Bhopal.Net closing down

Irate members of the ICJB tonight demanded the closure of Bhopal.Net and called for the resignation of its socialite editor, Indira Singh, after the appearance of a series of "scurrilous stories of little or no journalistic merit" on its front page. (See below.)

Said ICJB spokesperson Tim Edwards, a member of the UK Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, "The only serious story posted in the last four days is the one about the U.S. Congress censuring Dow Chemical. And even that went up late - for once the papers beat us to the news because Indira was having her nails varnished."

Ms. Singh, who is believed to be holidaying with friends in Cap Ferrat, was unavailable for comment.

Dow reaction here.

Members of Congress tell Dow, Face Up to Your Bhopal Liabilities

WASHINGTON D.C. TUESDAY 22 JULY

Eighteen members of Congress have sent a letter to Dow Chairman William Stavropoulos demanding that his company assume liability for the wrongdoings of Union Carbide (its 100% subsidiary) in Bhopal.

The Congresspersons, led by Representatives Frank Pallone and Dennis Kucinich are demanding that Dow provide medical rehabilitation and economic reparations for the victims of the tragedy; clean up contamination in and around the former factory site in Bhopal; provide alternative supplies of fresh water to the affected communities and ensure that the Union Carbide Corporation appears before the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court in Bhopal where it faces criminal charges of culpable homicide.

"The disaster in Bhopal continues and is likely to worsen if Dow Chemical does not step forward to fulfil its responsibilities," the letter said, adding "It is disheartening to note that a company such as Dow who professes to lead the chemical industry towards 'responsible care' shies away from its obligations when truly responsible care can be demonstrated. More disturbing is the manner in which Union Carbide and Dow Chemical have ignored the summons of the Bhopal court. This exposes a blatant disregard for the law."

Read the full text here. • ICJB press statement here.

On the 24th March Halifax M.P. Alice Mahon filed Early Day Motion 933 in the UK parliament in support of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal's efforts to make Dow and Union Carbide face up to their moral and legal responsibilities in Bhopal. The motion resolves:

"That this House is appalled by the continuing suffering of the people of Bhopal 18 years after the world's worst environmental disaster; notes that the contaminated land on the site of the disaster has never been cleaned up, that high quantities of lead and organochlorines continue to be found in the breast milk of local women and that the local population is plagued by ill health and birth deformities; congratulates the work of the Sambhavna medical clinic in treating survivors and that of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal in trying to make Union Carbide and its present owner Dow Chemical face up to their moral and legal responsibilities; and further applauds the campaign for the extradition from the USA of former Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson, wanted in India on criminal charges of culpable homicide in connection with the deaths of 20,000 people."

See the whole letter here
(PDF file needs Acrobat Reader)

Hollywood, Bollywood, Belliwood, and now, Bhopaliwood

HOLLYWOOD, CA. 22 JULY 2003 A little bird tells us that Hollywood studios are sniffing round Bhopal, hoping to cash in on the massive tide of publicity and emotion that will inevitably engulf the twentieth anniversary of the Union Carbide disaster in December 2004.

The problem for the movie moguls is that they believe that U.S. audiences will not watch a film that does not have an American hero. Alas, there are no U.S. heroes in Bhopal.

Veteran campaigner Ward Morehouse, speaking on the Remember-Bhopal internet channel, said "In the U.S., there are only villains, millions of indifferent, and a tiny handful who, moved by the horror of what a US corporation has done to hundreds of thousands of innocent Indians, have supported their struggle for justice. None of that tiny handful could conceivably be called a 'hero'."

But according to Sarvadarshi Gupta, Bhopal.Net's roving reporter in Tinsel Town, a multi-million dollar deal is in the offing. The package is being put together by top Hollywood producer Sid Krassman, who raved, "It's Rambo meets The Sheikh in India. We're all go for filming in the Taj Mahal. We've rounded up 5,000 elephants for the big beach scene. As for the lead role, you wouldn't believe who we've got." Krassman threatened us with a lawsuit if we published this interview, but what the hell?

Tonight (well dammit, it's the middle of the night here) Bhopal.Net exclusively previews the opening scene of the 800 page screenplay.

Fade up on wild Atlantic seascape, crashing waves, surf on white beaches. Camera moves through the dunes to a plush green golf course where retired executives of multinational corporations are attempting birdies and eagles. A sign reads BRIDGEHAMPTON GOLF CLUB.

There's a rustling in the bushes, the leaves part to reveal all-American hero DUANE "DOG" CHAPMAN.

