OP/ED The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 9, 2003 - 5A Bhopal's chemical winter n the night of Dec. 2, 1984 the residents of the vibrant city of Bhopal in central India awoke to the terror that was the worst industrial disaster to date. On that night alone, over 8,000 people perished due to a leak in a Union Carbide Corp. chemical plant. The aftermath of the disaster has left an estimated 120,000 victims to battle horrendous deformities, cancers and birth defects. Two years ago, Dow Chemical Co., based in Midland, acquired Union Carbide. Dow owns 100 percent of Union Carbide, however it will not take the responsibili- ty to clean up contaminants. Since Dow refuses to release information about which chemicals were released in the leak, physicians are still unable to best treat the victims 18 years after the tragedy. Union Carbide settled with the Indian government in 1989; however, the funds were insufficient for the victims' medical treatment. The populace of the city still suffers as it is Mt forced to drink contain- inated water and graze its livestock on tainted r C land resulting in moret people falling victim to ghastly diseases. Dow refuses to act despite Bhopalis' protests as well as thousands of. others around the world. Incredulously, Dow has filed numer ous suits against sur- vivors of Bhopal who were peacefully$# protesting on the disas-F ter's anniversary. y f Bhp al, W Madhya Pradesh LAXMI KAMBHAMPATI/Da y VIEWPOINT' Thne stais of Bliopal A firsthand account of the site BY RAHUL SAKSENA AND VARUN SHETTY Here in Ann Arbor, few people are aware of the worst industrial disaster in history. In fact, most of the world has chosen to forget about the 1984 tragedy in Bhopal, India. But in Bhopal, 18 years after a lethal gas spill from a pes- ticide factory killed over 20,000 people, not only does the memory of the tragedy continue to cause pain, but so does the tragedy itself. Because the area was never properly cleaned, the inhabitants of, "The people Bhopal need carry their message." the region around the factory are still affected by the poisoned air and water. Just last year, for example, mercury, lead and organochlorines were found in the breast milk of local women. The people of Bhopal have come together to give a voice to their suffering and pain. They have come together to find hope, to seek from Dow Chemical Company, the company now responsible for the disaster, justice for the distress they have experienced these past 18 years. For nearly two decades they have protested for fairness, compensa- tion and righteousness. But does the world hear their cries? Is the public aware of the injury these people have suffered? No. The voices of Bhopal, while eloquent and com- pelling, are not strong enough to move Dow Chemi- cal Co. Here at the University, we have an incredible opportunity to help strengthen those voices. While the people of Bhopal are protesting against a foreign, unseen and unheard corporation that is continents away, we, the students of the University, are a mere drive away from the headquarters of Dow Chemical Co. Halfway around the world, the people of Bhopal seek justice from the world's largest chemical manu- facturing company, which happens to be located in Midland. The continents and oceans that separate Dow from Bhopal have served to dwarf the voices of those whose lives have been ruined. As students of the country's most 01 politically active university, we have S to a unique opportunity to help those US t who are in need, though it may seem as though they are worlds away from us. For the Indian and Indian Ameri- can student population here at the University, the victims and survivors of the tragedy are our relatives, our people. For us, Bhopal is something that we have always heard about, but never paid much attention to. It is.time to start paying attention. The people of Bhopal need us to carry their message, to be the voices of the voiceless. Last semester a group of University students began a campaign to pressure Dow into assuming responsibility for the environmental and health disas- ters of Bhopal. The efforts of these students will con- tinue and will strengthen over the course of this semester through student groups such as Justice for Bhopal and Association for India's Development. We strongly encourage all students to partake in peace- ful, yet powerful forms of protest and to get involved with this campaign; it is one that is tangible, close to home, and, without a doubt, worth fighting for. Saksena and Shettv are LSAjuniorsand serve as cn- chairso tPe Indian American StudentAssociation. Political Awareness Committee. the se Nov. 25, 2002 Whoa, what an intense day. I have experienced so many emotions in the last 12 hours that I haven't been able to