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Seattle Proclaims "Bhopal Remembrance Day"
(click here for the proclamation, here for the press release!)

On November 29, 2005, the Seattle City Council issued an official Proclamation declaring Dec. 3rd “Bhopal Remembrance Day”. In doing so, Seattle became the second city to declare support for the victims, following a resolution passed by the San Francisco City Council in April of last year.

The City proclamation observed that the inaction of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) and Dow Chemical is counter to Seattle’s aims for environmental sustainability. Seattle City Council member and proclamation sponsor Nick Licata said, "All of us must be accountable for our actions. If Dow eludes accountability for its liabilities in Bhopal, why should American citizens expect any corporation to accept responsibility for harm they may cause in the United States?"

The Seattle Coalition for Justice in Bhopal, which initiated this action, also held an event on December 3rd to commemorate the Remembrance Day. A short film and moment of silence were held at St. James’ Cathedral in Seattle, as a part of a larger event on women confronting globalization.

The proclamation marks an important step in the rising demand for justice over the Bhopal issue, whose victims feel betrayed by the actions of Union Carbide and Dow Chemical.

“Bhopal can happen in our backyard. As global citizens it is our responsibility to address these issues whenever possible and our local coalition felt we could do our part to call attention to this human rights abuse,” said Sandhya Banda, member of the Seattle Coalition for Justice in Bhopal.

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'Die-in'

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

Supporters in Seattle organized a ‘die-in’ on the University of Washington campus, 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.

"Members of the public present are outraged that Dow Chemical refuses to acknowledge its liabilities. They have pledged that they will not work for Dow or any of its subsidiaries until the company addresses its responsibilities in Bhopal," commented Seattle Coalition for Justice in Bhopal organizer Priya Raghav.

Locations: 1) University of Washington, Seattle
2) Green lake, Seattle

No. of volunteers: 8-10; Duration: 11am – 3pm.

Skit characters: In our little skit, we had 5 mourners, around 5 dead bodies (pillows), a narrator (Eera) and the Grim Reaper (Arindam). The mourners/survivors were: Srijan(Chotte Khan), Palani(Shahid Noor), Sandhya(Razia Bi), Raghav(Sunil Kumar)and Raji(Hajra Bi) Also, Deb helped us with the publicity, despite being sick last week!
- Rahul was the photo/videographer
- Swami, Nirupama, Tapoja and Swati came to support us.

Director/Screenplay/Costume designer/Props: Priya

We all arrived at 10.30 am at Red Square,UW, and got busy with setting up the "stage". Some volunteers wrapped up the pillows in white, while others worked on setting up the posters/banners, and the rest were busy with setting up the flyers etc at the information table. Of course, at the same time, the star-villain of the show aka 'the Dow-GrimReaper' got ready. We had a couple of rehearsals before the show (for some, it was their first time learning their part).

Before we started the actual die-in at 12, the mourners attracted attention by singing/shouting slogans. The die-in then began, with some melancholic music to set the mood. Eera started off by touching on the disaster, and then put the spotlight on the mourners, who spoke a paragraph each, about their recollection of the Dec 3rd, and the effect it had on them and their family members. During this, the grimreaper weaved in and out of the stage, dancing around, and hovering above the dead bodies and the mourners as they spoke. At the end of all 5 testimonies, we did a protest with some slogans, in a leader-follower manner, while walking around the stage. Throughout our die-in, Vani (wo)manned the info booth and helped to spread flyers etc to the passers-by. It helped us get about 25-30 signatures! The Die-in ended, with the 'flames not flowers' song playing in the background.

The wet and cold weather did not dampen our spirits! The turn out at both locations was more than expected.

A Vietnamese supporter vehemently agreed to the cause: "The veterans have a lot of benefits here. We have nothing," pointing to Agent Orange in Vietnam.

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A Month of Bhopal Events
(click here for photos!)

From April 9 through May 5, 2005, a coalition of Seattle-area organizations including Amnesty International Puget Sound, AI University of Washington, AI Corporate Action Network, AI Local Group 4/Seattle, ASHA Seattle, and Tasveer hosted a series of Bhopal-related events in the Seattle area. These included:

An exhibition of "We Are Not Flowers, We Are Flames!", a collection of Bhopal photographs taken by Raghu Rai and Maude Dorr. The exhibit was held at the Art/Not Gallery from April 9th through May 5th.

"Reflections on a Just Earth Day." On April 22nd, Larry Ebersole & other poets read work about Bhopal, including a poem that Ebersole had written for the event: "In the Sweep of Human Rights", dedicated to Champa Devi Shukla & Rashida Bee. Music was included in the event, which was held at the Art/Not Gallery and which attracted several dozen people.

A screening of Bhopal: The Search for Justice on April 23rd, featuring Assistant Producer and Bhopal native Nadeem Uddin for the Q&A.

A screening of One Night in Bhopal by Steven Condie and the BBC on April 30th, followed by a talk by KumKum Modwel, a former Medical Officer at Union Carbide who resigned before the gas tragedy having warned of safety concerns at the plant.

“The 24 photographs by Raghu Rai and Maude Dorr tell the story of the disaster and of current efforts to gain justice for the victims. We held two film screenings and a poetry/music night on Earth Day. AI local group member Larry Ebersole wrote a poem, “In the Sweep of Human Rights,” for this event. At our closing event and film screening, Dr. Kum Kum Modwel, a former medical officer at Union-Carbide, who left her position after her warnings about safety hazards were not taken seriously, flew out from Connecticut to speak to us about the importance of science and collecting data to better understand the effects of the gas on the victims, and hence to make a stronger argument in cleaning up the site.

"The exhibition moved to the main library at the University of Washington for a week, and another film screening was held in conjunction with the Environmental Science Department on campus. Now the exhibit is scheduled to be in the state capitol, Olympia, for the next month. They hope to have over 500 postcards signed and get out the word about Bhopal and the Corporate Action Network throughout the Puget Sound!”

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Documentary Screening & Outreach

On December 3rd, 2004, the 20th anniversary of the disaster, ASHA Seattle, Amnesty, the University of Washington Student Labor Action Project and the South Asia Center, University of Washington organized a couple of events:

..........• We hosted a public screening the new documentary Bhopal: The Search for Justice, which drew a packed hall of nearly 150 people. In fact we have plans to do organise another screening for people on the other side of town.
..........• We tabled at the University of Washington, Seattle to raise awareness about the Bhopal disaster.

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Vigil Marks Indefinite Fast in Delhi

On April 11, 2006, 23 members of the Seattle 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, Boston, College Park, Houston, Austin, and other cities across the country.

The vigil was covered on the first page of the The Daily, the University of Washington's campus paper, the next day!

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