"Dog" is covered in brown greasepaint, presenting a deeply tanned visage out which two blue eyes roguishly twinkle, for Duane "Dog Chapman IS Deewana "Kutta" Wallahwallah, world-famous Bhopali bounty hunter, come to exact long overdue justice . . .

What will the poor, the sick and the destitute of Bhopal make of Krassman and his team when they arrive in Bhopal? Well they have experienced something like it before.

Just one week after Carbide's gases worked their slaughter the devasted slums of Bhopal were enlivened by the appearance of showbiz attorney Mr Melvin Belli, dressed in "a black suit with a red silk lining, his feet encased in black alligator skin boots, a white polka-dot tie lying across his aldermanic paunch". Belli told reporters he would take Union Carbide to the cleaners. "These people in India are nobodies. Some poor little bastard living in a railroad shack goes home to find his wife and child dead. Now Union Carbide have the effrontery to offer a fucking orphanage and a million dollars."

Stepping outside his five star hotel, the aptly-named Belli saw a poor woman and gave her a 20 rupee note. He told her it was a Christmas present and that she could buy cigars.

The London Times account of Belli's visit. More on Belli below.

Punter seeks kinky sex on Bhopal.Net

Each week Bhopal.Net receives a report on the use of this website's search-engine and the things people have searched for.

The topics enquired for last week ranged from the predictable (given recent news) "Warren Anderson" to "kinky sex". Now Bhopal.Net is truly a vast repository of information and even we do not really know what lurks at archaeological depths, but "kinky sex"? So in the interests of science we repeated the search and turned up this intriguing item:

2. Bakkers hire celebrity lawyer in try to regain PTL ministry he handed over to Falwell in March amid a sex scandal. The silver-haired California attorney spent four hours with the Bakkers at their million-dollar lakeside "parsonage /presscoverage/houstonchronicle/archive/19870622-jimtambakker.html

Celebrity lawyer? Heck, it's Melvin Belli. The same Melvin Belli who showed up in Bhopal a week after the 1984 disaster to do his bit for the suffering poor. Read the London Times account of his visit.

Fired up by this success we next tried searching Bhopal.Net for "Dog". Along with Duane "Dog" Chapman, up popped stories about a man who thinks he is a dog, a gun attack on Diane Wilson that narrowly missed her but killed her dog, the Hound of the Baskervilles, a decomposing dog and a woman out walking her dog sniffing the first signs of yet another chemical leak from a Union Carbide plant. Try it yourself.

"Hell" was suggested by a friend (everyone wants to play this game). It brought up three references to Diane Wilson's hunger strike outside the Dow plant in Seadrift, a story about Warren Anderson making it onto rotten.com, and a review of the movie Bhopal Express.

Finally, back to kinky sex. The last four items turned up by the search engine were all variations of the same story.

3. Media Coverage "There are few more glaring cases of the developed world abusing the developing world and getting away with murder than Union Carbide's rape of Bhopal." THE INDEPENDENT 29 August http://www.bhopal.net/presscoverage/

Go on, have a go yourself. There are more than 800 pages of information on this website covering nearly every aspect of the Bhopal issue and, as we see, a great deal of who-knows-what-else. Our search engine's oracular delights – courtesy of the excellent Freefind – await you. Please do report any interesting results.

NB: The pictures on the right were obtained by doing a Google image search on "Melvin Belli" (Just in case you were wondering)

Melvin Belli

Lynette dancing for Melvin Belli's birthday in Sonora, CA.

Petition to William Stavropoulos from Jobs With Justice participants and others

The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal has written a letter to William Stavropoulos, Chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical, asking him to ensure that his company lives up to its responsibilities.

Please join us in signing the letter and hitting William Stavropoulos with these four demands:

1. Dow must ensure that its 100%-owned subsidiary Union Carbide, along with ex-Chairman Warren Anderson, end their 11 year absconsion from criminal proceedings in Bhopal and face trial.

2. Dow must assume responsibility for the long term effects of Union Carbide's gases and provide long-term health care for the victims and those as yet unborn who may be affected.

3. Dow must clean up Union Carbide's heavily contaminated factory site in Bhopal and provide safe drinking water for communities whose wells have been poisoned by chemicals leaking from the factory.

4. Dow must provide economic and social support to people who have been incapacitated by their injuries, and families which have become destitute as a result of losing the breadwinner.

