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Cambridge Council Dumps Dow Chemical, Cites Bhopal
Progressive Groups “Weigh the Evidence” at City Hall
(click here for the resolution!)

Cambridge City Hall - Activists representing peace, the environment, labor and human rights climbed a giant ‘scale of justice’ at 5:30pm on Tuesday, September 26th, 2006 to celebrate Cambridge’s unanimous passage of the ‘Justice for Bhopal’ resolution. The legislation asks the City to take shareholder and purchasing action against Dow Chemical until the company faces its responsibilities to the Bhopal Chemical Disaster survivors.

Several activists mounted a seesaw-like “scale of justice” atop a “toxic waste barrel” at the Cambridge City Hall this evening, stranding the “Dow Chemical Grim Reaper” in the air, waving a scythe around angrily.

Dow Chemical is the company activists say is responsible for clean up and medical care for the half million survivors of the 1984 Bhopal Chemical Disaster. Supporters of the Resolution say it will hold the corporation accountable for its human rights violations in Bhopal, India, as well as protect Cambridge residents from some of Dow’s toxic products. Councilor Henrietta Davis, Councilor Marjorie Decker and Vice Mayor Tim Toomey sponsored the resolution which was strongly supported by local labor, peace and justice groups.

Harvard St. resident Namarata Bhasin commented, “Ten to 15 people are dying each month in Bhopal, yet Dow Chemical continues to avoid responsibility. These poisons did not come from nowhere, we cannot let them continue to get away with murder.”

“This resolution is the strongest action Cambridge can take to hold a corporate criminal accountable. We do not ever want a disaster like Bhopal to occur again. This kind of lawlessness cannot be tolerated,” Coalition for Justice in Bhopal member Aquene Freechild said, dressed in white to represent the peace movement resolution backers.

The resolution asks the Cambridge Retirement Board to use their ~12,000 shares in Dow to co-file shareholder resolutions regarding Bhopal and to divest of Dow bonds until Dow addresses the survivor’s demands. It also requests a report of what Dow products the city buys and options for substitution.

“People concerned with how our increasingly globalized economy develops, should be thrilled about this policy,” said Nate Stell from local Amnesty International Group 133. “Allowing Dow Chemical to act with impunity sets a very dangerous precedent in international commerce with respect to human rights. It’s important to that we let Dow and other would-be offenders know that we will not stand for these kinds of abuses.”

Harvard student Kaveri Rajaraman said, “Dow Chemical continues to violate safety standards, and the victims of Dow in the US and abroad continue to mount. This resolution will push for clean up of the toxic contamination in Bhopal and hold Dow to better safety standards.”

The 1984 Union Carbide Chemical Disaster in Bhopal, India has left more than 20,000 people dead in the past 22 years. Union Carbide, bought by Dow Chemical in 2001, has refused to face manslaughter charges in Bhopal or to clean up the site that has poisoned the drinking water for 20,000 people according to Amnesty International.

Endorsing Organizations Include: Activate South Asia (Harvard) - Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia - Amnesty International Groups 133 & 563 (Somerville & Cambridge) - Area 4 Coalition - Association for India’s Development -Boston Mayday Coalition (labor) - Cambridge United for Justice with Peace - Clean Water Action (Mass.) - Dollarsandsense.org - Environmental Health Fund - Groundwork USA - Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice – Harvard Law School Advocates for Human Rights Environmental Group - Healthy Building Network - Mass Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health - Mass. Jobs with Justice - South Asia Center - Stop the Wars Coalition - Student Labor Action Movement

Aquene adds:
"We had a group of 20 supporters there all dressed in red and wearing Bhopal buttons in a show of solidarity although we asked only 5 of these people to speak in session. In addition, we had 20 local groups endorsing the campaign. In open session, Cambridge residents who had come to speak about issues different from Bhopal were moved by the issue and added their support before they made their own comments."

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Spoiling Dow Recruiting

On October 17, 2006, the Boston Coalition for Justice in Bhopal made sure that MIT students attending a Dow recruiting session got the real story, not just Dow’s feel-good propaganda.

