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Protests, Documentary,
and "RTS" Actions Students from AID College Park organized an awareness campaign
on campus and got signatures from more than 100 students asking
Dow to clean up Bhopal. Meanwhile at Johns Hopkins University, we
talked about the campaign with the JHU chapter of AID and requested
many of the volunteers there to sign the petition to Dow and collect
signatures from their co-workers. Many of the people that we spoke
with attended the screening of "Hunting Warren Anderson"
that we hosted on the 4th of December at the University of Maryland,
College Park campus. On Dec 3rd evening, several of us went to the Watergate, the residence of one of the Dow directors - Barbara Franklin. She had gone for a dinner at the White House and had instructed the security *NOT* to accept anything from us. When we showed that it was just a label saying *DO NOT DRINK THE WATER*, the security refused to accept it. The security also refused to accept a letter from us, they told us that we need to give it to her personally. Later in the evening, a few of us drove up to another director's house - Paul Stern. Half a mile driveway literally (quarter mile is better approximation I guess), every 50 feet with motion detector lamps and to scare Khushi - Dogs Beware sign. He was also out for dinner. Nevertheless we left a message that we would be back. Protesting Boardmember
Barbara Franklin On December 3rd, 2004, supporters of ICJB in Washington DC, including members of the College Park chapter of AID, paid a visit to Dow board member Barbara Hackman Franklin's office to deliver a letter from the group, the book Trespass Against Us: Dow Chemical and the Toxic Century and a vial of contaminated Bhopal well water. About 50 people attended the event, which was covered by the AFP, the Hindustan Times, Reuters, and Independent media. "The historic Watergate Complex in Washington, DC, is also the reputed hideout of Dow Chemical Board member and criminal accomplice Barbara Franklin, and it's here that the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal chose to mark the 20th anniversary of the chemical gas disaster at Bhopal, India, the worst industrial accident in history, in which nearly 20,000 people died at the hands of the Union Carbide Corporation. Dow Chemical purchased Union Carbide four years ago, but to this day refuses to assume responsibility for the cleanup of the Bhopal accident site, or compensation for the victims. "...And so it was that our man from Greenpeace was unable to enter the Watergate Office Building, obstructed by security flunkies who refused to deliver a copy of a letter and the vial of polluted drinking water from a Bhopal well to Barbara Franklin's office, claiming that Ms. Franklin was 'out of the office', but if you ask me, the security goons were spooked by the vial, probably fearing a 'bioterror threat'. Yeah, you never can tell what Al Qaeda might be able to do with four or five ounces of poisoned Bhopal well water." Calling on the Indian Gov't to Agree to a Cleanup On June 15th, 2004, non-resident Indians, students and other supporters
gathered outside the Indian embassy in Washington, DC, and the four
Indian consulates (New York, San Francisco, Houston, and Chicago)
in the US to demand that the Indian Government allow Union Carbide
to cleanup its abandoned factory site in Bhopal, if ordered by a
US Court. Many of the protestors also pledged to join a global relay
hunger strike if the government continues to delay action. In Washington DC around 11:30 am, about 10 people from AID gathered in front of the Indian Embassy. We got all set up around noon. In the meantime security officers of the Indian Embassy were doing their job, trying to inquire where were from. We held posters saying "Remember Bhopal" and No more Bhopal. The security guard was pretty nice and said that whenever we wanted to meet with the officials in the embassy to let him know. Around 1:00 pm we meet with Mr. A.K. Gupta who is the Minister of Community Affairs. I asked him on Indian Government's inaction towards issuing the letter to New York District. He was not at all aware of this issue or maybe he was confused and he started to talk about Anderson's extradition progress. He also told us that he was aware of Dow being included as one of the accused in the ongoing criminal case and that he has gotten communication from Bombay on the issue. I gave him a little background on the current situation and he said that he will definitely convey our message to Indian Government. We also submitted the list of 1900 petitions that people have signed on and also made him aware of the 2300 petitions that have been signed and 250 people who have joined the hunger strike. Towards the end of the conversation he urged all of us to end our fast and leave the embassy premises since he will be taking this issue with the authorities in India. We decided to stay there for another hour or so and then we ended the protest. Divya came all the way down from John Hopkins University and Somnath came down from Princeton. It was great to see AID's enthusiasm and passion for Bhopal. We collected around 40 signatures for the petitions. Protest at the Indian
