Pollution
Control Board (TNPCB) on the functioning of the plant itself over
the past 18 years as a hazard to a sensitive environment, HLL
responded by closing the factory permanently, and has refused
to provide information and records required to be maintained by
all units using hazardous material.

This information would be necessary to arrive at an
understanding of the impact of the plant on this sensitive
environment and on the lives of over 400 workers and their
families who have been potentially exposed to mercury
contamination.There is an estimated 20-40 tons of mercury
losses the company has failed to account for in the process of
manufacturing and exporting thermometers to the USA. Soil
tests required by the TNPCB show contamination around the
factory that in places exceeds the permissible limit by a factor of
800-1200. These are described by the company as soil or glass
that are "slightly tinged with mercury".

Unilever's attitude towards the health of the workers and the
community has also been governed by an apparent lack of
understanding of the seriousness of dispersing mercury in the
environment.. Workers testify to the lack of any substantive
measure to limit the sources of mercury contamination around
the factory, other than to transfer them temporarily to a less
hazardous workplace. They also testify to the casual manner in
which the company handled workplace contamination.

Rather than addressing the community's concern for health
effects from mercury, Hindustan Lever Ltd has launched a PR
campaign disclaiming any impact on health or environment from
mercury emissions from the factory. We join the workers of the
HLL thermometer factory and the community of Kodaikanal in
condemning the statement of Unilever Chairman, Mr Niall
Fitzgerald to BBC (Hard Talk, Aug 21) that no workers had been
affected by the mercury, and that Unilever had been open and
transparent in providing information required to assess the
impact of the plant on its environment.

"Unilever may Greenwash itself through UNDP programmes for
"corporate responsibility", such as the Global Compact, but on
the ground,Unilever's frantic bid to avoid responsibility and run
like Carbide did in Bhopal is leading it to make rash and
unsustainable claims about the impact of mercury on health and
environment. Its claim that the mercury dispersed by it will not
cause health effects, or become mythylated (as in Minamata)
defies science," says R Kanan of Tamilnad Alliance Against
Mercury."Perhaps Global Compact would like to pay Kodi a visit
and see what's happening in their name".

On 8 September the management sent a letter to the Union
informing them that they could not be supplied the health
records supposedly maintained by the company out of a sense
of "propriety and medical ethics". All workers have now
individually demanded their medical records.HLL further
informed the workers that as per the urine and blood tests
carried out by its "specialist experts" (three company doctors),
they "did not find anything that causes concern or gives
indication of exposure to mercury". They neglect to mention that
the blood and urine tests were done a month after the last
exposure, by which time mercury will not be reflected in the
readings.HLL goes on to advise the Union that "for allaying your
fear and apprehension of worker's health, we would request you
not to be misguided by vested interests."

"We did not need vested interests to tell us we have been
suffering for years," says S Gopal, a former supervisor at the
plant. "We were misguided in fact by the company who never
informed us of what illness is caused by mercury, so we
believed the company when it said our illnesses were not
caused by mercury. Only recently we have come to know that a
variety of sicknesses which are common among workers like
kidney or skin problems, headaches, blood vomiting, asthma,
lung pains and tiredness, can result from mercury poisoning".

On 24 Sept a number of affected workers presented themselves
to the press in Chennai to display visible effects of mercury
poisoning such as skin problems, bleeding gums and falling
teeth etc."How Unilever Chairman would like to view these
afflictions is a matter of great interest to us. Would he be able to
dismiss us as easily if this had happened in the UK?", asks
Israel Booshi, a long time resident of Kodaikanal.

In August a preliminary examination was done of 30 of the
current and exworkers by specialists in neurology and psychiatry,
through the Community Health Cell, Bangalore. The survey
revealed that of the thirty, 9 had gum and teeth problems
(bleeding gums, shaking and falling of teeth; 6 had skin
problems especially on the extremities; 9 had non specific
functional (psychiatric?) symptoms; and others noted infertility,
renal, gastrointestinal tract problems, and recurrent depression.
The report notes that "none in this group were found to have
major neuro psychiatric problems ... However many were found
to have gum and skin allergy related problems which appear to
be due to exposure to mercury."The report also observes:"What
is most interesting is that most of the 30 subjects interviewed
reported to frequent taking of leave due to a variety of health
problems... Of the 30 subjects examined 12 persons had
resigned from their job... and all of them attributed their
resignation to health factors."In fact the company has also
written to the Union complaining that an absenteeism rate of
11% was excessive.

In view of the manipulation and suppression of information by
Hindustan Lever, we urge the TNPCB to undertake a
comprehensive health survey of all those who worked at the
thermometer plant at the expense of the company. We also urge
the Board to undertake an independent survey of the impact of
the thermometer plant on the waterbodies around the Palani
Hills, as well as sites across Tamilnadu to which the company
had exported its contaminated waste.

We request the Board to produce an inventory of other mercury
uses in Tamilnadu so as to arrive at a policy to phase out the
use of mercury especially in areas where alternatives are
possible, so that society does not have to bear the social and
health costs associated with the dispersal of mercury in the
environment.

--
To Subscribe, send a blank message to: lnsa-subscribe@e...

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

SACW is an informal, independent & non-profit citizens wire service run by
South Asia Citizens Web (http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since 1996. Dispatch
archive from 1998 can be accessed at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/act/messages/ . To subscribe send a blank
message to: <act-subscribe@yahoogroups.com> / To unsubscribe send a blank
message to: <act-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com>
________________________________________
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.

--=20