Clean Water for Bhopal

Bhopali activists continue to demand government action against polluted groundwater. The pollutants from Union Carbide's (and now Dow's) processes. Join the Bhopalis as the demand clean water.

Five Bhopali hunger strikers  (Rashida Bee, Rachna Dhingra, Jabbar Khan, Guddi Bee, and Shehzadi Bee) were forcibly arrested by two truckloads of policemen at 7am today in Bhopal, India. The Bhopal District Collector, Mr. B.K. Mishra, admitted to issuing the orders to remove the hunger strikers and said charges of attempted suicide may be pressed on the strikers. The hunger strikers were on the thirteenth day of an indefinite fast as part of sit-in protests called “Right to Live” which began on 20th February. Rachna Dingra was still sleeping when they grabbed her by her hands and feet and violently removed her. Threats of rape were made against other women protestors by the state police. Reports from Bhopal’s Hamidia Hospital indicated that attempts were on to strap the resisting hunger strikers to beds to force feed them.

In Washington DC Non-resident Indians, students and other concerned groups of the Indian diaspora held loud protests outside the Indian Embassy in Washington DC on Thursday, March 15th. Solidarity fasts by over 10 hunger strikers are being held in front of the embassy for the next two days (17th and 18th March) in support of the survivors in Bhopal. In solidarity with the protesting Bhopalis, concerned citizens across the country are taking part in an indefinite relay fast which will continue as long as the Bhopal survivors stay on their hunger strike.

Over the last twenty-five days, international supporters of the Bhopal campaign have sent over two thousand faxes to the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. Over four hundred phone calls have been made to various state government officials. Bhopal survivors in India have called a nationwide agitation towards the Madhya Pradesh government, resolving to not end the strike until their demands are met.

In April of 2006, the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh conceded to survivors’ demands for clean water, environmental rehabilitation, and economic and medical rehabilitation. The Union Ministry of Chemicals said that the state government has not responded to repeated reminders asking for an update on the progress of commitments made by the State in the meetings of the Coordination Committee on Bhopal. The protestors demand proper medical care, clean drinking water, containment of toxic wastes, pension for widows and families with congenitally disabled children, economic rehabilitation, and protection from Union Carbide's poisons that have killed and maimed for 22 years. Current Carbide owner Dow Chemical so far has refused to clean up the site. One of the hunger strikers, Goldman Environmental Prize winner Rashida Bee, lost six family members to cancer and herself has suffered from chronic health problems ever since the disaster.

On December 2, 1984, thousands of people in Bhopal, India, were gassed to death after a catastrophic chemical leak at a Union Carbide pesticide plant. Advocates say Carbide's owner Dow Chemical is to blame for daily deaths in Bhopal, due to its refusal to clean up the disaster site and provide adequate care to the survivors. Over 22,000 people have died in the aftermath of the disaster and over six hundred thousand have been affected.

Union Carbide's internal documents show the company cut corners on safety and maintenance to save money. On the night of the disaster none of the six safety systems at the Union Carbide plant were functional. Following a partial 1989 settlement, Union Carbide fled India, leaving behind unresolved criminal liabilities and several thousand metric tons of hazardous waste, which has poisoned the drinking water for Bhopal residents. Dow Chemical Company claims it has no responsibility for the ongoing deaths. Amnesty International termed Dow's behavior as a fundamental violation of the Bhopalis' human rights. Eighteen members of the US Congress signed a letter to Dow in 2003, calling Dow's behavior a "blatant disregard for the law."

The Government’s Response

You may be wondering how the government has been responding to our demands. Take access to poison-free water, for instance one of our most critical demands, for obvious reasons. Union Carbide started dumping chemicals in Bhopal in 1973. Cattle were dying from the contaminated water long before the gas disaster ever happened. Yet the MP Government denied that any water contamination existed until 2004. (In fact, the Gas Minister even tried to prove there was no water contamination by drinking a glass of contaminated water in front of reporters - see http://www.bhopal.net/oldsite/december2002.html. He then induced vomiting out of sight of the cameras).
 
What happened in 2004? Well, the scientific evidence for contamination had grown overwhelming by that time. So overwhelming, in fact, that the Indian Supreme Court expressly ordered the MP Government to provide a piped, permanent supply of water to the contaminated communities without delay. In response to our March to Delhi last year (see http://www.studentsforbhopal.org/Victories.htm#M2D) the central government appropriated Rs. 14 crores to cover all costs associated with the project. A year later (and 3 years after the Supreme Court ruling), the MP Government still refuses to act.
 
During our dharna and hunger strike in Bhopal, officials from the state government have made daily calls to the prominent newspapers & other media, demanding they cover the hunger strike negatively and threatening them if they do not (we know if this because we have friends in many places). Yet the hunger strike is public for all to see, and a desperate embarrassment for the government. Your calls (at least 500) and faxes (more than 2000) have put the state government under intense pressure greater pressure than they’ve ever faced from our campaign before. Their decision to arrest the hunger strikers is an act of final desperation  not the kind of thing to do if you’re brimming with confidence.
 

Local Action Continues

Any attempt to force-feed the fasting Bhopalis is an attempt to silence us by force. It won’t work because the resolve of the hunger strikers remains strong and clear. They will not eat until the government agrees to their demands, and the government can not hold them indefinitely. And a second group of volunteers have already taken up the hunger strike against the government.
 
Meanwhile mass mobilizations in Bhopal will continue and escalate so long as the government refuses to act. Three days ago 1200 Bhopalis marched on the Chief Minister’s Residence before being stopped by a cordon of police (see http://www.bhopal.net/blog_act/archives/2007/03/indefinite_fast_2.html ). 572,000 people are officially registered by the government as victims of Union Carbide. You do the math.
 
Several national movements have already expressed their solidarity with the Bhopali cause, and have been sitting with the hunger strikers in solidarity. Among others, Narmada activist Medha Patkar visited us on Wednesday, attracting a swarm of media (meanwhile, the Bhopalis themselves have been expressing solidarity for the victims of police brutality in Nandigram: http://www.bhopal.net/blog_act/archives/2007/03/indifinite_fast.html ). This support will continue to build more pressure against the government, the longer they delay.
 
The central government has also heard from us. We have strong supporters within the central government (including the Ministry of Chemicals) that are actively working behind the scenes on our behalf. Yet we have yet to hear from the Prime Minister’s office. Pressure continues to build within India and abroad for the PMO to take a stand. On Thursday more than a dozen supporters rallied outside the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC and a relay hunger strike continues outside the embassy today, while our supporters in Austin have also begun their own relay hunger strike in solidarity.
 
The national media in India is only beginning to pay attention to this story. NDTV covered the hunger strike on Tuesday and Dominique Lapierre spoke to Times of India on our behalf on Wednesday. While our campaign had been slowly coming to the attention of the media, the MP Government runs the risk of creating a media firestorm if they decide to force-feed the Bhopalis.

Related Links
Indian Farmers' Milestone Marks Progress!
Bhopal Survivors Condemn Ratan Tata
Seattle Voices Concern DOW Policies in Bhopal
The Truth Behind Malnutrition in MP

Posted by collective at March 18, 2007 06:13 PM