About 30 chemistry and chemical engineering doctoral candidates and post-docs were interested enough to come to the MIT recruiting session, but after learning about Dow’s crimes around the world, it’s doubtful that many will end up working there.

Aquene picks up the story:
Two of us postered MIT on Monday morning with mock "Human Element" posters to raise awareness about Bhopal and Dow's other crimes against humanity in advance of the session. The chemical engineering folks removed a few of these signs but most remain up.

This morning I chalked all around where the event was to be held with body tracings, the death and poisoning counts from the back of the Bhopal T-shirt (i.e. Poisoned by Dow: Asbestos - 550, Bhopal - 150,000, Pesticide Poisoning Worldwide - Millions, etc.)

The chalkings got a lot of positive attention. Then we put up new full color posters of the Dow Human element campaign (which career services tore down almost completely).

We showed up 15 minutes before the session started and handed out information to everyone who came to the session. We were dressed professionally and our information was very nicely laid out so most people thought we were with Dow. (everyone took it except for people paid by career services). [We gave them the clinic brochure, the executive summary of the amnesty report and one of the mock Dow ads] We taped up the Amnesty "Zaki is Dead" posters (about more recent deaths in Bhopal) up on the walls outside of the session.

The chemical engineering career services people tried to get us to stop handing out information, then asked us to hand it out outside the room (I had gone in to make sure that everyone who attended got handouts). We agreed (and handed them out just outside the door of the room). They then tried to convince us to go away as this was a private event paid for by Dow and was really only open to chemical engineering grad students. We said we are MIT students and we have a right to be here and it was on the public calendar so it is clearly not only a chemical engineering event. The woman was flustered.

Then they sent a chemical engineering professor out to ask us questions and find out if we were MIT students or not. Since we were both MIT grad and post docs it seemed like a silly conversation. He may have been trying to intimidate us, who knows. They asked us again not to speak in the session. Then they said it was unfair for us to hand out information because people thought it was from Dow and we should explain at the beginning that this information is not from Dow. They then realized this was a horrible idea, as they were giving us a bully pulpit and decided to make the announcement themselves.

We came in right as the presentation was starting and sat in the very front so that they would have to make a scene to try to kick us out. The presentation started with the Human Element theme. I held a Bhopal poster on my lap so the people sitting behind me could see it. We had distributed questions in advance. We watched Dow's powerpoint presentation where Dow claimed to be a sustainable and respectful company and laughed amongst ourselves, astonished at their shamelessness. The first presenter was a bit dopey, saying things like, "Dow will treat you like a real full time employee," and "you can work within a continent or between the continents." The first person's presentation ended with a question session, but the career services folks quickly decided to keep all the questions for the end when they realized that we might derail the session before the presentation was even halfway over.

We patiently sat through the second session by Don Patrick on all their fun high throughout chemistry processes blah blah blah. The career services person decided to moderate the session to try to keep us from speaking since the Dow people had no way of knowing who we were and the career services people could pick us out (good thing we didn't wear Bhopal T-shirts). Nonetheless, the Dow folks kept calling on us and overriding the career services person.

Roshan: You say that Dow is a company governed by principles of sustainability, yet you have not cleaned up Bhopal where 20,000 people are drinking poisoned water and Midland Michigan is contaminated with dioxin, how do you reconcile these things?

Dow guys: Well we don't know that much about that stuff, but we know the people that work in Environment Health and Safety EH&S. They are very nice people, really honest people who really want to make things better. I know Dow is a good company and that they are responsible in taking care of issues like Bhopal (not verbatim). As for Michigan, everyone lives in Midland, the Dow CEOs live there.

An exchange ensued between them because the Dow guys really got caught up in defending the company.

The career services woman was really pissed and said ‘let’s move on and take another question’ (people in the room seemed to want this too). Unfortunately for her she happened to call on one of our people who had come in later and who she could not have recognized.

John: Speaking again of Bhopal, which is in my country, India, if you knew about the horrific case of the Bhopal Disaster and you are so sustainable, why did you buy Union Carbide in the first place?

