The Portland and Bloomington chapters of AID, independently orchestrated anti-Dow protests recently. These protests were aimed at generating awareness about the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, and at seeking justice for the survivors.  

On December 3, 1984, a toxic gas leak from the Union Carbide (UC) plant in Bhopal killed more than 20,000 people, and has since caused more that 150,000 injuries. Dow Chemical, which acquired UC in 2001, has refused to accept UC's legal and ethical liabilities, including rehabilitation and clean-up of toxins.

Continuing the struggle for the survivors more than two decades later, on October 29, AID Portland volunteers rallied outside Portland State University's farmers' market, with support from the Indian Students' Association. Holding banners and distributing flyers, they spoke of the tragic fate of the survivors, and of Dow shirking its corporate responsibility. Several people signed up to receive information about petitions against Dow.

Another show of opposition was an anti-Dow Corning protest led by AID Bloomington on Thursday, November 2, at a career fair at Indiana University (IU). Over 30 volunteers wielded banners and distributed flyers depicting Dow's human rights abuses around the world. Protestors steadily visited the Dow table and questioned Dow's negligence. The campaign, covered by local dailies, ended four hours later with more than 100 signatories, pledging not to work for Dow Corning. The chapter will be working with IU officials on a policy requiring the full disclosure of social, environmental and ethical liabilities by corporations invited for campus recruitment. Achieving its goal of creating awareness, AID Bloomington could not have asked for a better first campaign.

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Vaishnavi Sarathy (Portland), Yogesh Simmhan, Harini Gopalakrishnan, Aparna Venkatraman (Bloomington)