What? - A Bhopal Blog for AID volunteers to voice their concerns
Why? - To show our solidarity and support for the victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy as they march for their rights
How? - A simple click and some encouraging words ....
It has been 21 years and more since the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, but the real tragedy continues on today, in the form of denial of justice and clean surroundings and water for the affected people in Bhopal. Justice delayed is always justice denied.
To address this issue, the survivors and citizens of Bhopal alongwith their supporters and well-wishers have taken out a padayatra (march on foot) from Bhopal to the national capital, New Delhi, where they hope to submit their grievances and demands to the Prime Minister of India. This is all the more ironic because their demands actually constitute those basic amenities of life that all of us, without exception, take for granted everyday - clean drinking water, clean surrounding environs and deliverance of justice.
The marchers will make their way through various communities affected by pollution including communities affected by Coca-Cola and its policies during their one-month long march on foot to the capital. They will screen various enlightening movies and hold discussions to spread awareness about what happened in Bhopal and to highlight similar problems faced by communities across the country.
You can help the citizens of Bhopal and the marchers now, with your words of encouragement and your assurance to them that come what may, we are all behind them in their time of need and in their rightful protest for what is due to them. All it takes now is a click of a mouse and a punch of keys -
Yes, now AID has launched a blog (web-log) for the latest updates from the march to Delhi and developments related to the Bhopal issue. You can leave your comments, thoughts and words of encouragement for those engaged in the battle for rights and their supporters by simply logging onto the blog and leaving your comments to the various articles.
The blog can be reached at: http://bhopal.aidindia.org/blog
You can leave your comments by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of each article on the blog. This is an effort to show the victims of Bhopal's Gas Tragedy that we, the volunteers of AID both in India and the US, are united as one behind them and fully support their cause and their demands for justice. All it takes is one click on your part: http://bhopal.aidindia.org/blog NOW!
You can also donate to the AID fund set up for the Bhopal victims online at: https://secure.aidindia.org/aidadmin/DonatetoBhopal.jsp and visit http://bhopal.aidindia.org for more resources.
You can also inform your friends and families about a grassroot effort which goes long way.
This is a novel opportunity for you to show that you really care about bringing justice to those that is has been denied for 21 long years now - and that they have behind them a worldwide family to support them.
An AID volunteer like yourself,
Kartik, Tempe.
Monday, 27 February 2006
Introducing the AID India Bhopal Blog
A letter from AID India.
The water in Bhopal is contaminated, the girls are suffering from horrible ailments and their fertility affected and the after-affects will continue for generations. But for us Bhopal tragedy is past!
ReplyDeleteHas everyone forgotten that about half of the plant in Bhopal was owned by Indian financial institutions and private investors. What are they doing for the clean-up? Shouldn't they be financially involved in the clean-up if they were financially involved in the investment that they should have kept closer watch on? And why is everyone so angry with CEO Warren Anderson? At the very most he could be charged with criminal negligence, but what about the local site managers hired by the company who should have done the safety checks and the local executives responisble for providing the funding for necessary safety maintenance, where are they in this? And the issue with Dow Chemical. I'm in agreement that from a goodwill and PR standpoint they should help manage the clean-up of the Bhopal facility, but perhaps they're afraid that once they go to India to provide aid they'll be placed under house arrest and charged with culpable homicide. At most Dow should be required to use Union Carbide's assets to pay for a little over half the clean-up (because they only owned a little over half the company). I just think there's a lot more to this than just punishing Dow (who did nothing, but has only incurred this responsibility through a merger), or than punishing former a CEO (who, let's face it, will never be found and tried). Instead accepting Union Carbide, Dow Chemical, and Warren Anderson as scapegoats, the affected citizens of Bhopal need to focus on their government that seems to have attempted to cover up its responsibility in the tragedy. My deepest respects to all affected by this incident, but let's not start a Salem witch trial here.
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