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December 08, 2006
December 3rd rally in Bhopal on film and in photographs
INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE IN BHOPAL, DECEMBER 7, 2006
In a strongly-attended rally on the occasion of the 22nd Anniversary of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal four organisations jointly leading the survivors' struggle condemned the role of the current Central and State governments in aiding the killers of Bhopal and prolonging the torture of the victims.
At the end of the rally at the Union Carbide factory, an effigy of a four limbed demon symbolizing the Dow Chemical Company with Anderson hiding behind it was set on fire by the protestors. The effigy held a chemical conical flask and a bag of money sitting atop bent figures symbolizing the Indian and state governments. In a meeting held near the memorial to the disaster, participants of the 800 kilometer long Bhopal-to-New Delhi march this year, were felicitated.
Read the full ICJB press release here
Larger images are available, email editor.
Posted by bhola at 09:28 AM | Comments (0)
December 07, 2006
Bhopal Day of Action report from Delhi
Shalini Sharma, Students for Bhopal, Delhi, December 6, 2006
Finally, the day comes. To the last minute we are busily preparing the press release, drawing on placards, gathering together double-sided tape, scissors, and other such essential tools for action. Then off we go, nervous and anticipatory, moving from the cluttered busyness of South Delhi, out to the more expansive land of shopping malls and posh apartment blocks, Delhi’s sprawling, ever-growing suburb, Noida. Noida is the place where well-off folks go to escape the hectic pollution, noise and madding crowd of the city. It is an ordered, sanitized, prettified area, no slums here, instead lots of gleaming shiny corporate offices, air conditioned vast malls filled with ever-moving escalators, coffee shops selling 40 different types of coffee, levi, apple mac and nokia stores. This is where Dow has been hiding from us, hidden away in this suburban nowhereland, and this is where we will give them a shock, wake them from their slumber, remind them that Bhopal and the world is watching…
We slowly arrive in dribs and drabs, skulking around the neighbouring area. 12 more students are on their way, stuck in traffic. We wait for them, eager for the strongest impact. Once all are gathered together we disperse again taking cycle rickshaws to ferry us the 10 minutes distance on to the infamous office. Some confusion ensues, it’s a complicated place to move through, everything looks boringly similar, and big, and we don’t want to give the game away by conspicuously asking for the office, but eventually half an hour later we are all assembled together, slightly ahead of the office.
We quickly adorn ourselves with posters, placards, headbands, and carry piles of factsheets and handouts about Bhopal and Dow. Together 30 of us march up and down the length of the road, some 600 metres or so, shouting ‘Dow, Dow, wapas Jao’ (Dow, Dow, go home now) Then we return and fan out in front of the actual offending building itself.
It is a strange-looking office. The outer wall and gate are high and seemingly impenetrable, designed to protect from inquisitive eyes such as ours. The guard’s shelter is equally fortresslike, with only a small glass section, thr ough which an enquirer can peer with difficulty. The gate and wall bear no name or address plaque, though someone has scratched ‘dow’ onto the gate, to make the postperson’s job less difficult. In big black bold letters, a sign over the main door of the building reads ‘Footwear International’. However higher up, a small, weather worn red Dow triangle hangs on the wall and higher and smaller still is a sign saying ‘Dow Agrosciences Ltd’. The big black letters seem to have done the job of misleading people though, as anyone we spoke to in the area who had noticed the office tells us the employees there work on something to do with shoes!
We line up in front of the office, and a largeish crowd of curious bystanders, tea-drinkers, neighbouring workers also gathers around. We shout different slogans (fill in here!!) and generally make a noisy ruckus. We hand out fliers to everyone in the vicinity, and Suroopa in particular vividly regales all who will listen (and happily it is many!) with tales of Dow’s poisonous history. We plaster the gate, walls and surrounding trees and area with posters, pictures, fact sheets. We also have simple but effective signs showing big black arrows and asking ‘Where is Dow hiding?’ or reading ‘Beware! Dow in your neighbourhood’. We slip lots of leaflets under the gate and hand them to the bemused guards also.
The guards inform us that no-one is in the office, as it is a Saturday, though there is a suspicious looking car behind the gate. We are adamant that we want to speak to someone, but the guards are equally adamant that they do not have a single phone number to call of anyone in the staff. We ask them what they would do if the building were to go on fire, and who they would call, and they stick to their story ; do nothing, call no one !! Akhil tells the media that this is exactly the response they had 22 years back when a tank exploded in the Union Carbide plant…no one knew what to do! We have a Memorandum to deliver to the company, but they refuse to accept it. They seem genuinely taken off guard by the whole event, not knowing what to do when confronted with 30 angry students banging at their gate and demanding justice.
