Hunger strike by Bhopal Activists enters 8th day; Govt/Dow unmoved

For Immediate Release: Issued by the National Campaign for Justice in Bhopal

06 June, 2002, NEW DELHI – At the end of the 8th day of the indefinite hunger strike that began on 26 June by Union Carbide’s survivors from Bhopal -- Rasheeda Bee (46) and Tara Bai (35) -- and long-time Bhopal activist Satinath Sarangi (48), no Minister has yet attempted to meet the survivors. Phone calls and letters to the Ministries of Home and Chemicals seeking an appointment have been ignored. Meanwhile, for Dow Chemicals -- the company that acquired the infamous Union Carbide and under whose directions the Government is acting – it’s business as usual. More than 100 survivors are currently gathered at Jantar Mantar. An indefinite strike is ongoing here to protest against two Government decisions to bury the Bhopal disaster by letting those accused for causing the disaster off the hook, and to misappropriate survivors’ compensation money for distribution among non-gas-affected for political gains.

Congress MP Suresh Pachauri, who visited the protest site, assured his support and arranged a meeting for the survivors with Sonia Gandhi yesterday. The Congress president has assured the survivors that the Government will be challenged in the parliament floor when the session begins later this month. CPI leaders A.B. Bardhan, D. Raja and Gurudas Dasgupta, CPM member of parliament Nilotpal Basu, AITUC general secretary Amarjeet Kaur and CITU general secretary P.K. Ganguly have also expressed their solidarity and assurances to challenge the Government. Trade union members from CITU and AITUC have said that all national trade unions will discuss the issue during their meeting on 9 July with a view to issuing a resolution among other things.

While the hunger strikers remain in good spirits, they have all lost at least 5 kg and have seen their blood sugar levels drop. Rasheeda Bee, who suffers from diminished vision, acute episodes of headache and panic attacks as a result of exposure to the Union Carbide’s poison gas, is showing early signs of starvation and is being observed closely. “The NDA Government has sold us out to protect the interests of Dow Chemicals. This is in line with the Government’s moves to circumscribe the lives of ordinary people while criminals and hawala dealers are given protection and freedom from laws,” said Rasheed Bee of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh.

Tara Bai, the youngest hunger striker and a member of Gas Peedit Nirashrit Morcha, said: “We’ll fight till justice is delivered. In fact, with every passing day, our fight grows stronger. After all, we have the power of being right with us.”

The unanticipated emergency faced by the 17-year-old campaign for justice in Bhopal arose after two recent Government decisions. On May 24, the CBI applied to the Bhopal Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) seeking dilution of charges against Warren Anderson, ex-Chairman of Union Carbide who is a fugitive living in the United States and avoiding criminal charges in India in relation to the Bhopal disaster case. In its application, the CBI has sought to bring down charges against Anderson from culpable homicide – an extraditable offence – to negligence, an offence for which extradition cannot be sought.

“The volte face that the application to dilute the charges against the UCC, UCE and its Chairman would represent is contrary to the government’s own stand, raising questions about complicity of the government. It is also not within the experience of the law that an accused who absconds and evades the process of law and justice is rewarded by dilution of charges. That this is now being considered at the behest of the government is unprecedented, and threatens to make the government an adversary of the affected population of Bhopal,” said New Delhi-based Advocate Muralidhar, who is representing the Bhopal survivors in the Supreme Court and the CJM’s court in Bhopal.

In a separate development, the Group of Ministers on Bhopal convened by the Ministry of Chemicals decided to distribute the Rs. 1,360 crores (Rs. 13.6 billion) balance of compensation funds among residents of 20 wards considered non-gas-affected by the Indian Council for Medical Research.

Also, the Government has indicated that a portion of the funds will be used to clean up the contaminated factory site, a liability not covered by the settlement contract. Interestingly, the Government’s decision to this effect has come (for the first time) less than one month after Dow CEO Michael Parker made a suggestion to the same effect in Midland, Michigan, to a delegation of Bhopal activists. The offer by the Government of India is a clear indication that it is keen to write off Dow Chemicals’ liability for clean-up.

The Government’s decisions are a result of behind-the-scenes pressure by Dow Chemicals, which has acquired Union Carbide. Until now, criminal proceedings against Union Carbide were difficult to enforce legally because Carbide does not have any assets in India, and the accused – namely, Warren Anderson and the representatives of Union Carbide -- refuse to appear in Court. Dow’s acquisition of Union Carbide has opened up possibilities of enforcing criminal liability against the Corporation. Dow has four subsidiaries and substantial assets in India. The intensified campaign by the Bhopal survivors and their supporters to hold Dow liable has directly resulted in Dow’s insecurity and its resultant pressure on the Government of India to effectively close the files.

If effected, the decisions of the Government will protect the criminal Corporation, rob the Bhopal survivors of their compensation money and expose India as a country where the Government protects the interests of criminal multinational corporations even at the cost of its own people.

The protestors have said they will intensify their fight for justice internationally, and will file legal challenges against both decisions of the Government in the Chief Judicial Magistrate and Supreme Court. “We know that Dow has used its financial muscle to strongarm our spineless Government to sell the survivors out. But Dow’s own doings will be its undoing, and by failing to disclose its pending liabilities to its shareholders, Dow has ensured a place for itself in the crowded corporate hall of shame beside companies like Enron, WorldCom, Vivendi and Xerox,” said Satinath Sarangi of Bhopal Group for Information and Action.


Rasheeda Bee
Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh

Balkrishna Namdeo
Gas Peedit Nirashrit Morcha

Satinath Sarangi
Bhopal Group for Information & Action

On behalf of the National Campaign for Justice in Bhopal:
C/o B14 (Second Floor)
Gulmohar Park
Tel: +91 11 6561743 or 6514847
Mobile at Protest Site: +(91) 9811016420