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Confronting the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister was in the San Francisco
Bay Area on Tuesday, May 16, 2007. A few of us from AID, FOSA, NBA
and Ruckus Society participated in a private luncheon that the MP
CM and his delegation was having with the investors from the area.
The luncheon started with the delegation painting a beautiful picture of why Madhya Pradesh is the ideal destination for investment and how they would bend over backwards to get the dollars and pounds. Speaker after speaker reiterated how anything and everything was negotiable for the investors and how every obstacle will be removed for the investments. When the MP CM took the podium and started talking, two of us unfurled a banner asking them to fulfill their responsibility in Narmada and Bhopal before coming across seas and wooing investors. The message went loud and clear across the hall and the delegates and investors were taken by surprise. The volunteers were ejected and the CM continued to propagandize about the state and its investment opportunities but he appeared to be a little thrown off by the incident. As he wrapped his speech, the CM wanted to clear up the cloud hanging
over Narmada and Bhopal and started making his stance saying all
was well with the communities and they have been taken care more
in a much better manner than promised. At this point, a volunteer
started distributing fliers saying why we shouldn't trust this man
as he has made many many such false promises. When the CM finished his rejoinder to the protest, one of us stood up and said she had been to the valley and the compensation was woefully inadequate and if he continued in this manner, the SEZs in his state will become like Nandigram. She was ejected from the room and they also attributed her speech to ignorance about ground realities in Madhya Pradesh because she lives in California. At this point, two of us left the room and left more fliers in the bags that the Madhya Pradesh delegation had assembled to give to the attendees (but left it carelessly outside the room). In the Q and A session, a volunteer questioned their credibility about Bhopal and Narmada to which the answers were indirect and reeked ignorance. Some of us followed them to the car with our questions. At a separate event in the evening, one other person showed up to question Mr. Chouhan on his relief and rehabilitation package for the Bhopalis and Narmada dam oustees, a visibly upset Chouhan refused to answer the question and the delegates, organizers asked the volunteer to leave as they did not want more problems like the afternoon. It is deplorable that public servants come to the US on public money in the name of doing good for the public but sit in private board rooms and not answer questions from the citizenry. 20th Anniversary
Film Screening & Discussion On December 5th, 2004, a screening of Bhopal: The Search for
Justice was held at the Bechtel International Center of Stanford
University. The screening was followed by a discussion with Nadeem
The AID-Bay Area Chapter also donated 25 copies of the new book about Dow’s toxic legacy, Trespass Against Us, and the new film about Bhopal, Twenty Years Without Justice, to various public libraries in the Bay Area. Bhopal Skit & March to Delhi On March 19, 2006, the Bay "The event was a great hit and we got a good number of people to sign the banner and talk to us about Bhopal. Over 200 fliers were distributed and with a visual glance at the banner, i could see around 100 signatures. The 6 minute skit was done about six to seven times in the day. It was a great team work and special kudos to Jayanthi for directing the show and putting it together. We will present the banner to Consulate General after next week's enactments." 19th Anniversary
Vigil A committed group of about 20 community members and activists with
the Bay Area chapter of the Association for India's Development
gathered on the anniversary in Palo Alto's Lytton Plaza to commemorate
the 19th anniversary of the 1984 Bhopal Gas Disaster. The candlelight
vigil was marked by a spirit of solidarity, by poetry readings and
also talks by activists and a child-survivor's father, and was organized
by the Bay Area chapter of the Association for India's Development