Please print out the petition and signature forms and use them to gather as much support as you can. Thank you.

Read the text of the petition here.
Download as a Word file and sign.

For maximum irony,
click on the graphic above

Willy, Willy, the furies are on your trail. Carbide's ghosts are haunting Dow. Says Business Week, "Dow's woes stem from Union Carbide, bought in 2001, which once made products containing asbestos".

While some investors think things will improve for Dow, only 4 of 14 major analysts tracking Dow agree enough to rate its shares a "buy" -- and even that is because they think things simply can't get any worse.

But things can get worse. The shades of those who died agonising deaths from asbestosis may have exacted their revenge, but the ghosts of Bhopal have yet to taste theirs. And they will.

When "Pants on Fire" Stavropolous became CEO of Dow, we greeted him in the language of his forefathers, thus:

We don't expect Willy has a clue what it means, so let's tell him:

At the dead of night came a scream that made the hairs on our heads stand on end. Our dreams were invaded by a Terror that woke with its shrieking sleepers in the innermost rooms. Those who have the God-given power to read dreams cried, "The dead beneath the earth are angry, filled with rage against their murderers".

These lines from the Choëphoræ of Aeschylus seem eerily to prefigure the Terror that visited Bhopal on the night of 3rd December 1984 when thousands of innocents were killed in their beds and in their houses and in the streets as they struggled to escape.

And Aeschylus goes on to describe the curse that follows those who are guilty of their blood.

Read the rest of the curse here (translation by Bhopal.Net)

Investors who ignore Dow's Carbide-inherited Bhopal legacy do so at their peril. Bhopal will not go away. The pictures on the right, taken on that horrible morning-after eighteen and a half years ago, show you why it will never be forgotten or forgiven. Why, no matter how long it takes, justice will in the end be done.

It may not take much longer. As exclusively reported on Bhopal.Net (see preceding story) from a court in Bhopal two days ago, the legal process to put Dow Chemical in the dock in place of its absconding subsidiary Union Carbide has already begun.

Willy's nightmare is only just beginning.

Photos courtesy Pablo Bartholomew

Also see picture archive on bhopal.org

The extradition of Warren Anderson, in 3 volumes, slightly foxed

BHOPAL 16 JULY Appearing before the judge in the on-going criminal case here, the CBI revealed that the request for Warren Anderson's extradition was delivered to the Indian Embassy in Washington DC on 6th May by diplomatic bag. The accompanying evidence, documents supporting the request, filled three volumes.

Indian newspapers have finally picked up the story (which was broken on 30 June in The Statesman and confirmed on this website).

The Chief Judicial Magistrate emphasized the need to increase the pace at which "this...old case" was proceeding. The CBI entered into evidence documents relating to the merger of Dow Chemicals and Union Carbide Corporation as a preliminary to pleading for Dow to be named as co-accused in the case in place of its absconding subsidiary.

Extracts from yesterday's court proceedings

Armed thieves target Dow-Carbide's death factory - how long must this scandal go on?

BHOPAL SUNDAY 13 JULY Gangs of thieves armed with swords are removing parts of the abandoned Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical) factory in Bhopal.

We have just received this from Bhopal:

"At around 5 pm a resident of Atal Ayub Nagar [a poor area just behind the factory] phoned us to report that a large piece of machinery had been dumped close to the factory wall and that a gang of three robbers had gone into the factory to bring out more stuff. We took a digital camera and rushed to the spot. The piece of machinery was still there and we took pictures of it. Onlookers who had gathered around started whispering loudly that the gang was returning. We scooted off with the picture and took it to the town inspector who with remarkable efficiency dispatched a team of three policemen in a jeep. The cops got down from the jeep and were very close to the robbers who by that time had brought out two more large pieces of scrap and were engaged in sawing it into smaller carryable pieces. The robbers ran away when the cops were within couple of feet from them. Residents informed the police that a Security Supervisor and a factory guard, whom they named, were in league with the gangs. One of the Security Supervisors caught two of the robbers around noon. For reasons that we do not yet know the Supervisor let them go. People here are scared of the robbers because they can be seen walking around openly carrying swords. Few dare to oppose them."

The thefts, which must result in metal contamined by poisons reaching the city's scrap markets, illustrate how poor security is at the factory. The parts being stolen appear to be piping and valves, some of which may yet be evidence in the ongoing criminal case. The factory must be properly guarded.