Dow Guys: It was a good financial deal (in short)

A few other questions were then asked by people the career services person actually knew personally, but then, Oh no! The Dow guys try to take control again and make the mistake of calling on Aquene (a white person, must be safer) who asks: I want to come back to Michigan… are you saying that nearly 9,000 ppb of dioxin in some places is healthy to live in? Do the Dow CEOs live in the dioxin-contaminated areas? People can't sell their homes…Are you telling me that Dow is doing its very best to clean up the mess? This has been a problem since 1986. Is there a place that new employees can live that is not dioxin contaminated?

Dow Guys: I don’t know where you are getting those numbers from. There have been position papers written looking at the dioxin issue.

Career Services Woman: I think that should be the end of our questions session. Thank you all so much for coming. If you have any further questions come up to the front and ask them. (Deciding to cut her losses by finishing 20 minutes early)

As soon as people start lining up to talk to the Dow guys, I start writing Dow facts on the Board about the manslaughter charges Dow isn't facing, the number of deaths in Bhopal
..........• thetruthaboutdow.org
..........• About the styrene accident in Delaware this past August and a similar accident in 1997 also from a tanker car - yet Dow says safety standards are getting better?
..........• About how Dow was convicted of not sharing key information on DBCP in 1983 by a jury and continued to poison people in Nicaragua with it through 1985 after a 1977 ban on the chemical, about Dursban in India, etc. etc.

Everyone who was waiting in line to talk to the Dow guys read this stuff.

Only 2 people left the information we handed out to them in the room, everyone else took it with them. We spoke to the Dow guys after the meeting and I gave Trespass Against Us to the more clueless guy, suggesting he read the 400 pages and then try to develop counter arguments. The more experienced guy asked us on the way out if we had ever asked Dow for these positions on these things. We laughed and said yes but they don't want to talk to us. It was a good night!

We went out for dinner to celebrate!

Lessons learned:
..........• Keep a low profile - if they hadn’t been able to easily identify me I could have possibly spoken at the beginning of the session as I did the Tufts session over a year ago.
..........• Don’t sit together – it makes it easier for them to ID you
..........• Have some high profile people put up website information and other stuff in the room – if you have enough folks to also ask tough questions later. Nice to have bad activist/‘good-but-curious student’ roles.
..........• Do chalking around the building, and postering too - this rattles them in advance and gives you an advantage *but also better prepares them to thwart you.
..........• Do pre-write statements so that the few chances you get to say something are fact filled and on message.
..........• Take photos (if you can)

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The Survivors Speak

AID Boston hosted ICJB's talk by Rashida Bi and Champa Devi Shukla at MIT on May 3rd, 2004. Nityanand, from ICJB, served as a translator for both. The event was publicized on AID Boston's, many MIT, and some non-MIT mailing lists, and we put event flyers were put around. About 40 people attended the event - most of them were not previously seen in AID's talks, which was a positive sign.

Champa Devi talked about experience of her family on the night of MIC gas leak in Bhopal, and how the affects of gas exposure haunted her family tragically in the following years. Rashida Bee emphasized the four demands they have of Dow - the extradition of Warren Anderson, chief executive officer of Union Carbide at the time of the disaster, to face culpable homicide charges in India; monitoring of the victims' health and disclosure about the ill effects of the leaked chemicals; cleanup of the site; and economic support for those affected. They concluded by referring to their recent inroads, including getting a US Appeals court to pass an order asking Indian government to pass an order if it wants Dow to clean up the site.

The event was covered in India New England newspaper.

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Halloween: Dow is Death

On Nov. 7, 2005, Sherry, Aquene, Suvrat, Kaveri and Neeraj reached several hundred people with fliers taped with chocolate gold coins telling the Bhopal story and that ‘Dow profits from Death’. Signatures for the “Don’t Work for Dirty Dow Pledge” were also collected. Students responded well to the Dow Grim Reaper Costume.

