Hundreds of NYC Students “Die” on 25th Anniversary of Bhopal Chemical Disaster: Massive Photogenic “Human Installation” in Union Square
December 3, 209–Today hundreds of students in NYC joined protests around the world demanding accountability from Dow Chemical Company and the Indian government. Several hundred students from Parsons the New School, as part of an all freshman “Laboratory” class, used their bodies in a massive public installation spelling out the words D-O-W in Union Square North. Other participants held up placards spelling out, “Clean Up Bhopal,” in the background.
“It’s no surprise that hundreds of New School students volunteered to die today to call out the continued death and devastation in Bhopal that Dow Chemical refuses to take responsibility for,” said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men, also a faculty member at the school, whose lecture to the freshman class had precipitated the action. “It’s great to see students continuing the feisty legacy of the New School.”
To this day Dow has refused to face trial in India, both civil and criminal (the company is named in a criminal case for harboring a fugitive, former Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson).
“We’re here to remind people in New York and elsewhere that Bhopalis continue to die from the after-effects of that disaster,” said Adriane Corwin, an organizer with the Bhopal campaign who has lived and worked in Bhopal. “Children are still drinking water full of toxins and carcinogens. That’s the real Human Element,” referring to Dow’s pricey PR and marketing campaign (www.dow.com/hu).
“Dow is acting really douchey,” said Rocco Ferrer, a part-time Yes Man and fashion blogger who helped arrange the “installation” of dead students. “Clean up your mess already and make Bhopal fabulous.”
Read More at the Yes Men Website
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