Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2001 21:50:17 -0800

Bhopal Survivors Target Dow Chemical;

Launch New Campaign

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National Campaign for Justice in Bhopal

February 28, 2001

Three-hundred survivors of the December 1984 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal protested at the Chembur, Bombay office of Dow Chemical International today demanding that Dow take on the outstanding liabilities left behind by the Union Carbide Corporation in Bhopal.

Union Carbide merged with Dow on February 6th, 2001 to create the second largest chemical company in the world. Union Carbide -- which is now a 100% owned subsidiary of Dow -- and its former Chairman, Warren Anderson have been absconding charges of homicide, grievous assault and other serious offences in the Indian courts for the last nine years, concerning the poisonous gas leak from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal on the night of December 2nd/3rd 1984.

The spirited 300-strong group of survivors, mainly women, and many of them elderly widows, marched to the Dow office at Corporate Park in Chembur, Bombay at around 9.00 this morning. Armed with balloons filled with red paint and banners denouncing Dow and Union Carbide, and fuelled by 16 years of systematic neglect, they took Corporate Park security and the Dow staff completely by surprise.

The dripping red paint created a macabre backdrop on the black reflective glass of the Dow office as the survivors chanted slogans and sang songs of justice, raising their clenched red fists high in the air.

Dow staff at first refused to accept the survivors' memorandum to Michael D. Parker, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Dow Chemical Company based at the U.S headquarters in Midland, Michigan, claiming "We are nothing to do with Union Carbide."

The survivors however would not give up and sat defiantly outside the Dow office under the watchful eyes of Chembur police and Dow security for nearly three hours. Finally the leadership of the victims' groups were allowed inside the offices to deliver their memorandum. Mr Cyrus, a Dow executive begrudgingly accepted it on behalf of Mr Ravi Mutukrishnan, Managing Director of Dow Chemical International and promised that they would meet with survivors to discuss survivors' demands as specified in the memorandum.

In the evening survivors held a public meeting in Chembur, Mumbai -- one of the most polluted areas of Bombay due to the high concentration of chemical and petroleum factories - to officially launch the National Campaign for Justice in Bhopal. Representatives of Bombay trade unions, environmental organizations and students joined survivors and pledged their solidarity in securing justice in Bhopal and also in disrupting Dow's current plans for large scale investment in India. The Campaign resolved to initiate a nationwide series of protests against The Dow Chemical Company.

"By becoming a Dow subsidiary, Union Carbide is seeking to shake off its hated name", said Balkrishna Namdeo, Convenor of Nirashrit Pension Bhogi Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal. "But we will not let this happen. Dow now has the blood of the people of Bhopal on its hands nd it must pay for the crimes of Carbide", he added.

Rashida Bi, President, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh stated that "on behalf of the National Campaign for Justice in Bhopal we have come from Bhopal to present a memorandum saying that Dow must accept the ongoing medical, criminal, environmental and social liabilities incurred by Union Carbide in Bhopal." She also said that "We are the unlucky ones, the lucky ones are those who died on that night. However, we are alive and so are our organizations and for as long as we are alive, we will fight for justice in Bhopal".

Mr Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information & Action explained that the campaign to ban Dursban - a household insecticide produced by Dow will be one of the key features of the movement's mobilization against Dow. "Dursban has been banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S for its toxic effects on the brain and particularly those of growing children", said Mr Sarangi.

Vinod Shetty, Vice President of the Girni Kamgar Sangharsh Samiti said that the aggressive promotion of Dursban by Dow in India is a blatant case of double standards. "Union Carbide's double standards in safety and health are essentially what caused the disaster. Now Dow is causing slow and silent Bhopals in every household that uses Dursban."

Mr Sarangi said that he was looking forward to Dow's response to their demands tomorrow. However he added that, "if they don't come up with anything positive within the next 15 days then the National Campaign for Justice in Bhopal will respond accordingly. If they continue with their callous attitude towards the suffering of the Bhopal people we will take recourse to more direct action against all their establishments in India."

The National Campaign for Justice in Bhopal is a national network comprising Nirashrit Pension Bhogi Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal; Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh; Bhopal Group for Information & Action; Girni Kamgar Sangharsh Samiti; Maharashtra Kamgar Sangharsh Samiti; Indian Federation of Trade Unions; Nari Atyachar Virodni Manch: Lokshahi Hakk Sangajhana Bombay contact: Vinod Shetty, 61 Gandhi Nagar, 2709 2nd Floor, Bandra East, Bombay 51; Tel: 645 8411; Bhopal contact: Satinath Sarangi, B2/302 Sheetal Nagar, Berasia Road, Bhopal 462 001. Tel: c/o 0755 730914