TWENTY YEARS OF RESISTANCE

TWENTY YEARS OF RESISTANCE…

AND THE STRUGGLE GOES ON…

Newsletter Jan - Apr 2006

In the first week of April this year, the footpaths of central Delhi were home to two of the longest struggles for justice – the affected persons of the Narmada Dam and those affected by the Bhopal Gas Disaster – both highlighting deep injustice.

The Narmada Bachao Andolan was protesting the decision of the Narmada Control Authority to raise the height of the Narmada Dam in Gujarat from 110.64m to 121.92m. The NBA points out that about 35,000 families are yet to be rehabilitated, which in a violation of the Narmada award and the Supreme Court orders. The NBA is demanding a thorough assessment of the Sardar Sarovar Project on economic, social, environmental and developmental parameters. Until such an assessment, with the active participation of affected communities, is done, they are demanding a standstill in project construction. The tremendous outpouring of support to the NBA , with women’s groups, students’ groups and others going on relay hunger fasts in solidarity pushed the government to send a high level ministerial team to the Narmada Valley to assess the situation and review the decision. Meanwhile, the NBA is going strong “Dilli ke footpath par hamri ladai chaluchey,” they chant (out struggle is alive on the footpaths of Delhi).

SURVIVORS OF THE BHOPAL DISASTER MARCH FOR JUSTICE…

On 10 April, several hundred survivors of the Bhopal Disaster - the world's worst-ever industrial catastrophe - recently walked 500 miles on foot to meet with the Prime Minister. Their demands are not new to the Indian Government; indeed many of them - such as access to unpoisoned water and medical care - have remained the same for decades. Far from addressing the Bhopalis demands, the Government has openly made moves to facilitate the business of Union Carbide's new owner, Dow Chemical. Union Carbide - the perpetrator of the disaster - is at-large, even while it (and its owner Dow Chemical) continue to profit from doing business in India. More than 20,000 people in Bhopal are forced to consume poisoned water. Medical facilities for survivors are poorly run, and survivors have to beg and bribe to access health care. Unemployment and desperation are at an all-time high. And toxic wastes abandoned by Union Carbide continue to poison people, and create a new generation of victims.

At the dharna site in Jantar Mantar, across the road form the NBA dharna, the Bhopal survivors are also a “fast for justice”. A die-in with a about 200 people, covered with shrouds, and mourners sitting at the head of the dead, and Jan Natya Manch’s silent dance through the corpses wearing masks of George Bush, Manmohan Singh and their lackeys drew the attention of Delhi-ites inured to daily protests. Passersby remarked, “The government of India is killing sits own people”.