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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2016)
4C THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016 PARTING SHOT FROM DANNY MILLER A weekly snapshot from The Daily Astorian and Chinook Observer photographers A lone deer explores near Ninth and Exchange streets on the Fourth of July. ODDITY Straight Outta Chennai Indian rapper targets US chemical giant in bid for damages By NIRMALA GEORGE Associated Press N EW DELHI — An Indian rapper is target- ing Dow Chemical with rhymes demanding the U.S. company pay more in victims’ compensation and environmen- tal damages stemming from a horriic chemical gas leak that killed thousands of people and sickened countless others. Soia Ashraf debuted “Dow vs. Bhopal: a Toxic Rap Battle” last month, calling the story of what happened in the central Indian city of Bhopal “a critical message to get out there.” The 1984 tragedy, consid- ered the world’s worst indus- trial accident, was caused by 40 tons of deadly methyl iso- cyanate gas leaking from a pesticide plant run by Union Carbide Corp. later purchased by Dow Chemical. The leak killed more than 15,000 and sickened at least a half-million more. Activists say thousands of children have since been born with brain damage, miss- ing palates and twisted limbs. Union Carbide paid $470 million in a 1989 deal reached with the Indian government, which Dow has said takes care of its liability. But activists say the sum was far too low and ignored the need to clean up AP Photo/ Rajanish Kakade Indian rapper Sofia Ashraf demonstrates her skills in Mumbai, India, in June. The South Indian rapper is targeting Dow Chemical with rhymes — de- manding the U.S. company pay more in victims’ compensation and environmental damages stemming from a horrific chemical gas leak that killed thousands of people and sickened countless others. ‘Speak to young people, and they know about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they know about the Holocaust. But very few of them will know about the Bhopal gas leak tragedy.’ Sofia Ashraf Indian rapper who is targeting Dow Chemical with rhymes the environment. “Speak to young people, and they know about Hiro- shima and Nagasaki, they know about the Holocaust,” the 29-year-old songstress said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “But very few of them will know about the Bhopal gas leak tragedy.” Her video, she hopes, will change that, with its provoca- tive clips of dancers wearing gas masks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi orating, President Barack Obama donning sunglasses and presumptive Republican presi- dential candidate Donald Trump doused in water interspersed with images of hospital rooms and Ashraf herself rapping angrily at the camera. “This ain’t road kill, death’s still taking its toll,” she raps over a driving base beat. “There’s water, water everywhere / cor- roding our copperware / It’s so polluted, quit deluding.” This isn’t the irst time the Chennai-based artist has used rhymes to call on multination- als to act. Her 2015 rap video “Kodai- kanal Won’t” took aim at Uni- lever, calling on the company to help former workers at a thermometer plant in the Tamil Nadu hill resort of Kodaikanal. Unilever’s Indian subsidiary closed the plant 15 years ago after mercury contamination was discovered there. Earlier this year, the com- pany reached a settlement W hile other n ew spa pers give you less, The D a ily Astoria n GIVES YOU O u r n ew M ORE C APITAL B UREAU From left: M a teu sz Perk ow sk i, Pa ris Achen covers the sta te for you agreement with the 591 for- mer workers it had employed. Exact terms were not released but the company disputes claims that workers’ health was affected by exposure to mercury. Ashraf has gone after Dow Chemical before for the Bho- pal disaster. Her 2008 song called “Don’t Work For Dow” urged engineering students to ignore company recruiters on college campuses. The latest song takes the Indian complaint abroad urg- ing the U.S. government to force Dow to offer more in compensation and clean up.