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Berkeley Student
Assembly Demands Divestment On March 11, 2004, the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) released a resolution that calls on the University of California to divest from Dow Chemical, the world’s largest chemicals manufacturer, and refuse all donations from the company. The resolution, sponsored by a coalition of South Asian and environmental student groups, cites Dow’s refusal to resolve the civil and criminal liabilities of its subsidiary, Union Carbide, in Bhopal—the “Hiroshima of the chemical industry”. On December 3rd, 1984, thousands of people in Bhopal, India, were gassed to death after a catastrophic chemical leak at a Union Carbide pesticide plant. More than 150,000 people were left severely disabled - of whom 20,000 have since died of their injuries - in a disaster now widely acknowledged as the world’s worst-ever industrial disaster. None of the six safety systems at the plant were functional, and Union Carbide’s own documents prove the company cut corners on safety and maintenance in order to save money. Today, twenty years after the Bhopal disaster, those who survived the gas remain sick, and the chemicals that Union Carbide left behind in Bhopal have poisoned the water supply and contributed to an epidemic of cancers, birth defects, and other afflictions. Since its purchase of Carbide in 2001, Dow Chemical has refused to clean up the site, which continues to contaminate those near it; fund medical care or livelihood regeneration; or stand trial in Bhopal, where the Union Carbide Corporation faces criminal charges of culpable homicide (manslaughter), and has fled these charges for the past 12 years. Dow is a major donor to the University of California, Berkeley, with cumulative donations totaling $4.3 million as of October, 2003. The resolution, only the third of its kind in the nation, calls on the University to “reject all donations from Dow or its directly associated foundations in excess of that which the corporation spends to clean up the Bhopal site on an annual basis” - currently nothing. The resolution also demands “the University to…sell the stock” of Dow, and “calls upon the Chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley to write a public letter to Dow Chemical, asking that it accept liability for the disaster, clean up the Bhopal, India factory and provide safe drinking water.” Two previous student government resolutions, at the University of Michigan and Wheaton College (MA), have cited Bhopal in calls for an end to university associations with Dow. Berkeley’s resolution is the first to call for divestment. SADAN (South Asia Development Alternatives Network), ASAPA (Association for South Asian Political Action), and students from the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley supported the successful resolution. “This was an important victory for justice, corporate responsibility, and for the thousands of people still suffering in Bhopal,” said Kamal Kapadia of SADAN, an Indian PhD student at Berkeley. “Students at the University of California, Berkeley don’t want to invest in a company that refuses to stop the ongoing contamination of tens of thousands, for which it is responsible. Dow’s behavior in Bhopal is inhumane, unjust, and immoral, and we won’t accept donations that should be spent instead to clean up Bhopal and save lives. Ten to fifteen people continue to die in Bhopal each month; we don’t want their blood on our hands.” The Associated Students of the University of California is the central student government at the University of California, Berkeley, representing students from every school and college. As the official student voice at the University, it represents the University’s 33,000 students. "Green"
Conference Recinds Dow Sponsorship Over Bhopal On Tuesday, February 27, the UC Berkeley Energy Symposium announced that it was voiding its $50,000 sponsorship arrangement with Dow Chemical due to a student government resolution concerns Dow’s unresolved responsibilities in Bhopal, India, scene of the world’s worst-ever industrial disaster. The organizers cited a 2004 student government resolution for their decision, which called on the University to divest and reject donations from Dow until it cleaned up abandoned chemical waste left at the Bhopal factory site. "We are very happy to hear of BERC's decision,” said
Kamal Kapadia, a doctoral student at Berkeley. “This sends
a clear message to Dow that it cannot continue to ignore the suffering
it has inflicted on hundreds of thousands of people in Bhopal. Until
the company takes full responsibility for its actions and meets
the demands of the Bhopal survivors, all their attempts at greenwashing,
like sponsoring this clean energy event, will be exposed and rejected
for their deep hypocrisy." In a statement emailed to UC Berkeley students and faculty, the conference organizers cited the Bhopal resolution as the basis for their decision. “In light of the ASUC resolution, the BERC leadership has decided that it is important to respect our organization’s role as a representative of the larger Berkeley student community. Therefore, BERC will abide by the ASUC resolution and not use Dow funding for the 2007 Berkeley Energy Symposium.” The UC Berkeley Energy Symposium is organized by the Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative (BERC), and promises to “bring together 150 of Berkeley’s leading researchers in energy technology, economics, and policy with the top cleantech investors, industry experts, and entrepreneurs.” Scheduled speakers include Robert Birgeneau, the Chancellor of UC Berkeley and Commissioner Art Rosenfeld of the California Energy Commission. The conference will focus on the role of UC Berkeley in creating a sustainable energy future. On December 3rd, 1984, thousands of people in Bhopal, India, were gassed to death after a catastrophic chemical leak at a Union Carbide pesticide plant. More than 150,000 people were left severely disabled—of whom 22,000 have since died of their injuries¬—in a disaster now widely acknowledged as the world’s worst-ever industrial disaster. Today, those who survived the gas remain sick, and the chemicals that Union Carbide left behind in Bhopal have poisoned the water supply and contributed to an epidemic of cancers, birth defects, and other afflictions. Since its purchase of Carbide in 2001, Dow Chemical has refused to clean up the site, which continues to contaminate those near it; fund medical care or livelihood regeneration; or present Union Carbide to face criminal charges of “culpable homicide” (manslaughter) from which it has been absconding since 1991. Survivors Speak with
Berkeley Students On April 14, 2004, Rashida Bee and Champa Devi, two survivors of
the Bhopal disaster, and Sathyu Sarangi, a longtime activist for
justice in Bhopal and managing Bhopal Photo Exhibit
Faculty Petition Students with the Association for India's Development chapter at Berkeley have been active in collecting signatures for the national Faculty Petition for Justice in Bhopal. "We have one very important professor on board already (and 3 more in the works) - Michael Watts from Geography, he's v. well known (in his field: political ecology), and very politically active. He's helping us get others on board too, we're pretty sure we can get a fair number of profs to sign on by December."
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Director
of the Sambhavna Clinic, spoke at the University of California,
Berkeley in an event organized by the Association of South Asian
Political Activists and the South Asian Development Alternatives
Network. Rashida Bee spoke movingly about her personal experiences
during the disaster, recounting how she had looked at thousands
of the dead, trying to find her seven lost family members, and the
subsequent deaths of six of her family members to cancer caused,
she says, by their gas exposure. More than 50 students attended
the event, during which the survivors also discussed the international
campaign for justice in Bhopal, and their hopes for the coming year.
On
Wednesday, Nov. 17th, the South Asian Development Alternatives Network
organized an exhibition of photographs from Bhopal at Sproul Plaza,
a high-traffic area of the UC-Berkeley campus. In addition, a public
screening of the feature film “Bhopal Express” was organized
for the evening of December 3rd in Berkeley.
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.