(AID). Addressing the gathering - people assembled in a circle with each holding a lit candle - Saratoga resident and AID volunteer Srividhya Venkataraman declared the purpose of the vigil. "We are gathered here to mourn for the dead and to fight for the living." She then went on to give a background about the disaster and the current status and many of the demands of the survivors that remain unfulfilled till today. After this background was described at the vigil, another AID volunteer Rajesh Veeraraghavan informed the attendees that approximately 50 similar group actions were planned in 16 countries across the globe to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the disaster. A vigil attendee, Sukesh Pai, then read a hard-hitting poem Torture Me by a Bhopal survivor describing her agony and anger against the corporation responsible for her misery. Huddled in a circle, the attendees also had the chance to hear a first person account from Vijay Rajvaidya who described his anxious moments in 1984 trying to find out about the well-being of his wife and then three month old son who were in Bhopal when the disaster happened. After some unsuccessful attempts at reaching top governmental officials and politicians he was helped by India's army chief who personally inquired and informed Rajvaidya about his family's safety. Rajvaidya who was then a student in the US on a limited income said that he was saddled with a huge phone bill and wrote to Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson with a request for reimbursement. "Needless to say that I never heard anything from Union Carbide office...not even a note of sympathy." Rajvaidya's son was also present at the vigil. The participants of the vigil, who came from various parts of India, pledged to take at least one action to express solidarity with the people of Bhopal who are struggling for their rights. They raised their candles while taking this pledge. Sunnyvale resident, Mathirajan Manoharan suggested two ideas. "One can write a letter to Dow Chemicals and ask them to address the demands of the people of Bhopal and one can also write the Indian consulate and ask them to expedite the process of extradition of Warren Anderson." 17th Anniversary Vigil Over 40 community residents and students in the Bay Area, on a wet December 2nd, 2001 evening, marked the 17th anniversary of the Union Carbide-created disaster in Bhopal through a mix of information, debate, solidarity and activism at Stanford University. The group watched the screening of the documentary A Cloud over Bhopal made by Gondwana Films, a Spanish television company. The documentary is inspired by a highly acclaimed book It was Five Past Midnight in Bhopal a book by Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro about the Bhopal Gas disaster. The short film sensitized the audience to the enormity and scope of the disaster and to the living tragedy that continues today - - The hundreds of thousands of Bhopal survivors and their struggle
- a large fraction of them from poor Muslim "bastis" (habitations); The film viewing was followed by a minute of silence in remembrance of the victims and in solidarity with the survivors. Addressing the group, CorpWatch's Amit Srivastava argued that DOW Chemicals which merged with Union Carbide, assumes its liability too not merely its assets. DOW has to be held accountable as to this day 17 years following the disaster, information on the composition and toxicity of the leaked gases has not be made public nor have or were the Bhopal medical professionals informed of an antidote. In addition DOW should assume liabilities for long-term medical problems of the survivors, their economic rehabilitation and the clean-up of the highly contaminated abandoned factory site in Bhopal and surrounding groundwater resources. Denny Larson, of the group Global Community Monitoring, spoke about the importance of communities taking ownership of monitoring the environmental quality in their neighborhood through the so-called "Bucket Brigades" - simple tools to monitor, sample and log air and water pollution data. He also talked about serious industrial accidents in the Bay Area itself, including the sulphur-trioxide gas leaks from the Richmond-based General Chemical Corporation's plant twice in the last week. This is why he said, "We all live in Bhopal"! The lively debate that followed covered a range of subjects including emphasis on the need to hold the Indian Government accountable as well and for it to demonstrate positive steps to extradite Warren Anderson, for communities to have effective tools to monitor corporate crime and laws to bring corporate criminals to justice, what we as a community can do for Bhopal and to deal with polluters in our own communities. Several members of the audience signed petitions to the Indian Ambassador urging the Indian Government to actively undertake extradition proceedings against Anderson. The event organized by an informal local group, Friends of Bhopal that came together to raise awareness about the Union Carbide created, and DOW inherited, disaster in Bhopal. Similar events were held across the world and in various Indian cities. Friends