The plant was shut down in December 1984, after a leak of methyl-isocyanate and other gases killed thousands in the world's worst industrial disaster. Union Carbide simply abandoned the place without cleaning it up. Piles of dangerous chemicals lie in the open air. Dangerous chemicals, including organochlorines and heavy metals, have been washed down into the groundwater and poisoned local drinking wells. How long before these highly toxic chemicals themselves become the targets of armed gangs?

Dow Chemical, the 100% owner of Union Carbide Corporation, has repeatedly refused either to clean-up or to pay for the clean-up of its subsidiary's mess. Union Carbide is wanted on criminal charges of "culpable homicide" by a court in Bhopal but has been refusing for the last 11 years to attend the court. Justice campaigners want Dow Chemical named as defendant in place of its absconding subsidiary. These thefts merely underline the urgency of proceeding with that arraignment.

Machinery stolen from derelict
Union Carbide/Dow Chemical factory
Click picture for larger image

A valve hidden in the jungle that has overwhelmed the dead chemical plant

PHOTOS: TERRY ALLEN, DAN SINHA

Digvijay meets orphans, who proclaim a cautious victory

BHOPAL 4pm SUNDAY 13 JULY. Chief Minister Digvijay Singh met a delegation of four of the protesting orphans of the Union Carbide gas disaster. He told Shahid Noor, his brother Wahid Noor, Suman and Sunil Kumar] that the government will sanction grants for all the orphaned persons so that they can be self employed. As opposed to loans [that need to be repaid at high interest rates] the money received as a grant would not have to be returned.

At the urging of the Chief Minister Shahid Noor broke his fast by accepting a glass of juice from Bhopal's Collector, Anurag Jain, who visited the protest site.

Mindful that promises made before have not been kept, the orphans want this one in writing. If nothing has happened in a month's time, they will take their fast to New Delhi.

The orphans ask us to pass on their thanks to their supporters and all those across India and around the world who sent faxes and made phone calls to the Chief Minister. Yesterday a spokesman at the Chief Minister's office said that they had been receiving an almost non-stop stream of faxes.

Please keep the phone calls and faxes coming and ask Digvijay Singh to put his promise in writing.

Bhopal.Net salutes the courage and determination of the poor of Bhopal. Eighteen and a half years on. 20,000 dead. No victory in sight. Still the survivors – hungry, ill and desitute – fight for their lives in the face of monstrous injustice.

In the picture at right the sign on the tent reads, Zindagi ki talaash mayn ham maut ke kitnay paas aa gaye.

It means, "In search of life, how close we have come to death."

Story in Indian Express

Firdaus watches over her husband Shahid and their son Aman
Click on picture for larger image

Nilofer on the hunger strike. She was beaten by police.
Click on picture for larger image

Shahid Noor's condition critical.
Protest urgently to Chief Minister Digvijay Singh.

Yesterday on his fourth day without food or water (please see his appeal below) Shahid Noor's condition was deteriorating fast. Acetone has been found in his urine. Our people are trying urgently to get the Chief Minister to intervene.

This urgent message just arrived from Bhopal: "Yesterday was the fourth day. the docs have been getting acetone in the urine [pl check on the web re implications of acetone in urine] since the 9th July. Shahid is not doing very well. I have requested some one to talk to the Chief Minister within the next hour. We are trying to gather as many people as possible by whatever means we have."

We call on readers of Bhopal.Net to make urgent individual protests to Chief Minister Digvijay Singh. Please phone or fax him. Ask him to meet the protesting orphans and to keep the promise he made to them in 1994 when they were children used by him as mascots of the disaster.

00 91 755 244 2255 [personal phone]
00 91 755 254 0500 [fax]

Police brutality against Bhopal survivors

The orphans' stories and updates from Bhopal

Read Sunil's story and remind yourself what happened during the terror of "that night", when these young people were orphaned

Shahid Noor's appeal to "the people of this world"

This is my appeal to the people of the world. In the horrible Union Carbide tragedy of 1984 we lost our mother and father and for the last eighteen years every moment has been a struggle. We have eked out our lives without any help from the company or the government.

In 1994 Digvijay Singh promised he'd provide us with the means to earn our own livings. We appeal to people all over the world to put pressure on Digvijay Singh to keep the promise he made to us. If anyone wants to help us set up work initiatives then that's another way to show support.

I'm okay. Who wouldn't feel weak after five days without water? There's a stove in my chest. I'm burning inside. When I wash my face I feel tempted to take a sip. When I see someone else drinking water my heart whispers let's have just a little drink. But then I think, 'if I drink what will happen to our struggle?'