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Documentary Screening

In recognition of the Global Day of Action Against Corporate Crime and in remembrance of the victims of Bhopal, on December 13th, 2004, the Boston chapter of the Association for India's Development, Doctors for Global Health, the South Asian Center & the Alliance for Secular and Democratic South Asia sponsored a screening of "Hunting Warren Anderson" attended by approximately 50 people. A flyer for the event can be found at www.aidboston.org/files/bhopalflyer2.pdf.

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Anniversary Protest for Justice in Bhopal
(click here for photos and the press release!)

Protesting outside Boston Commons A discussion followed Joining in solidarity for Bhopal

On December 3rd, 2005, the 21st Anniversary of the Bhopal disaster, the Boston Coalition for Justice in Bhopal held a candlelight vigil in Boston Commons (Park Street T Stop) during Rush Hour, starting at 4:15. Even though it was a windy and cold day, a lot of folks braved the winds for a solemn memorial to the lives lost and in solidarity with the Bhopal survivors. The Justice For Bhopal banner, the recitation of the powerful survivor accounts, short handouts, and the large posters raised awareness amongst a lot of people during the rush hour in front of Park Street subway station.

Then we walked to the Community Church for a screening of the 17-minute Bhopal documentary, “Twenty Years Without Justice.” We had a round of introductions for some new interested folks and tried to encourage planning for next year for the Bhopal campaign followed by going to dinner together.

So, it was a successful event over all for the coalition. We hope to also continue the momentum from this year and plan more things for next year.

Boston Coalition For Justice in Bhopal is a group that was formed for Bhopal action throughout the year with various Boston based groups in the middle of this year. The members of the group are: AID Boston, Somerville Amnesty International Chapter, Environment Health Fund, South Asia Center and Alliance For Secular and Democratic South Asia. The overall coordinator for this group is Aquene Freechild from Environment Health Fund/Students For Bhopal.

Read this article in JSONS! Read more in India New England!

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Bhopal Seminar

On March 4, 2004, the Program on Human Rights and Justice hosted a seminar entitled Industrial Impunity: Remembering the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. The program began with the screening of a short documentary film put together by Shahid Nanavanti. The film was a composite of photographs and visual information accented by a poignant narration about the tragic events and aftermath of December 3, 1984 in Bhopal. After the showing of the documentary, Shahid spoke some about his inspiration and aims for the creation of the film.

After Shahid finished speaking, Dr. Ken Geiser, director of the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute continued the seminar. Dr. Geiser spoke, first, of his experience visiting Bhopal almost immediately after the tragedy and the profound impact it had had on his life. He then spoke about his work to reduce the use and production of toxic chemicals in Massachusetts. This work, he explained, serves as an example of how we might restructure corporations to be more socially responsible and prevent future Bhopals.

Following Dr. Geiser’s remarks, Matt Lehrich, a Student Organizer with the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal spoke. His comments focused on the current student movement and continued effort to bring about justice for the people of Bhopal. In particular, he highlighted the vital importance of setting a precedent of corporate accountability so that future corporations will not cut costs on safety and sacrifice people for profits. After all three speakers finished, the roughly 20 people in attendance posed questions for the three of them. These questions and their answers sparked discussion among everyone in the room about how to help the people of Bhopal and how to work towards making sure such a terrible tragedy never occurs again.

Read more about the event in the India New England News.

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'Die in' at Copley Square

On May 6, 2006, members of the Boston Coalition for Justice in Bhopal joined supporters in three other cities – Seattle, Cincinnati, and Portland – in taking action in advance of the Dow Shareholders Meeting.

Supporters in Boston organized a ‘die-in’ at Copley Square, covering bodies with white shrouds. The names of those killed in the 1984 Disaster, and those who died as recently as 2004, were perched atop the veiled bodies, much the way unidentified bodies were numbered after the gas leak. The Dow Grim Reaper passed among the victims symbolizing Dow Chemical's role in the ongoing poisoning of 20,000 Bhopal residents forced to drink contaminated water. Dry ice haze mimicked the methyl isocyanate gas that leaked from the Union Carbide plant 21 years ago after midnight, causing over 8,000 people to drown in their own fluids within days of the gas leak.

