Rashida Bee is an Indian activist from

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

. She was awarded the

Goldman Environmental Prize The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists, one from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America. ...

in 2004, together with

Champa Devi Shukla Champa Devi Shukla is an Indian activist from Bhopal. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2004, together with Rashida Bee. Shukla and Bee have struggled for justice for those who survived the 1984 Bhopal disaster, when 20,000 ...

. The two have struggled for justice for the surviving victims of the 1984

Bhopal disaster The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a chemical accident on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Considered the world's ...

, when 20,000 people were killed, and organized campaigns and trials against those responsible for the disaster.

Bhopal gas tragedy

Rashida Bee along with

, both survivors of the infamous Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984, led an international campaign against Dow Chemical and its subsidiary Union Carbide and to get justice for the victims of that December night. In 1999, along with other victims, they filed a class-action lawsuit against Union Carbide. In 2002, they organised a 19-day hunger strike in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

, demanding that the former Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson face a criminal trial in

. They also called for Dow to provide long-term health care for survivors and their children, clean up the former Union Carbide site, and supply economic support to survivors who can no longer work due to illness.

Awards

On the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, in 2004, Bee and Shukla received the

awarded in a ceremony in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, on April 19. Bee used the award money to open Chingari Trust, a trust to provide medical help to children born with defects. It has registered 300 children up to 12 years old. Space constraints, however, only allow them to accommodate 60 children a day. The centre has a speech therapist, physiotherapist, special educators and doctors. The trust also provides employment for people who cannot work because of sickness.

Personal life

Bee works at the Central Government Press, where she is a junior binder.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bee, Rashida Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Bhopal Activists from Madhya Pradesh 20th-century Indian Muslims Indian women activists Indian human rights activists Goldman Environmental Prize awardees