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DOW Protest: A Coalition-Building Event On May 11th, 2005, San Diego area residents joined thousands around
the world to demonstrate at Dow Chemical Company (Dow) facilities,
For several hours on the morning of May 11, a dozen protesters informed Dow employees and many others passing by of the tragic legacy of the Bhopal disaster and its continuing effects. Prior to the protest, Kathy Smith, a member of both AI and AID, was interviewed on radioActive San Diego, a local independent radio station, along with H. Rajan Sharma, a lawyer pursuing justice for the victims of the Bhopal gas explosion in the New York court. Mr. Sharma provided details regarding the current conditions of the Bhopal victim and the status of their legal appeals. Ms. Smith described the protest and its goals as well as discussing Amnesty International's recent report of the disaster, Clouds of Injustice: Bhopal disaster 20 Years On.
The protest's success owed a great deal to the 3 year long working relationship the Scripps Ranch chapter of Amnesty International and the local chapter of the Association for India's Development. The two groups had collaborated several times before on human rights issues in India. Previous issues on which the two groups have collaborated include defending the human rights of indigenous peoples facing displacement by a hydroelectric dam project in the Narmada River Valley, and the struggle for justice following sectarian massacres in the Indian state of Gujarat. Bhopal Photo Exhibit On Saturday May 6, 2006, the San Diego "Twenty Years Without Justice" Screening On December 3rd, 2004, the San Diego chapter of the Association for India’s Development hosted a screening of the new documentary “Twenty Years Without Justice” to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster. Earth Day Table On May 1st, 2005, AID San Diego hosted a table at the San Diego Earth Day fair. "Among other things we also had a poster about Bhopal, and had a couple of petitions: On to the Indian Govt (clean drinking water) and the other to Dow (cleaning/compensation/livelihood). We collected lots of signatures!"
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centers, and manufacturing plants. With less than a week of preparation,
members of Amnesty International (AI) and the Association for India's
Development (AID), with assistance from Students for Bhopal, organized
a protest at Dow's San Diego research and development facility to
remind Dow employees and executives of Dow's moral and legal obligations
to survivors of the 1984 Bhopal disaster.
Tara
Ramanathan, a student activist at UCSD, publicized the protest on
the University of California at San Diego campus and found that
a surprisingly large number were not aware of the Bhopal gas explosion.
Upon learning of the disaster and of the many unresolved issues,
most students expressed interest and took information about taking
action online.
chapter
of the Association for India’s Development hosted hosted the
Bhopal photo exhibit “We Are Not Flowers, We Are Flames!”,
a collection of photographs by acclaimed artists Raghu Rai and Maude
Dorr, at La Jolla Public Library.
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.