^The 1000 Bhopals JATHA
Empower people. Eliminate Corporate CRIME

 

Seventeen years after Union Carbide’s 1984 gasleak , victims in Bhopal continue to wage a struggle againstDow Chemicals (formerly Union Carbide) and the Government for justice,compensation and the right to live in a clean and healthy environment. 

Bhopal, is no longer a local tragedy but a highly visible symbol of the failure of governments to rein in corporatecrime. Meanwhile, disasters continue to happen all over the country. Some in slow motion while others like the Bhopal gas leak come with no warning! 

This Jatha – or Journey through 25 toxic hotspots in India seeks to bring together diverse people with common concerns on toxic pollution and the passion to fight for their rights.

  As the bus winds its waythrough these places the Jatha will be joined by people representing affectedcommunities, organizations fighting toxic crime, and other concerned citizenswishing to bear witness and express solidarity with the numerous struggles.

The 'bus' provides a visibleplatform to the communities at each of these hotspots to share their localenvironmental problems with a national and even international audience. Throughcreative protests and cultural outreach, in partnership with the localorganizations and communities, we aim to turn the heat on unscrupulouscorporations, governments and local bodies that fail to play their regulatoryroles.  

All along the route, the realitywe wish to highlight is that even today a `Thousand Bhopals' are happeningacross India – all potentially disastrous, some without warning and some inslow motion. To us, the Bhopal gas tragedy and the continuing toxic legacyrepresents the failure of governments to protect public welfare and the failureof corporations to ensure peoples’ safety and further, their utter lack ofconcern in ensuring justcompensation and environmental cleanup.

The first stage of the Jatha would also end in Bhopal, in time for the Bhopal anniversary, in solidarity with the survivors and their 18 year long fight for justice.The second leg will start in Calcutta on December 10th, 2002, and end inHyderabad, where it will coincide with

the ASIAN SOCIAL FORUM  meeting, to be held there in the first week of January, to raise the issue of toxics and health on a solid, international platform. 

The GREENPEACE 1000 Bhopals Jatha demands that there be ‘NOMORE BHOPALS’– TO EMPOWER PEOPLE and EXPOSE CORPORATE CRIME.

Greenpeace India 2002