I came across two articles in the Indiana Daily Student related to the common theme of activism and they left me with mixed feelings.
The first (“Evolution of revolution,” Feb. 21) talks of activism being more subdued now than in the 1960s. While true, and you don’t see marches every day, several campus groups like No-Sweat, Amnesty USA, Campus Climate Challenge, Students Taking Action Now: Darfur and Association for India’s Development are tackling grave issues which, interestingly, are international in nature. Student activists also have better access to the media and the Internet, which is important to spreading the message without hundreds assembling at Dunn Meadow.
Another interesting point was that Dow Chemical was a target of the protests 50 years back and also when the Kelley School’s conference saw Dow’s CEO speak on the environment despite their Bhopal legacy. However, Edward Delp’s column (“Defending Dow,” March 1) rants against activism without understanding the issues in Bhopal. His calling the activists “anti-capitalist” sounds like right-wing propaganda terming opponents of the Iraq war unpatriotic!
The present issue is not the 1989 settlement for those killed on the night of the disaster but the continued poisoning of 200,000 residents of Bhopal due to Carbide failing to clean the factory site. Dow cannot wish this liability away, as exemplified in a 2002 West Virginia trial that found Dow’s Carbide responsible for asbestos injuries to workers in 1972. Also, the same Indian supreme court that Delp invokes in Dow’s defense also reinstated criminal charges against it for manslaughter. Carbide is yet to appear for trial a decade later. Talk about double standards.
That Delp acts as a spokesperson for Dow and swallows their specious reasoning shows that IU has failed to educate their students in corporate ethics, social justice and logic. The difference between “whiny activists” and a cry of moral outrage is 200,000 lives at stake. But he probably wouldn’t understand morality and human rights if hit by a Mack truck!
Despite the misguided column, it does serve to stimulate discussion on this issue. However, a balanced approach by the IDS in publishing a column with real facts would serve your readers better.
Yogesh L. Simmhan
Doctoral student