Embassy More than 1500 students descended on Indian Consulates and Government offices nationwide yesterday, April 15, 2005, to demand action and justice for Bhopal. The protests, organized by Amnesty International Group 133 (Somerville, Massachusetts), the Association for India's Development, and Students for Bhopal, made four key demands of the Indian Government:
..........• Enforce the clean-up
of the contaminated Bhopal site by the Union Carbide Corporation
(UCC)/Dow Chemical Company; The flagship demonstration, organized by Amnesty International Group 133, brought 1500 students to the Indian Consulate in New York as a part of their 10th-annual "Get on the Bus" protest. Satellite protests were also held in Washington, DC; Houston; and Chicago (April 20th); while other satellite actions targeted the Indian Government in San Francisco; Delhi; and Chennai, India. On April 15th, 2005, eight members of the Association for India's Development-College Park and other Bhopal supporters gathered in front of the Indian Embassy in Washington DC to protest, shout slogans, and deliver a letter to the Indian Government demanding justice for the Bhopal victims. The protest was a satellite action carried out in solidarity with the massive "Get on the Bus" protest in New York City. Following the hour-long protest, the Bhopal supporters delivered a copy of the Amnesty letter to Mr. AK Gupta, the Community Minister at Indian Consulate. "Mr. Gupta looks angry in the photo, and was apparently upset with our slogan shouting for Bhopal." Embassy Demonstration & 3-Day Solidarity Fast NRIs Urge Acceptance of the Demands of the
Bhopali Survivors on Hunger-Strike Washington DC, March 16, 2007: Volunteers of the Association for
India’s Development (AID), Students for Bhopal and other concerned
groups of the Indian diaspora held a vibrant protest outside the
Indian Embassy in Washington DC yesterday, demonstrating their outrage
and alarm at the callousness and apathy of the governments of Madhya
Pradesh and West Bengal and complete disregard for the life of the
common citizen, as evinced from the recent happenings in Bhopal
and Nandigram. Solidarity fasts by over 15 concerned citizens are being held in front of the embassy for the next 3 days (16th to 18th March) in support of the survivors in Bhopal who despite being on their 12th day of an indefinite hunger strike demanding some basic amenities like poison-free drinking water and access to competent medical care, are yet to hear from the Madhya Pradesh government. The fasters in Washington DC are also strongly condemning the brutal killing of farmers in Nandigram, in an unprecedented act of inhuman violence unleashed by the state machinery on 14th March, 2007. While the official estimate of the death toll at Nandigram is between 14 and 20, non-governmental sources on the ground are reporting that the death toll may have crossed 100. Many are reportedly missing and do not count in official death tolls. It is feared that several bodies may have been dumped in the sea so they cannot be identified. Prof Mohan Bhagat, director of the Association for India’s Development and a faculty at the University of Maryland, says: “As Indians living in the diaspora we are truly hanging our heads in shame when people ask us what is wrong with India that claims to be a big player on the world scene but can only do so by spilling the blood of her own people?” He urges the Indian ruling elite to abandon all anti-people policies and devise methods that will lead to the betterment of the citizens from the bottom up. Overwhelming concern and support for the Bhopali survivors has poured in from all corners of the world - over 2000 faxes have been sent to the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Mr Shivraj Singh Chouhan and over 350 phone calls made to various government offices in India, urging the government to accept the basic demands of the survivors. Somu Kumar, a volunteer with Students for Bhopal, who is on a fast in Washington DC, says, "The fact that six Bhopal survivors are in a hunger-strike for last 10 days for the most basic of all needs -- clean-drinking water -- is appalling; more worrying is the fact that Madhya Pradesh Government is turning a blind-eye to their just demands. It makes me wonder whether we are living in a democracy." In a separate petition to the Chief Minister of West Bengal which has received over 400 signatures in less than a day, the advocates are demanding an independent probe into the killings of farmers in Nandigram, withdrawal of police and armed party cadres from the area, and immediate action by the state government to economically rehabilitate the bereaved and the affected. An outraged Arun Gopalan, president of the Maryland chapter of AID, comments: “While people in Bhopal are waiting for justice for the last 23 years, people in Nandigram are being killed so that they do not even exist to seek justice! Do we want India to shine with the blood of it own citizens? Is this the sort of development we want to see? ” Arun will also join the solidarity fast. In Bhopal, on the 14th day of the "Jeene kaa Haq" (Right to Live) campaign led by four Bhopal Chemical Disaster Survivors organizations, 6 representatives of survivors of the world's worst industrial disaster started an indefinite fast on March 5th, demanding medical care, economic and social rehabilitation and protection from Union Carbide's poisons that have killed and maimed for 22 years. The survivors also work with those affected by ground water contamination from the abandoned Union Carbide factory site where the deadly 1984 accident occurred. Current Carbide owner Dow Chemical so far has refused to clean up the site. The hunger strikers include Goldman Environmental Prize winner Rashida Bee, who lost six family members to cancer, and herself suffers from chronic health problems ever since the disaster. Somu reports:
March 18 update from Somu: AID-MD volunteers' Fast is going on well - Some of the volunteers are fasting for 3rd day today and many others are fasting for two/one day. All volunteers are very focused and the fasting has not brought their energy down, or should I say their commitment; this is evident from the decibel of their slogans. "Clean water for Bhopal" and "Justice for Bhopal" slogan should be irritating the ear-drums of Embassy officials for the fourth day today [fortunately, some high officials came on weekend too]. They had to face the angry volunteers every time they step-in or out of the Embassy. Volunteers carried the pictures of all six fasters and praised their great commitment with slogans: "Rashida Bi, Zindabad!", "Rachna Dhingra, Zindabad!", "Jabbar Khan, Zindabad!"... translating to "Fasters, Long live!". Dr. Bhagat movingly talked about the suffering of the Bhopalis and that of the fasters and encouraged the volunteers on the need for solidarity and our continued support. Volunteers also showed their strong protest to Nandigram killings and demanded Justice for the survivors. Their slogans also demanded proper rehabilitation for the survivors and that CM Buddadeb step down for his brutal killings of the villagers. Currently, Sunday afternoon, we are in front of the Embassy for the fourth day in succession and are sure of the fact that Ambassador and his colleagues know our demand. One of the officials promised us that the demands will certainly be forwarded to the Indian Government. 17th Anniversary Protest at the Indian Embassy AIDers were amongst a small, determined crowd gathered at the Indian embassy on December 3rd, 2001, to press the Indian government to address the continuing suffering of the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy. The protesters decried the Indian government's failure to extradite Warren Anderson, then-CEO of Union Carbide, even after he had been declared an "absconder" by courts. They also held Dow Chemicals, which recently bought out Union Carbide, responsible for the latter's liabilities. "You cannot swallow a company's assets and spit out its liabilities," said Manoj Saranathan of AID-Maryland. They demanded that "Dow must compensate the victims, arrange for their medical care, and clean up the contaminated site and the drinking water. After 17 years, people are still sick and are still dying. This issue has not gone away." Globalization Film Series On November 20th, 2004, AID-College Park sponsored “In The Era of Globalization in India – Who Pays?", a film series critically analyzing some of the heavy prices that the poor and the marginalized in India have paid in our journey towards Industrialization. The films screened include Bhopal: The Search for Justice, India and Free Trade: A Closer Look at Bhopal, and Buddha weeps at Jadugoda. "Bhopal & Beyond" On December 3rd, 2005, “Justice in South Asia” presented “Bhopal and Beyond: People’s Struggles in South Asia,” an afternoon of documentary films and theater on struggles for social, economic, and environmental justice in the region. Co-sponsored by the Association for India's Development (AID) Maryland chapter, Amnesty International USA, and Mobilization for Global Justice, the program featured a screening of “India and Free Trade: A Closer Look at Bhopal” as well as “Andolan Jari Chha” (The Struggle Continues) about the continuing struggle for democracy and Human Rights in Nepal, and “The Pit,” a play on religious fundamentalism in the Indian sub-continent. About 40 people attended the event, and participated in the discussion afterwards. Vigil Marks Indefinite Fast in Delhi On April 11, 2006, 15 members of the AID College Park
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chapter
and other Bhopal 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
The international student campaign to hold Dow
accountable for Bhopal, and its other toxic legacies around the world.
For more information about the campaign, or for problems regarding this
website, contact Ryan
Bodanyi, the Coordinator of Students for Bhopal.
WE
ALL LIVE 
IN
BHOPAL
"The year 2003 was a special year in the history of the campaign for justice in Bhopal. It was the year when student and youth supporters from at least 30 campuses in the US and India took action against Dow Chemical or in support of the demands of the Bhopal survivors. As we enter the 20th year of the unfolding Bhopal disaster, we can, with your support, convey to Dow Chemical that the fight for justice in Bhopal is getting stronger and will continue till justice is done. We look forward to your continued support and good wishes, and hope that our joint struggle will pave the way for a just world free of the abuse of corporate power."
Signed/ Rasheeda Bi, Champa Devi Shukla
Bhopal Gas Affected Women Stationery Employees Union
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
This is what the www.studentsforbhopal.org site looked like in early 2008. For more recent information, please visit www.bhopal.net.