After an hour or so we head off happy to know that we have given Dow a shock, warned them that we know where they are, and told their neighbours of their dirty deeds, on this day, 22 years after the event.
What we Feel
There is no doubt but that now we know exactly where they are hiding we will come back again some day when they don’t expect it in search of answers for the questions they have not listened to today. We will not let Dow ignore or forget Bhopal or evade its liabilities there. This is just the beginning…!!!
Media Coverage
The action was covered by national media in both print and electronic. Asian Age, Deccan Chronicle are some of the newspapers that covered the protest on their main India page with bold headlines- ‘Big Protest at Dow office.’
ANI and others send their reporters and cameraman to cover the event. NDTV,ZEE TV, Star TV, India TV, CNN IBN were the prominent television channels that covered the action protest.We are now trying to get a copy of coverage from them.
Some low points
Despite our efforts to cover the entire event ourselves on a handicam, we could not get good quality pictures. We are still trying to get the pictures from friends who participated in the event and hopefully will get some. Still a learning lesson- to be self sufficient when it comes to camera and other gadgets.
Some High points
The enthusiasm with which all members worked for the entire event was really inspiring. A group of students from a girls college in Delhi University not only participated in the event with full vigour but they now intend starting a SfB Chapter from their college. This is a very promising development.
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Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice.
-Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Posted by bhola at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)
December 05, 2006
Environmental Cycle Tour suspended after young cyclist dies in accident
Chennai, December 4, 2006
Guru, who lost his life while campaigning for the victims of the worldwide chemical industry. Always in our hearts.
Chennai. 4 December, 2006 -- Organisers of the Cuddalore to Chennai environmental awareness cycle tour have suspended the tour after one of the cyclists died in an untoward incident near Tindivanam on 30 November, 2006. K. Gurubalan, a student of Loyola College, who was part of the youth team that cycled in solidarity with the pollution impacted community in Cuddalore, accidentally drowned in a village pond during a rest stop about 18 km from Tindivanam.
The cycle tour had covered more than 100 kilometres and had departed from Pondicherry on 30 November morning. “Gurubalan is a particularly sensitive young man, who was deeply affected by the horrendous environmental condition in SIPCOT Cuddalore. Even while conveying our deepest condolences to his parents, we wish to remind people that he died while on a tour to fight for justice for pollution-impacted communities. His spirit and sense of justice will keep our fighting spirit alive,” said SIPCOT Area Community Environmental Monitors (SACEM), a community group comprising Cuddalore villagers trained in environmental monitoring.
During an interview with a TV station a day before the incident, Gurubalan had expressed his intention to support the Cuddalore community’s campaign against pollution by reaching out to more youngsters in Chennai.
“Being the kind of person he is, Guru would not have wanted his death to put the brakes on such an important environmental tour for justice. For sure, more youth from Chennai will rally around and join the cycle tour for Cuddalore as and when it resumes,” said Guru’s friend Anushka Meenakshi who was also one of the cyclists.
Cuddalore is a toxic hotspot, where existing industries have made life unlivable. Rather than mitigate pollution, the Government is planning to target Cuddalore residents with more and more polluting industries. Currently, the villagers are fighting a desperate battle to prevent the setting up of a PVC plastic factory by Chemplast Sanmar in Semmankuppam village. A 4000 MW thermal power plant, several textile dyeing industries, a 6 million tonnes per annum oil refinery and two schemes to pump toxic effluents from textile dyeing and leather tannery units are part of the industrial plans for Cuddalore.
Organisers and participants of the cycle tour have resolved that they will resume the cycle tour in January. In the interim, they plan to organize a first-aid training for youth and activists in Chennai. On 16 December, a seminar on “Ongoing Human Rights Violations in SIPCOT Cuddalore” will be held at the Madras Institute of Development Studies. On the same day, all cyclists and their supporters from Chennai will meet to discuss plans for resuming the cycle awareness tour, and strengthen the struggles for environmental justice in Cuddalore, Mettur and other pollution-impacted communities.
For more information, contact: Nityanand Jayaraman. 9444082401
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal; The Other Media; Cuddalore District Consumer Protection Organisation, Youth for Social Change, SIPCOT Area Community Environmental Monitoring, DEPORT.
42A, 1st Floor, 5th Avenue, Besant Nagar, Chennai 600090
Posted by bhola at 01:54 PM | Comments (0)
December 03, 2006
Shroud-wrapped corpses in dramatic re-enactment at Indiana University
AID INDIA, BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA, DECEMBER 2, 2006
It was a cold, wintry Saturday morning at Sample Gates, the entrance to Indiana University, brightened by the sunshine and the enthusiastic faces of volunteers from AID. Members started trickling in by 11AM and were initially outnumbered by the 3 (mock) corpses Suresh had prepared as props. We were worried about the turnout since the email about the protest had gone out late and our preparation overall had been a last ditch effort. But our worries were misplaced. Out earlier protest had honed our skills at organizing protests, given us a readily available set of posters and flyers, and our media relations were well in place. And by 11:30AM, we had a turnout of about 15 people, holding placards and distributing flyers.