I ask the One Above for strength, and I get a lot of strength from my friends. Our life is so difficult but we have friends whose condition is worse than ours. My wife Firdaus understands all this very well, she feels the same. She's my friend. If I'm not afraid, she's not afraid. We have two children - a girl Nahi Parvin of six and our little boy Aman, who is eight months old.

I am confident that we will win. Our wishes will be met.

Shahid Noor has now gone five days without water. "I'm burning inside."

Click on picture for
Hindi text of Shahid's appeal

Chief Minister orders Bhopal police to attack orphans of "that night"

BHOPAL 10 JULY Tonight in Bhopal, a group of young people orphaned by Union Carbide's poisons on 3rd December 1984 were set upon by a forty-strong squad of police. Two women were among those beaten up. This is the latest in a long series of police attacks on gas victims. In November Chief Minister Digvijay Singh was forced to apologise for police brutality against victims and their supporters seeking to contain dangerous poisons abandoned in the open at Union Carbide's derelict factory. Police stories here.

Read Sunil's story and remind yourself what happened during the terror of "that night".

The orphans were protesting that Chief Minister Singh has broken promises he made to them. Over many years as children they were paraded like mascots before a string of visiting dignitaries. They met Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi, and V.P. Singh, President Shankar Dayal Sharma, but now they are grown up, their usefulness is over.

Seeking loans under a government scheme established to help poor people start up their own small businesses, they have been shunted from one government official to another for months without result. Compensation due to them has not been paid, they have been asked for bribes to progress their claims.

Inspired by the global hunger strikes of 2002 and 2003, the orphans vowed to go without food or water until Digvijay Singh met them to discuss their grievances. Leading opposition politicians and survivors' leaders including Rasheeda Bee, Champa Devi Shukla and Abdul Jabbar visited the protest to register their support. Many survivors came to sit with with them. After three days without food or water, several of the orphans were already in a critical condition when the police attacked. More, plus resources for journalists.

URGENT: PROTEST STRONGLY TO CHIEF MINISTER DIGVIJAY SINGH

These men led the police attack:
(left) Sanjay Borkar, Station House, (right) Brajkumar Rusia, Sub Divisional Magistrate

Sunil Kumar, 32, lost both his parents and five siblings on "that night"
Read his story here.

Eliminating poisons would be bad for our health

The Indian Chemicals Manufacturing Association (ICMA) is no less greedy and irresponsible than its colleagues in the United States. Just far more stupid.

It does not want the Indian government to ratify the Stockholm Convention, an international treaty which seeks to eliminate persistent organic pollutants. Why? Because says the PR genius who writes its press statements, "the globally legally binding treaty would be detrimental to the health of the Indian chemical industry."

Never mind human health, eh? Who cares about dead, breathless, disabled, cancer-ridden, birth-defect prone people, when there's a few shekels to be made? Well this is the true lesson of Bhopal.

The Indian chemical industry is growing fast and U.S. companies want a chunk of the market, but are also demanding guarantees that they will escape prosecution if a Bhopal-type situation occurs.

Dow Chemical, still stoutly refusing to clean up its subsidiary Union Carbide's severely polluted factory in Bhopal. manufactures, sells and promotes as safe in India the pesticide Dursban, which is banned in the United States. Whole sordid story here

Forthcoming ICMA advertisement
designed to win hearts and minds

US chemical industry agonises over its rotten image

Aaaiiiiiieeeee!!! Much soul-searching among US toxics-makers, who are worried about their nose-diving reputation among the general public. You have to feel for these chemical brethren. They have done their best. After the unprecedented horror of Bhopal they did what any set of right thinking and responsible corporations would - they set up a PR programme.

The trouble is that Responsible Care as the spin is sentimentally known, has failed to allay public fears raised by such things as massive dioxin pollution in the Tittabawassee river basin, and vinyl chloride poisonings at Plaquemine, Louisiana.

So the corporations have thought again. Their brilliant solution - a PR campaign!!! According to the intriguingly named Ethical Corporation Online. the American Chemistry Council plans to spend $120 million a year on PR to improve the industry's poor image.

It might win the US chemical industry some real kudos if it were to spend that money cleaning up its mess. It could start with Union Carbide's abandoned plant in Bhopal. Ridiculous tale here.

Instead of spending $120,000,000 a year on PR nobodywill ever believe anyway, use it to clean up the poisonous mess Union Carbide left behind in Bhopal