digest, even after the adrenaline rush faded. The day began around 8:30 a.m., as we stepped off the bus taking us to the site. We unloaded all of our gear and trekked across the field to the buildings of the factory. It was then that I got my first good view of the ben- zene hexachloride shed, the building con- taining a good amount of waste. I walked around, taking a good look, especially at the roof and the structural makeup. A few of us went around to the side of the shed. From there, we hoisted up a lad- der, and up I went onto the roof. I was up there alone for a few minutes and I had a great vantage point to see everything that was happening up front. It was breathtaking, several people were hammering stakes into the ground, on which they were putting up HazMat warning tape and cordoning off the area;the first containment crew was suiting up; everyone was busy preparing the site and I saw the first police officers beginning to arrive. I told one of my fellow climbers to hurry and climb up the ladder. As he made his way up, I climbed my way to the apex of the roof. The third climber just made it up to the roof, as a few police officers came over to the side of the shed. I tried hard not to lookat the officers as they were frantically and indecipherably yelling at us. While the fourth climber was on her way up, the police started shaking the ladder. I was over- come with fear, praying that she wouldn't fall. She tossed up the banner, and made her way down. "Whew, she's safe," I thought, with a sigh of reliefs I took an end of the banner and climbed over to the middle of the roof to unfurl it. We had no idea what the roof was gonna be like, so adjustments had to be made while I was up there. The banner read "Dow: Liv- ing. Poisoned Daily"After the banner was fully deployed, I stayed out there on the middle of the roof to watch the events play out on the ground. Along the side of the shed, the climbers that hadn't made it onto the roof were sitting on the ladder and another banner, keeping the police from seizing it. Up front, I noticed that the tents and shower and con- tainment prep material was not set up. The containment team did not make it into the shed, a sense of disappointment overcame me. It was frustrating how we were treated as criminals for trying to clean up all of this toxic waste while the real criminals respon- sible for this pollution are off scot-free. j As I phased back to reality, all I heard and saw was a lot of yelling and scuffling, and then the chief officer shouted, "You are all under arrest." Next thing I knew, several of the Indians were getting pushed around by the officers and I even saw them get slapped and punched straight- out by the officers. There was so much violence from the cops on such a non- confrontational action. Some more officers yelled at me to come down, drawing my attention. I looked to the front again and our team was sitting down peacefully on a tarp, arms locked. The rest of our climb team was still on the side of the shed, not having moved from sit- ting on the ladder and the banner. All of a sudden, the cops threw them off and pulled them over with the rest of the team. Three of the climbers were sitting safely up on top of the roof The police then hoisted the lad- der up to us and continued yelling at us to come down. I decided that we should immediately return to the ground, so that hopefully, the banner would be left in place. But by the time we had packed up all of our other gear, an officer had already made his way up. Fortunately, he left us alone and didn't push us around or anything. But he was stomping around on the roof, I was afraid he was going to fall through. He crumpled up the banner and threw it down, we made our way down. We walked over and joined the rest of the crew seated with their arms locked. Eleven people were being thrown into a paddy wagon that drove off We just sat there for about 15 minutes, surrounded by police with shields and huge bamboo sticks. We were waiting for something to happen.. Later, a big bus arrived to take us away. I was one of the first ones they took to put in the bus. The chief officer repeated that we were all under arrest and that we could cooperate or be taken forcefully. The next thing I know, a couplek of officers are picking meaup and dragging me, not even giving me a chance to coop- erate. Of course, that's the picture sm that appears on the front page of d the daily paper. videographersas n had their cam- eras focussed on me. I try speak- ing to one as I dragged aways telling Dow to clean up Bhopal ss f Halfway throughg a my sentence, an officer kicked Bhopalis suffer from the of me a few times Union Carbide explosion. in the ribs. My side is still sore and bruised. I was thrown onto the busand I watched