of Bhopal plans to continue to work with survivor groups in their struggle for justice. Indian Independence Day Protest at Consulate 14 August, 2002, San Francisco: Seeking justice for the survivors of the Bhopal Gas Disaster, a group of thirty-five Indians, activists and concerned citizens gathered for a rally outside the Chancery Bldg at 9:00 AM on Wednesday. The building on Arguello street houses the Indian Consulate in San Francisco. The rally was held in a show of solidarity and to hold the Indian government and DOW Chemicals accountable for the un-addressed grievances of Bhopal survivors. Introducing the purpose of the rally to the gathering, Saratoga-based Srividhya Venkataraman said, "We are here on the eve of the 56th Independence day to urge the Indian government to free the people of Bhopal from the clutches of corporate greed, toxic terror and injustice." The Central Bureau of Investigation, the Indian equivalent of the FBI, and the Government of India, which has dragged its feet in applying for extradition of the fugitive Anderson, have just over two months ago applied to reduce charges against Anderson. The Indian courts are likely to rule on this application on August 27th. Said Venkataraman, "If the charges are diluted [against Anderson] it will reduce the deaths of 20,000 people and the 18 years of suffering for the survivors to the status of a car accident and virtually end hopes of ever getting just compensation for the victims." The demands of the rally organizers are: 1) The Government of India must withdraw its application for dilution
of charges and take immediate steps to extradite Warren Anderson; The rally itself was a creative, informative and multi-dimensional event. Several participants were carrying placards. Fremont based N. Jayashree wore one reading "Happy Independence Day. Freedom from Injustice. Freedom from Toxic Terror, Freedom from Corporate Greed" while Sunnyvale resident Kaustubh Desai held up a banner with the survivors' poem "Torture Me." Another demonstrator Jaya was wearing a death mask and eye-catching headgear. The program was interspersed with chants led by Prashant Jawalikar, one of the events organizers, and narratives based on stories of Bhopal survivors. Rally participants role-played various survivors and other characters of the Bhopal saga, narrating loss of livelihood, partial blindness, respiratory and gynecological problems and blamed this squarely on DOW-Carbide and Anderson. Rajesh Veeraraghavan played the part of Warren Anderson. "I was the chairman of Union Carbide at the time of the tragedy. I left the company in 1986 and retired to Vero Beach Florida. Following the complaints filed against me by the victims organization and the InterPol warrant I ran away." Beaming at the audience as if with glee Rajesh continued, "I am happy to know the Central Bureau of Investigation is proposing to dilute the charges against me. I appreciate their humanitarian gesture." In a parody of the Indian government's action Harish led a chant in Hindi: "Anderson Salaam, Hindustan Gulam!" (When you bow to Anderson's wishes, you enslave India). Various invited speakers at the event emphasized that DOW Chemicals should be held accountable for the suffering of the citizens of Bhopal and the environmental disaster that the abandoned factory site still poses. Jodie Evans, from Bad Babes and Unreasonable Women said, "We won't stop until Dow has cleaned up the mess it is responsible for. The primal scream of this injustice is building. We won't go away we will continue to grow until Dow is acts responsibly towards the dead, the injured and the toxic mess left behind." Angana Chatterjee, Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology, California Institute of Integral Studies, called "first world lives and greed supported by violence on the third world" unacceptable. She also held the Government of India complicit in the violence and injustice against its citizens, lamenting at what is happening in Gujarat, Narmada valley and Bhopal. The privileged citizenry cannot be mute spectators when this happens and need to strongly and non-violently voice their dissent, Chatterjee felt. Kristin Rothballer expressed solidarity with another Unreasonable Woman, 52-yr old fisherwoman and shrimpboat captain, Diane Wilson who has been fasting for 29 days outside a DOW plant in Sea Drift, Texas to call attention to the Bhopal issue. Earlier on July 28th, 25 people attended a Friends of Bhopal organized awareness exhibit and screening of the documentary A Cloud over Bhopal, where a colorful a banner of solidarity was signed to be sent to Wilson. Mathirajan Manoharan a resident of San Jose who has spent several weeks along with friends standing outside Indian