Justice for Bhopal has made the Bhopal disaster a high-profile issue here on the University of Michigan campus. Just look at all of the educational events that we've sponsored over the past year:
Bhopal Survivors visit Ann Arbor (click here for photos!)
On May 6th, 2003, approximately 50 University students and faculty attended an open discussion with two survivors of the Bhopal disaster, Rashida Bi and Champa Devi. Both Rashida and Champa suffered exposure to Union Carbide’s deadly gases on December 3rd, 1984; speaking through an interpreter (longtime Bhopal activist Sathyu Sarangi), Rashida and Champa described the panicked flight of thousands of Bhopal residents, and their own desperate dash for safety. Both survivors spoke about the losses that their own families had endured—Rashida lost five gas-exposed members of her family to cancers, while Champa lost her husband—and discussed their eighteen-year-long struggle for justice from the company. Rashida and Champa—who were both on their sixth day of an indefinite hunger strike, leading up to the Dow Shareholder meeting on May 8th—were able to speak and take questions for a little over an hour. At the end of the session, the attendees gave both women a standing round of ovation.
"Exposure: Portrait of a Corporate Crime" (click here for the news advisory, here and here for the ads!)
On March 30, 2003, "Exposure: Portrait of a Corporate Crime.
Photographs of
Bhopal by Raghu Rai" opened for its American debut at the Pierpont Commons Piano
Lounge on the University of Michigan's North Campus. The exhibition, which features
photographs that were taken in the immediate aftermath of the Bhopal disaster, captures
the horror of the tragedy and documents a community in trauma. Raghu Rai's photographs of
Bhopal have become famous worldwide, and his exhibition has been shown around the world.
The exhibition was on display at the University until April 12; as the photos were
exhibited in a high-traffic area, several hundred people are estimated to have seen the
exhibit during its time on campus. The exhibition was sponsored by Justice for Bhopal, the
Ecology Center, Greenpeace, and the Association for India's Development (Ann Arbor),
official members of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal.
Raghu Rai photographs can be found on the web at:
http://www.estadao.com.br/ciencia/noticias/2003/fev/06/77.htm
(press over the sentence "Bhopal ainda espera Justiça" at
the end of the page)
and...
http://www.greenpeace.org.br/Bhopal/exp_RaghuRai/
Anniversary Protest on the Diag (Click here for photos!)
December 2nd and 3rd were the 18th anniversary of the Bhopal accident, and Justice for Bhopal organized a two-day protest/re-enactment on the Diag to educate UM students about the tragedy. Actual toxic waste barrels, stenciled with a bleeding Dow logo, were roped off with biohazard caution tape. Foaming dry ice simulated the gas leak while coalition members dressed in biohazard suits set up tombstones, held up banners, and displayed photos of the victims. Our coverage in the Michigan Daily can be found at: www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/12/04/3ded8b509e358?in_archive=1
"Bhopal Express" Showing
On Thursday, March 6 and on Sunday, March 9, 2003, Justice for Bhopal sponsored two
screenings of Mahesh Mathai's Bhopal Express, the only feature film ever made
about the Bhopal tragedy. Starring Naseeruddin Shah, Zeenat Aman, Vijay Raaz, and Nethra
Raghuraman, the film is a human drama set against the Bhopal gas tragedy, and unravels
through the eyes of a newly wed couple and their friend. The film had only been shown once
before in the United States; it is now touring in select cities around the U.S.
Approximately 20 people attended the Thursday showing of the movie and 50 people came to
the Sunday screening. On both occasions people stayed afterward for discussion and Q &
A about the Bhopal tragedy.
More details about the movie can be found at www.bhopalexpress.com.
If you'd like to sponsor a screening of the film, contact G Krishnaveni,
the US Coordinator of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal. She can be reached
at krishnaveni_g@sbcglobal.net.
"Bhopal Legacy" (click here for the beautiful poster!)
