Will India end this deadly trade? Swiss tycoon jailed for causing asbestos deaths

By Rosamma Thomas*
Swiss billionaire Stephen Schmidheiny,73, was sentenced by an Italian court on June 7, 2023, to 12 years in jail for the deaths of 392 people from asbestos exposure. Schmidheiny ran the Eternit Italia factory at Casale Monferrato in Piedmont, the largest of his six factories, where asbestos was used to strengthen cement in the 1970s and 80s. Under Italian law, the owner of the factory rather than the firm is tried for the deaths of workers from a cause that relates to work.
Ban Asbestos Network India (BANI), in a press release on June 9, 2023, said the fate of Schmidheiny awaits those in India causing deaths by asbestos exposure. Eternit has plants in India as well, and even the new Parliament building in India is not asbestos-free, the press release said. On January 27, 1995, the Supreme Court of India in Consumer Education and Research Centre vs. Union of India had ruled that all asbestos factories in India must preserve health records of their workers for 40 years, or for 15 years after their retirement.
Stephen Schmidheiny had been awarded an honorary degree by Yale University, and the BANI called for the revocation of that honour. Foundations funded by the family of Schmidheiny had awarded the UN Secretary General and Infosys founder-chairman NR Narayana Murthy a freedom prize, and it is time these “tainted awards” were returned, the press note said.
India is now the world’s biggest asbestos consumer, importing from Russia, Brazil, Kazakhstan and other nations. Diseases caused by asbestos exposure have a long incubation period, and illness can result five decades after exposure. Even if the ban takes effect today, there will be people suffering from past usage, the press note mentioned.
Harminder Bains, whose father was among those who died from asbestos exposure, was on the team of lawyers that tasted victory in this case. “Eternit does have asbestos manufactories in India and is responsible for many asbestos related deaths,” she said. The UN has taken note of a study of the asbestos factory in Kymore, Katni, Madhya Pradesh, where asbestos dumping had contaminated soil and air. Eternit was a shareholder in five asbestos factories in India, and sold its shares ahead of the ban on asbestos in Belgium in 2011. It is ironic that Everest, the firm that currently runs the Kymore factory, takes up tobacco control as it Corporate Social Responsibility activity! Everest has factories in Nashik, Coimbatore, Roorkee and Kolkata.
Naval dockyards use asbestos for its fire insulation properties, and among those suffering as a result are people of the Indian Armed Forces, with long years of such exposure. The Indian Railways is currently engaged in the process of making stations asbestos free. The press note from BANI urges an immediate audit of the current status of victims of exposure; it has also suggested that medical colleges mandate instructions on how to treat victims of such exposure. Nearly 70 nations have so far banned asbestos. The press note states that many asbestos cement factories – the major use of asbestos in India is for cement – are owned by members of Parliament. India also does not record cases of mesothelioma, and the lack of data is presented as an absence of disease. There is a compelling logic of charging manufacturers with manslaughter, the press release noted.
---

*Freelance journalist

Comments

10,000 students deprived of classes as Ahmedabad school remains shut: MCC writes to Gujarat CM

By A Representative The Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) has written to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, urging him to immediately reopen the Seventh Day Adventist School in Maninagar, Ahmedabad, where classes have been suspended for nearly two weeks. The MCC claims that the suspension, following a violent incident, violates the constitutional right to education of thousands of children.

Gujarat minority rights group seeks suspension of Botad police officials for brutal assault on minor

By A Representative A human rights group, the Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) Gujarat, has written to the Director General of Police (DGP), Gandhinagar, demanding the immediate suspension and criminal action against police personnel of Botad police station for allegedly brutally assaulting a minor boy from the Muslim community.

On Teachers’ Day, remembering Mother Teresa as the teacher of compassion

By Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ It is Teachers’ Day once again! Significantly, the day also marks the Feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta (still lovingly called Mother Teresa). In 2012, the United Nations, as a fitting tribute to her, declared this day the International Day of Charity. A day pregnant with meaning—one that we must celebrate as meaningfully as possible.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

'Govts must walk the talk on gender equality, right to health, human rights to deliver SDGs by 2030'

By A Representative With just 64 months left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global health and rights advocates have called upon governments to honour their commitments on gender equality and the human right to health. Speaking ahead of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), experts warned that rising anti-rights and anti-gender pushes are threatening hard-won progress on SDG-3 (health and wellbeing) and SDG-5 (gender equality).

Is U.S. fast losing its financial and technological edge under Trump’s second tenure?

By Dr. Manoj Kumar Mishra* The United States, along with its Western European allies, once promoted globalization as a democratic force that would deliver shared prosperity and balanced growth. That promise has unraveled. Globalization, instead of building an even world, has produced one defined by inequality, asymmetry of power, and new vulnerabilities. For decades, Washington successfully turned this system to its advantage. Today, however, under Trump’s second administration, America is attempting to exploit the weaknesses of others without acknowledging how exposed it has become itself.

What mainstream economists won’t tell you about Chinese modernisation

By Shiran Illanperuma China’s modernisation has been one of the most remarkable processes of the 21st century and one that has sparked endless academic debate. Meng Jie (孟捷), a distinguished professor from the School of Marxism at Fudan University in Shanghai, has spent the better part of his career unpacking this process to better understand what has taken place.

Counterview

Search This Blog