"I have family in Bhopal and feel that while I am in the US, it is my responsibility to use my privilege in the interests of justice for the victims," said Suvrat Raju, a Physics Ph.D candidate at Harvard at the Boston event.

"Dow Chemical's behavior in Bhopal is symbolic of the behavior of much of the chemical industry. The industry has changed little since this tragedy – learned little from 22,000 deaths in Bhopal. We have poor chemical security laws here in the US, despite 110 facilities that could endanger more than a million people. We all live in Bhopal." said Aquene Freechild, posing as the Dow Chemical Grim Reaper in Boston.

Several hundred passers-by witnessed the demonstration, which was also covered by the Boston Herald!

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Rachna Speaks on Bhopal

Rachna Dhingra from Bhopal, invigorated a 50 strong audience in a classroom of MIT on a snowy Monday night. The talk, titled “We all live in Bhopal”, on 22nd Jan 2007 was sponsored by Association for India’s Development, Amnesty and Boston Coalition for Justice in Bhopal. Rachna is an organizer for the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal and an AID Jeevansaathi. Above all, she lives and works with survivors of the gas disaster which killed over 20,000 people and continues to take a toll of 30 lives a month, even after 22 years. In Feb-March of 2006, Rachna along with many survivors, undertook an arduous walk of 800 Km from Bhopal to Delhi to convey the 6 demands of the survivors groups to the Prime Minister, 4 of which were met.

Rachna’s talk started off by explaining how the worst industrial disaster, on the intervening night of 2nd and 3rd Dec. 1984, was in the making for many years. Rather than an unfortunate accident, it was a result of deliberate neglect, disregard for the lives of poor and putting profit above all. She touched upon the haphazard long term medical response of the Govt. of India and the inadequate, late and mismanaged compensation disbursal. People had fallen in debt traps by the time the first compensation arrived. Rachna highlighted the ongoing disaster of the ground water contamination, being caused by the chemicals lying in the abandoned factory site and the sickness it was causing amongst the communities living in the vicinity. These discussion elicited many queries from the audience and it organically turned into an interactive session of questions, answers and passionate perspectives.

Protests, marches, petitions and research have sustained the demand for justice by survivors groups for 22 years, of which Rachna is an integral part. Through her presentation and interactions, Rachna gave glimpses of the perspectives of the survivors – of their pain and sufferings; of their unwavering quest for justice; of their wisdom and resilience. “People have to become a voice not victims”, said Rachna. And that applies to all of us, not just survivors in Bhopal.

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Screening of "Bhopal Express"

On Sunday, May 1, 2004, as part of a two-day program on Bhopal, AID Boston and Students for Bhopal sponsored a screening of Bhopal Express at MIT with the help of MIT’s Lecture Series Committee. The event was attended by roughly 70 people, who seemed to find the film entertaining but shocking. Following the film, there was a brief discussion about the current state of affairs in Bhopal and the need for much greater corporate accountability. In the second half of the two-day series, Bhopal survivors and Goldman Environmental Prize winners, Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla will be speaking at MIT on Monday, May 2.

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Film Screening and Discussion with Raj Sharma

On Saturday, May 20, 2000, the film Bhopal Express was screened at MIT, and donations were gathered to support the work of the Sambhavna Clinic in Bhopal. The film was followed by a discussion with Rajan Sharma, the attorney representing the Bhopal gas victims in the class action lawsuit filed in the United States. Organized by AID-Boston and Friends of the River Narmada.

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Vigil Marks Indefinite Fast in Delhi

On April 11, 2006, 12 members of the Boston Coalition for Justice in Bhopal and other supporters gathered to hold a solemn vigil in support of the indefinite fast begun by six Bhopal survivors and supporters in Delhi. The indefinite fast follows the epic 500-mile March to Delhi undertaken by several dozen gas- and water-affected Bhopal survivors. Similar vigils in support were held in the Bay Area, Seattle, College Park, Houston, Austin, and other cities across the country.

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