AID Members hold vigil and protest at Sample Gates
The location we had picked out for the vigil was ideal: Sample Gates is right next to downtown and makes for a picturesque backdrop for the protest. Saturday morning found lunch crowds and people taking a stroll through IU pass by us. Many stopped by, intrigued by the "corpses" and the bright faces standing in the chill. We had our pitch ready, giving the graphic flyers, talking about past and continuing tragedy at Bhopal, and encouraging them to take action by signing our petition and by other means provided in our flyer. The location was at a prime bus stop too, so people waiting for the bus spent time chatting with us. We talked with about 40 people though the morning -- the cold kept the crowd thinner than usual.
We had a good media turnout also, thanks to the work of Harini in reaching her contacts from the career fair protest. We had a reporter from Herald Times, the city newspaper, and IDS, the campus newspaper, along with a photographer. They spent about an hour talking with many of the protesters and others who stopped by. The venue made for good photo ops too. We made sure the journalists got our press packet with background information and followed it up later in the day with an updated press release. We expect a good media coverage on Sunday/Monday.
Sarah Combellick-Bidney, doctoral student at IU, holds a placard in front of Sample Gates
At about Noon, we took a funeral procession through some parts of the campus and downtown, leading the corpses with a ringing bell and a poster. When we talked about the idea of using corpses as props, there was mixed feelings among the AID volunteers. But it turned out to be an excellent asset and made people -- and the reporters -- curious and newsworthy. Part of an effective activism campaign is to loose our inhibition and make ourselves the center of attraction. We are gradually learning this. We ended the protest/vigil at 1PM with a brief memorial for the victims and a minute of silence.
AID Members take mock corpses in a funeral procession through downtown Bloomington
What we did right:
- Got our early press releases, thanks to Harini and the support from SfB
- Used the corpses and took out a funeral procession, again thanks to the idea from SfB
- Got several members from other groups such as No Sweat. We are getting better at building bridges with other groups.
What could be improved:
- We need a better banner that makes it obvious what we are protesting. The ones we have cannot be read from more than 5 feet and we lose our impact on peripheral crowd.
- Being near a crossroad, we could have had a "Honk to Support the Bhopal Survivors" poster. That would have been more engaging.
- We need to broaden our media base. We met a passerby who suggested contacts at the local community TV where we can potentially get a complete session to talk about Bhopal
- Be more pro-active. We had second thoughts about a procession within downtown without permission, but finally did it in the end. As Sarah said, it is better to do it and ask for forgiveness later, than not do it :)
- Plan better. Compared to the career fair protest, this virtually had no planning. That meant the email went out late and we got 20 people when we could have possibly had 40. We also did not capitalize on the chance and get many petitions signed.
- Weather/Day: Though we could not do much about it, the weather turned cold and it was a Saturday morning. That mean a poor crowd.
A big thanks to all those in AID who did their tasks like a well oiled machine, including Suresh, Giri, Harini, Aparna, Ramyaa, and other members of AID - Sarah, Pavithra, Sowmya - and No Sweat, and the reporters from The Herald Times and IDS who showed the resolve and purpose to come on a cold weekend. Also, kudos to the SfB team that planned this action and provided many resources and tips to reduce our burden a lot.
[More Pictures from the vigil, from the original site]
Anyone wanting to use the series of "mask" images, one of which features in this article can find them here.
Mock funeral procession marks India disaster anniversary: Students protest Dow Chemical's role in accident
Kasey Hawrysz, Indiana Daily Student, December 4, 2006
Georgia Perry • IDS | IU student activists protest Dow Chemical’s ownership of Union Carbide Saturday at the Sample Gates. Union Carbide ran a pesticide plant responsible for the Bhopal tragedy of 1984.
Holding a body-shaped shroud on their shoulders, graduate student Giri Krishnan and IU researcher Suresh Marru followed a seven-person funeral procession down Indiana Avenue as the procession's leader slowly banged out a funeral cadence with a pot and spoon. The rest of the group carried posters depicting deformed children and other grisly images.
Krishnan and Marru, members of the IU Association for India's Development, held the mock funeral to mark the 22nd anniversary of one of the worst industrial accidents in history and to send a message to the the group they say is responsible for the action, Dow Chemical Company.
"We didn't choose to be graphic to get attention, but this is what happened," said Krishnan, the president of AID.