The acclaimed filmmaker Nadeem Uddin came to campus on November 5th, 2002, to show his documentary, Bhopal Legacy, and speak about his own experiences in Bhopal. Mr. Uddin was born in Bhopal, and has spent years filming the site of the accident and interviewing the people that it’s affected. Fifty people turned out to see his film, planned for wide release sometime next year, and many of them stayed afterward to watch the videotaped footage of our confrontation with Michael Parker.
Justice for Bhopal Members Attend AID Conference with Bhopal Survivors (click here for photos!)
On May 24-26, 2003, approximately a dozen members of the Justice for Bhopal group traveled to Pittsburgh to participate in the Association for India’s Development (AID) annual conference. There, Shivani, Ryan, Dave and others spoke about the successful campaign that had been launched at the University of Michigan over the past year. Ryan also participated in a panel discussion on the Bhopal campaign, which featured Rashida Bi and Champa Devi, two survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas leak. Rashida and Champa each spoke for half an hour about their own experiences in the gas leak, and the collective effort by the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationary Karmachari Sangh (Bhopal Gas Affected Women Stationary Employees Union) to win the same wages and benefits as other state employees—an aim that took over a decade to achieve. The members of AID were all exceptionally supportive, and many offered to help the campaign in whatever way they could.
"India and Free Trade: A Closer Look at Bhopal"
On November 6th, 2002, Justice for Bhopal began the process of educating the UM campus by showing two videos about the ongoing catastrophe in Bhopal. The first film was an 18 minute informational video about the tragedy and recent efforts to expose the contamination. The video combined interviews with survivors, scientists and others with stunning visual footage of the contamination. The second film, India and Free Trade: A Closer Look at Bhopal (a documentary by Pavithra Narayanan) focused on “free trade” and on “winners and losers” in a free market economy. As a case in point, it examined the Bhopal gas disaster and its implications for developing economies all over the world. Thirty people turned out for the showing and participated in the discussion afterward about what could be done to win justice for Bhopal.
Radio Interview: "Focus on the Issues"
On Nov. 22nd, 2002, Shivani and Rob were rocking the airwaves in an interview with Christian Knudson on “Focus on the Issues” on WCBN 88.3. A Dow representative had been scheduled to debate the two, but (not surprisingly) turned out to be a no-show.
Radio Interview: Montana
On December 5th, 2002, Shivani, Nadeem Uddin (a filmmaker from Seattle), and Nupur Modi (a Greenpeace activist who was arrested and beaten in Bhopal for attempting to contain the leaking Union Carbide site) followed up our successes with an interview on a radio station in Montana (of all places).
Radio interview: "Alternative
Press Review"
On April 1st, 2003, Shivani, Ryan, and Becca were all interviewed about the Bhopal
tragedy, the dioxin contamination in Midland, and Dow's other bad acts on WCBN 88.3 FM. We
discussed the upcoming Dow Conference and the "Run for Your Life!" with Alex
Sergay of the "Alternative Press Review".
The show may be found online at:
http://www.sensoryresearch.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/AlternativePressReview.woa
/1/wo/gg9qC70URjFesnlKgxGESw/1.1.0.14.5.7.1.0
or at:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~asergay/apr/index.html.
WCBN's website is www.wcbn.org.
Feature in the Daily
On January 9, the campaign for Justice in Bhopal at the University of Michigan highlighted
by a series of articles in The Michigan Daily, all under the headline of
"Bhopal's Chemical Winter". The coverage, which was spread across a full page of
newsprint, included articles on the tragedy itself, the state of the site today, the
University's association with Dow Chemical, and the need for student action. The Daily
articles can be found online at:
Viewpoint: A Firsthand Account of the Site
http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/01/09/3e1d0c14a4504
Viewpoint: University is Tied to Dow and Bhopal Disaster
http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/01/09/3e1d071d93b23
A Sketch of Bhopal's Tortured Legacy
http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/01/09/3e1d0ceb98040
Bhopal's Chemical Winter
http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/01/09/3e1d0d0cbf0ec
Connecting the Dots: The University and Dow Co.
http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/01/09/3e1d0cc222d74
Viewpoint: The Stains of Bhopal
http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/01/09/3e1d0c328486b
