AID & Activism
AID supports the right of the underpriviledged to raise their voice against injustices commited upon them. The support is through projects that help the issue, petition/fax/telephone campaigns, raising awareness about the issue through documentary screenings, speakers, and panel discussion, coordinating actions with peer organisations like Narmada Bachao Andolan and Students for Bhopal, and sponsoring AID Saathis to work full-time on the issue. AID is actively involved in campaigns for pluralism and communal harmony, against dowry, supporting the tribals displaced by the Narmada dam, and the fight for justice of the Bhopal gas disaster victims. The Bloomington chapter is active in fighting for the rights of the Bhopal gas disaster survivors, and also engaged with the IU community on the Campus Climate Challenge.
The Bhopal Gas Tragedy
On December 3rd, 1984, at Bhopal, India, a lethal gas leaked from a Union Carbide pesticide plant. More than 150,000 people were left severely disabled of whom 22,000 have since died of their injuries in a disaster, which is now widely acknowledged as the world’s worst-ever industrial disaster.
Although Dow Chemical acquired Carbide’s liabilities when it purchased the company in 2001, it still refuses to address its liabilities in Bhopal - or even admit that they exist. Till date, Dow-Carbide has refused to:
- Clean up the site,
- Fund medical care,
- Provide alternate livelihood opportunities to victims, and
- Stand trial for Union Carbide's criminal charges.
AID is working with the Students for Bhopal group in the US to get justice for the Bhopal survivors from Dow Chemical, the owner of Union Carbide, presently liable for the disaster.
Learn more about AID's activities on the Bhopal issue and how you can help
Learn more about the disaster at www.bhopal.net
Campus Climate Challenge
AID Bloomington supports INPIRG at IU on the Campus Climate Challege to get IU to undertake sustainable and environmentaly friendly energy policies.
