Bhopal, Dec 2 (PTI) Members of the organisations that are working for the Bhopal gas tragedy victims on Thursday slammed the US-based Dow Chemical Company, which has taken over the defunct Union Carbide here, alleging that it was systematically discriminating against the survivors of the 1984 disaster and their families. The leak of methyl isocyanate, a toxic gas, from the pesticide plant of Union Carbide on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984, had killed over 3,000 people and left 1.02 lakh others affected at that time. The organisations released a letter in a press conference here of senior LGBT rights activist Peter Tatchell asking Dow CEO Jim Fitterling to own up the legal responsibilities of the Bhopal gas tragedy. In a statement released to media, Sanjana Singh, an LGBT activist and survivor of the Bhopal gas disaster said, "Fighting discrimination against LGBT+ people teaches us to fight against all forms of discrimination in the society. It is wrong for Fitterling, who came out as gay in 2014, to make claims of inclusivity while heading a company that starkly discriminates against the Bhopal survivors." Shahzadi Bee of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha said, "In 2014, Dow donated water filtration systems and over 100,000 USD in aid to Flint, Michigan, in response to contamination of the city"s drinking water source." However, in Bhopal, mercury and cancer-causing chemicals have been found in the breast milk of nursing mothers living in areas affected by groundwater contamination due to hazardous waste dumped in the Union Carbide factory and Dow refuses to clean up its toxic waste, she said. Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action said that in the United States, Dow submits unquestioningly to the government agencies and courts. In 2005, a Dow joint-venture pled guilty and paid 84 million dollars criminal fine for participating in an international conspiracy to fix the prices of synthetic rubber in violation of the Sherman Act. But in India, Dow has ignored six separate summonses to appear in the court"s proceedings in the disaster claiming that Indian criminal courts have no jurisdiction over The Dow Chemical Company (TDCC), she alleged. "Dow Chemical"s double standards are evident in every aspect of their operations," she said. In USA, Dow is paying for cleanup of 171 contaminated sites, including the Tittabawassee and Saginaw river plains near its headquarters in Midland Michigan. But on the matter of cleaning up the ongoing contamination in Bhopal, Dow says it is the responsibility of the Madhya Pradesh government, said Nousheen Khan of Children against Dow/Carbide. PTI LAL MAS NP NP