In 1984, 3,000 people in Bhopal, India, died after a chemical leak occurred at a Union Carbide factory, which has since been purchased by Dow Chemical. More than 50,000 people are said to have permanent disabilities as a result of the accident, according to a 2004 article on the British Broadcasting Corp.'s Web site.
The leak also poisoned the ground water in Bhopal, and today, an estimated 150,000 people are still suffering because of it, Krishnan said. Birth defects have occurred in children born of parents exposed to the toxins, he said.
The Union Carbide Corp. has stated the company worked diligently to provide immediate and continuing aid to the victims and set up a process to resolve their claims, according to a statement on the corporation's Web site. It also states all claims arising out of the chemical release were settled 17 years ago with the explicit direction and approval of the Supreme Court of India.
Despite the $470 million in reparations paid to the victims in 1989, AID representatives said the settlement is not nearly enough since it works out to only $500 per affected victim.
The group is demanding that Dow Chemical clean up the site of the accident, provide long-term health care for the thousands affected by the accident and provide a new livelihood for those displaced or disabled by the leak, Krishnan said. AID also wants Union Carbide and its former CEO Warren Anderson to face trial in a Bhopal criminal court.
Most people are not aware of what happened, said IU optometry professor Jenni Wilkinson, who stopped to look at the protest. She said she knew about accident but believes she is probably in the minority.
"It goes across the news, and then it just flips to the next thing," Wilkinson said. "It is basically in one ear and out the other."
AID has protested Dow Chemical's presence on campus in the past, such as recently at November's Life Sciences Career Fair.
Posted by bhola at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)
Survivors's organisations torch-lit rally in Bhopal to mark the 22nd anniversary of the Union Carbide gas disaster
INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE IN BHOPAL, DECEMBER 2, 2OO6
THE STORY IN PICTURES
Posted by bhola at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)
Sambhavna Trust stages candlelit vigil and slide show in the centre of Bhopal
Sambhavna Trust, Bhopal, December 2, 2006
THE STORY IN PICTURES
Posted by bhola at 09:35 AM | Comments (0)
Cuddalore Cycle Tour abandoned after participant's tragic death
Cuddalore, December 3, 2006
We do not have any further details, but on behalf of everyone in the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, would like to express our deepest sorrow at this awful news, and extend our sympathy to the family and friends of the young man who lost his life so tragically in the long struggle to win justice for the victims of the worldwide chemical industry.
Posted by bhola at 09:22 AM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2006
Anita's Bhopal Protest
Anita's Blog, Chicago, December 2, 2006
Tomorrow, Dec 3 is the 22nd anniversary of Bhopal. Satish and I visited the Dow Board of Directors (BoDs) who live in Chicago, to give them prison jumpsuits :-). Last year we visited them and presented them with a Bhopal Posterboard. This year Satish painstakingly spent time 'decorating' the prison jumpsuit. Was fabulous, check out the pics.
People's responses when we told them we are planning to go has been - "Why are you going? Is it useful? Isnt it risky? Is it safe? Is it legal? etc". Valid questions. But I dont think there is any one 'right' answer. It could get risky, it could get unsafe, it could be useful. One never knows. I do it for a very simple reason - I live in Chicago, where 2 of the BoDs live and so I go to their homes. And if it is of any use, well and great. I do it because I think it is important to remind them that there are people who are living in completely different conditions because of Dow's action (rather inaction). Though we have not had much luck meeting with any one of them either last year or this year.
What has been interesting to see is that last year as well as this year, whoever opened the door for us, has either refused to accept a letter or has tried to daunt us by saying they will call the police. It is not as if we were trying to threaten them! In fact, there was not even a big crowd, just the 2 of us. How often have people knocked on our doors in India, to sell something, to talk about something etc. It seems to me that these people live in such secure and secluded communities, that anything different alarms them. And of course what we did is going to alarm them. And perhaps that is the point. Not that I go there with the intent of dharna or morcha.
Yes, I would prefer not to interfere in people's personal and private lives. But I dont live in an ideal world where every thing is perfect and everyone is caring. So, I take sides and do what I can, what I am comfortable doing - from a place of wanting fairness for the Bhopalis. At this point, I dont have a strong sense of resentment for the 2 Dow BoD's. Will it change if I meet them? I dont know. I hope not. I dont want my action to come mainly from a place of anger and resentment against Dow, but more from a place of solidarity with and compassion for the Bhopalis.
So am I a mindless activist, doing one thing and living another way - maybe. And all of us have out contradictions, dilemmas and struggles. What is important for me is the struggle, the process of trying to get to the place where I am living in harmony within and without and my actions emerge out of there. I am not there yet fully and all the time.
Posted by bhola at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)