Indian rapper Sofia Ashraf shares in rhyme the story of the 1984 Bhopal disaster with her debut last month of "Dow vs. Bhopal: a Toxic Rap Battle.” The performer wants the chemical company to pay more in victims’ compensation and environmental damages for a 1984 chemical gas leak that is considered the world’s worst industrial accident, according to an article from Fire Engineering. At the time of the accident, a pesticide plant run by Union Carbide reportedly leaked 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas; Dow later purchased the plant. (See: "Bhopal Leaves a Lasting Legacy" and "Grasp All the Lessons of Bhopal.")
According to the article, Union Carbide paid $470 million in 1989 in a deal reached with the Indian government. Activists reportedly consider the figure insufficient and say it does not address environmental concerns related to the accident. Ashraf’s video includes dancers wearing gas masks, images of President Obama and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and scenes from hospital rooms. Ashraf first targeted Dow in 2008 with a video entitled, “Don’t Work for Dow," aimed at engineering students, and last year went after Unilever with a song detailing mercury contamination at one of the company’s subsidiaries in Kodaikanal, according to the article.
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