ARUNDHATI ROY'S STATEMENT ON BHOPAL:

"The lessons of Bhopal do not lie in our past but in our future. By refusing to meet the people of Bhopal who have suffered for decades after the Union Carbide/Dow Chemicals gas leak Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is at the forefront of the Corporatization of India's Economic Policies, is sending out a clear message to the Corporate World: In India you are free to poison, rob and kill our people. The Government will protect you. You will never be brought to book."
- from www.bhopal.net a few weeks ago.

Toronto, June 17 2008:

We don our signs and large cardstock photos prepared by Diana and Emily, getting ready to do our first action. The Indian Consulate is rather incognito, housed on the 7th floor of a nondescript office building just east of the centre of Toronto. Security guards out front are friendly, curious, and want to make sure we know our boundaries. After much scotch-taping and improvisation to attach our signs, we begin.

On the sidewalk we offer the small red or white flier downloaded from the online Toolkit to passers-by, asking them to sign the petition for justice in Bhopal. Those who come out of the building to have a smoke are great listeners, as they are just standing there. People are generally happy to hear us out, take the flier, and ask questions. Although many people don't know about Bhopal, or even where it is, some do, and we have stimulating conversations with them. Young people whose families had immigrated from India, Pakistan, Malaysia or Sri Lanka readily sign. Older people who remember the disaster thought this had long ago been settled, and are outraged to hear that Bhopalis remain without justice. A few bring up Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York (another industrial disaster, exposed in the late 1970s); that too has yet to be resolved. And several people ask about Dow Chemical's position. One of the security guards wants to sign but will get fired if he does, so he takes a flier. It is moving to watch as people eagerly sign after hearing some of the facts and what is being asked of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In two rainy hours we get 60 names on the petition, a few of whom express an interest in staying informed. At 5:00, the end of our committed time, we realize that we could easily stay longer to reach more people, especially as it's now the end of the work day and people are emerging from the building. But our entire stock of 300 fliers is gone. We call it a day, but the response has been wholly encouraging, and although we hope the PM will make our work obsolete, we make plans to return.

Diana, Reena, Emily, Ellen

June 25, 2008:

Eight days later: back at the Indian Consulate; the Bhopalis and others around the world are still on the hunger strike. Today Diana is joining them, again. I come a little late – too late to be interviewed by OMNI (see below) – and begin handing out the quarter-page flier and asking people to sign the petition.

Like last week, people listen with compassion and readily sign when they learn about the situation. About sixty people sign, and many more take the flier. A couple of women from the consulate (we learn they work there from one of the security guards) don't stop to sign, nor do they acknowledge us. But many people do, and it's gratifying to see the humanity in people emerge in the midst of a busy work day in a huge city.

At 6:00 pm we call it a day, as the number of passers-by has decreased to a trickle. At 8:00 pm we watch the South Asian edition of the News on OMNI 2, a TV channel dedicated to showcasing Canada's cultural mosaic, and there we are! Diana: "The segment was about 90 seconds and they spoke about our appeal to the Indian Government via the Indian Consulate in Toronto, the global fast action to support Bhopalis and pointed out that today, June 25th, is the 15th day that Bhopalis have been on a hunger strike.
They even had the www.studentsforbhopal.org url on the screen encouraging those who would like to get more involved to do so."

Diana: "There might just have been 3 of us in Toronto but that's added to all of us around the world and the thousands of survivors we support with our heart and strength in Bhopal."

And again, like last week, it would be so much better if our efforts were not needed again. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh must listen to the Bhopalis and their supporters around the world who are standing tall, and demanding that he reverse his untenable position and take immediate action to ameliorate this situation.

PLEASE GO TO THE WEBSITE AND TAKE ACTION!
www.studentsforbhopal.org

Many thanks,

Ellen