Days after Chief Minister Digvijay Singh apologised for their brutal behaviour (see below) Bhopal police beat up the leader of a teenage graffiti crew from Jayaprakash Nagar. He had been painting slogans on the wall of the defunct Union Carbide factory. The cops broke his paintbrush, roughed him up and told him that while slogan-painting was okay - it is by now a tradition in Bhopal - he was forbidden to mention the name of Dow.

To prove that well water at Atal-Ayub Nagar, near the Union Carbide factory, was not contaminated with chemicals, heroic Minister for Gas Relief, Arif Aqeel, drank a glass in front of reporters. "If there was anything wrong with it," he proclaimed, "it would have affected me." But he can't have enjoyed it much for a few minutes later an eyewitness caught him quietly sticking two fingers down his throat in a desperate attempt to chunder.

The Yes Men are back with a myriad clones of their prank dow-chemical.com website, which was smoked by Dow last week. The new sites are up at:
http://www.dowethics.com
http://www.dowinfo.com
http://bhopal.doesntexist.com
http://dow.is.dreaming.org
http://www.existech.com/cultural_criticisms/dow-chemical.com/
http://dow-chemical.va.com.au

Meanwhile Dow, entering joyously into the seasonal spirit of fun, has put up its own spoof website at www.sustainabledevelopmentatdow.com. From start to finish a merciless send-up of its own most meaningless slogans - "Sustainable Development", "Responsible Care" and "Zero Harm" - the site contains such gems as Michael Parker's keynote address to The Nature Conservancy (for more about whom see this) which was interrupted by jhadoo-wielding activists of the ICJB. (Find that story here.)

The Bhopal Medical Appeal's advertisement in The Guardian (8 December) caused a minor furore at the paper last Friday night, as one of the pictures used, of a foetus with birth defects as a result of exposure to Union Carbide's 1984 gas leak, was deemed to be too horrifying to publish and had to be covered with a patch. You can see and read the unpatched appeal here.

The photograph, taken at Hamidia Hospital in May 2001 by photographer Andy Moxon, is also published in the article "A child is born", on our sister website, Bhopal.Org.

Dow Chemical has neatly outwitted the merry pranksters who last week published a parody website, dow-chemical.com, which among other things contained an "honest" explanation of why the company could not own up to its Bhopal liabilities – it would set such an expensive precedent, said the fake article. The Yes Men group, which created the site, had naively registered it in the name of Dow CEO Michael Parker's son, and with a rare display of wit, the company used that fact to gain control of the domain and quietly re-routed visitors looking for laughs at dow-chemical.com to dow.com. Bravo, Dow!

The present writer was caught in this way, and was examining, in a fit of hysterics, a deeply sarcastic article which began "In recognition of its global humanitarian efforts, Dow Chemical recently received leading trade publication Modern Plastics' 2002 Humanitarian Award" – priceless stuff, which described how Dow had donated "epoxy resin and hardener" to create artificial limbs for Vietnamese (whose real limbs its napalm had presumably burned off during the Vietnam War), and related how Dow was protecting the environment by picking up litter on Seadrift beach (no mention of cleaning-up the toxic soup that its chemicals have made of San Antonio Bay) – before realising in amazement that this was not a parody, but the real thing. Never mind, Yes Men, Dow sends itself up far better than any of the rest of us could ever hope to do. Read Dow Chemical's masterpiece of self-parody here.

NEW YORK, 4 DECEMBER Nine investment firms which collectively manage a total of $13 billion have sent a letter to Dow Chemical CEO Michael Parker and Chairman William Stavropoulos expressing their concern about the company's continued unwillingness to accept its responsibilities in Bhopal. Citing damage to Dow's reputation and the undermining of its "commitment to sustainability" (surely a polite jest) the companies wrote "We are also concerned about a potential judgment the company may face in a pending lawsuit in the U.S. over groundwater contamination from improper waste disposal at Union Carbide's Bhopal facility as well as ongoing litigation in Bhopal, India for compensation, environmental remediation, and medical rehabilitation." The letter was co-ordinated by Trillium Investment Management and signed by the As You Sow Foundation, Calvert Group, Domini Social Investments, Ethical Funds, Green Century Capital Management, Harrington Investments, Progressive Asset Management and Walden Asset Management. Read the letter here • Bhopal.Net report here