groceries, temples, and at community events collecting signatures presented a petition with 175 signatures to the consular staff through police officers present at the venue. Consul of Political Affairs, Akilesh Mishra, earlier refused to publicly listen to the grievances of the demonstrators and to apprise them of the Indian government's position, claiming it was not the Indian mission's policy to publicly listen to demands. At the close of the rally, everyone joined in a solemn singing of the Indian National Anthem, without any consular officials present. Rally organizer, Rajesh Veeraraghavan questioned the legitimacy of the Consulate's position saying, "Consular staff and governmental officials want to be very public when they are seeking NRI [Non-Resident Indian] investments and developmental funds. Then why can't they listen to the genuine grievances of Indians publicly? Yes NRIs want to participate in India's true and just development. But we will not bankroll the destruction of the lives of the poor!" The event was organized by an informal local group, Friends of Bhopal, a group of NRI students and professionals, mostly of Indian Origin, who support the struggle of the people of Bhopal against the injustice done to them by DOW Chemicals and Government of India. They have organized several film screenings, discussions and petitions to focus on justice for Bhopal. Friends of Bhopal thanks all those who helped organize and publicize the rally, to all the invited speakers and to the several enthusiastic participants who joined the rally and signed the petition. An Evening With Survivors of Bhopal Several AID volunteers helped organize "An evening with the Survivors of Bhopal Disaster" in Stanford on May 12, 2002. Satinath Sarangi and Dr. Trivedi spoke about the injustice that exists 17 years since the disaster and demanded that Dow Chemical assume the liabilities of Union Carbide, the company that it purchased. Screening of Bhopal Express It was a great show of support for the Bhopali cause. We had around 93 people show up on a cold Saturday afternoon to attend the Bhopal Express movie. Srividhya and Debi (from ASATA) addressed the gathering in the theatre and introduced the Bhopal issue, AID and ASATA. We distributed flyers to everybody. We had taken around 60 post cards addressed to DOW. We had distributed out to all the people who were present. The movie itself was very well taken for a bollywood audience and everybody I talked to loved the movie. At the end there was a major rush to get the post cards signed and there were not enough of them, I saw somebody (not a volunteer) checking in the aisles of the audi desperate to look for one post card. Several people expressed solidarity to the cause. Some I know of: - One is going to write letters to editor to all Indian papers
here in the bay area. The audience which showed up was varied in age and background. It was great to touch so many new people who haven’t really heard much about this issue. I heard one teen kid asking his dad, why are they talking about this issue now after so many years, for which the father replied, justice have not been served yet and we want to prevent such things from happening. "Flames Not Flowers" Exhibition For four weeks starting November 9, 2006, Sanskriti – Stanford’s South Asian student organization – organized an exhibition of photographs from Bhopal taken by award-winning Indian photographer Raghu Rai and Maude Dorr, a Providence-based artist, writer and photographer. The exhibit, hosted in the Tressider Union, featured both black and white and color photos of the immediate aftermath of the disaster as well as the lingering effects of the catastrophe two decades later. Vigil Marks Indefinite Fast in Delhi On April 11, 2006, seven members of the AID Bay Area chapter and
other Bhopal
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Uddin, one of the filmmakers and a Bhopal native, and Diana Ruiz,
US Coordinator for the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal.
The event was sponsored by a coalition of groups including 3rd I:
South Asian Film, American Muslim Voice, ASHA-Stanford, Association
for India's Development-Bay Area, Association of South Asian Political
Activists (UC Berkeley), Dept. of Cultural and Social Anthropology,
California Institute for Integral Studies, EKTA, Friends of South
Asia, International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, KPFA Free-Speech
Radio 94.1 FM, Organizing Youth!, and Third World Majority, and
more than 80 people attended the event.
Area chapter of the Association for India's Development performed
a skit about Bhopal to raise awareness and generate support for
the 
supporters
gathered in Fremont 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.