Horrible Anniversary

As you probably know, today is the twentieth anniversary of the terrible accident at Bhopal caused by Union Carbide's appalling negligence. Here are two good articles about it:

"Justice for Bhopal Survivors" by Mark Hertsgaard

"Bhopal's Poisonous Legacy" by Gary Cohen

If you want more information or to get involved with this issue, an excellent resource is Bhopal.net.

Last year I was fortunate enough to meet Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla, two of the main survivor-activists, and speak with them for an hour or so. (They're mentioned in the story by Hertsgaard.)

I can't put the experience into words well. I'd heard people say certain things like this are "a privilege." But before meeting them I didn't understand exactly what that meant. Now I do. It was a privilege to meet them.

The amount they've suffered -- many of their family are dead, and they both have serious ongoing health problems -- is staggering by itself. Even more incredible is that they've gone through this, and as poor women from India have, through their own patience, ingenuity and faith, challenged those at the very apex of world power. Most astonishing of all, they don't just work for their own benefit, but insist on helping others (including in the US) who've gone through similar catastrophes. It turns out there really is such a thing as the human spirit. It is indomitable.

So please spare a thought for these two beautiful women, along with the other tens of thousands of sick survivors of Bhopal, and the tens of thousands who died twenty years ago today and in the two decades since.