BHOPAL 3 DECEMBER Straight from the horse's mouth (Nity). Following to a meeting with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh this morning in Bhopal, we have a great present for the Bhopal survivors on the 18th anniversary. The Chief Minister has advised that all charges against the activists who participated in the attempt to contain dangerous waste in the derelict Union Carbide factory are to be dropped, and has apologised for the brutal behaviour of the police. He has also promised to cooperate with the activists. saying that we are working on this together and that he will take all necessary steps to grant permission for entry into the site for inspection, study or containment. We thank him for this welcome step forward, however, much remains to be done on the ground. We would like to see his active participation in making the polluter - Union Carbide aka Dow Chemical - clean up the contamination, and address the pending liabilities associated with medical and environmental rehabilitation.

The urgent action is therefore stood down. A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED, AND A BIG BHOPALI HUG.

BHOPAL, 2 DECEMBER: On 5th December, two important things are set to happen. First, the activists charged with "crimes" for participating in the attempted clean-up action on 25th November in Bhopal are due to appear in court in Bhopal. Second, a high-level meeting of MP government officials is to discuss the contamination issue and the action to be taken. PLEASE SEND FAXES URGENTLY to the CHIEF MINISTER and the CHIEF SECRETARY asking that: 1) Dow Chemical should be forced to pay for the clean-up 2) All charges against the activists should be dropped, and their efforts to clean up the factory should be recognised and supported 3) action should be taken against those police officials who abused their power (any doubts, watch this video) Click here for suggested text of your fax.

SOMEWHERE IN DEEPEST OZ, 2 DECEMBER 2002 There has been massive press coverage in Australia of the 25th November clean-up attempt at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal when 56 activists were arrested, among them several Australians. Feelings are running high against Dow Chemical/Union Carbide and the politically inept officials who arrested the clean-up team instead of helping it. Wild claims are circulating about the numbers likely to turn out in Bhopal's streets tomorrow. The Australian ( based on information we don't have!) says 100,000. Let's hope so sport. Beut if it's true.

Bombay, December 2, 2002: News just in from India on anniversary-eve. Survivors and supporters took samples of contaminated soil and water from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal to Dow's Indian HQ in Mumbai (Bombay) and handed them over, together with more than 4,000 jhadoos (see right) collected in Bhopal, Chennai (Madras) and Trivandrum, Accepting the samples and the brooms on behalf of the company, Finance Director Anand Vohra told the ICJB delegation that he would personally recommend to his superiors "that action should be taken to alleviate the plight of gas-affected people in Bhopal." ICJB press release here.

Behold, messieurs dames, the rear end of Reserve Inspector P.S. Chouhan – the policeman who was caught on video on Monday by the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB), punching, kicking, slapping and beating people at the peaceful ICJB action in Bhopal. He didn't know he was being filmed, but his disgraceful behaviour is now on show to the world. Chouhan, and his superiors, should not be allowed to get away with it. But the irony is that police brutality – spurred on by the pique of a state government that last week was revealed to have been played for a fool by Union Carbide – is just one more of the ways in which Carbide (now Dow Chemical) continues to poison life in Bhopal. Bhopal.Net comment, plus pics, and ICJB video

BHOPAL 25 NOVEMBER This morning survivors and supporters entered the derelict Union Carbide factory in Bhopal to contain dangerous waste left lying in the open by the company. Bhopal police arrived and began shoving and beating survivors including women. Seventy people were arrested and later charged with criminal trespass. All have now been released. We have issued an urgent action appeal to protest against the brutality of the police, and in particular Reserve Inspector P.S. Chouhan. For the emerging story, plus what you can do right now, check here. Please make a powerful protest.