all of the others dragged in. It was clear how the Indians (who I had obviously been mistaken for as one) were treated much rougher than the foreigners. All of this happened in less than a span of 1 1/2 hours. We were under the impression that we would be taken to the police station that was no more than 250 meters of the site. So the bus ride seemed to last forever (actually, it was only about 25 minutes) when we were taken to the central jail. The bus was jam- packed, with people in each others laps. However, this was an amazing time for me. On the bus with us were Rashida Bi and Champa Devi (two survivors), Gas Devi (born on the night of the disaster) and a lot of the other local women. These elderly petite women had such intensity and vigor that I was in awe. They had such determina- tion, they were leading chants the entire bus trip. It was so amazing, so emotional, so inspirational. I was so proud to be getting arrested for this cause. We arrived at the Bhopal Central Jail (which wasn't very central at all), but we never went in. We stayed on the bus for about 1/2 hour, but we were all packed in and it was getting hot, so they let the women out into the shade in the parking lot. We were all treated quite well. They made us fill out lots of paperwork. I can't tell you how many times I wrote my name, but there was- n't any form to fillyout, they just made lists on the backs of scratch sheets of paper. They gave us biscuits, lunch, water and cha. We sat around for a long time, on the bus and off the bus, as things got more lax. We even heard word that we wouldn't be charged - unfortunately that only proved to be a rumor. I had some nice discussions with several of the local activists that also had been arrested. And I had a great talk with a police officer who informed me that it was the first time that they've ever had to deal with for- eigners (and they had no idea what to do). He also said that it was first time that he had heard of a demand to clean-up the site. Usu- ally it t rallies demanding economic compensation, howev- yrer, he was very interest- - . ed and very much in fs t1 solidarity. He was also very apologetic and saying that he was just doing his job. He kept asking over e eand over again why we just didn't ask for per- mission to use the site. fe.This was the beginning of a very good and bg slong discussion. He even ended up telling prme about his time in Kosovo when he was sent over last year by the United Nations. We got an update from someone on a gcellular phone, while Courtesy of Greenpeace org we were waiting in the rects of the 1984 parking lot. Hundreds of Bhopalis around the site had mobilized, they were trying to prevent the cops from seizing our equipment (from the site). They had completely blocked the adjacent streets and they were demanding that we be let free. This was an amazing stand of solidari- ty and I was absolutely elated. This was a big step as I felt that we really had the sup- port of the community. After about three or so hours after we were arrested, we were finally released. We got on the same police bus and headed back to the apartments, this was the end of a very long day. Modi is a Greenpeace activist who has worked on environmental advocacy in Bhopal. f CONNECTING THE DOTS - THE UNIVERSITY AND DOW CO. 1959 - The University is granted $4 million, equivalent to $24.8 million in the year 2003, to estab- 1 lish the Margaret Townsley Foundation, in honor of Herbert H. Dow's, the founder of Dow Chemical Com- pany, daughter. 1983 - The University receives a grant for the Herbert H. Dow building, which now hosts both the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Depart- ment of Material Science Engineering. 1996 - The School of Public Health receives $1.2 million in order to create a Dow professorship focusing on "the health effects, risks and benefits of chemicals in the environment." 2000 - Dow donates yet another $2.5 million, making it one of the top 26 donors in the history of the University. 2001 - $5 million is awarded to the College of Engineering laboratory facility under the Gerstacker Foundation, named after the former chairman of Dow. Dow has given over $8 million to the college. mmmq I the University Musical Society presents u'xrns u~ m sV the 2003 Winter Season Half -Price Student Ticket Sale! At the annual Half-Price Student Ticket Sale, students with valid ID can purchase HALF-PRICE TICKETS to any show in our winter season. This extremely popular event draws hundreds of students every year - last year, students saved nearly $100,000 by purchasing tickets at the Half-Price Student Ticket Sale! Get there early - some performances have limited numbers of tickets available. Saturday, Jan 11 loam - 1 pm Power Center I ..... ................. ," t