Tag Archives: Supreme Court of India

‘Gunning down a protest’ and ‘Sense of betrayal’: Frontline on Sterlite’s Thoothukudi massacre

June 12, 2018Articlescopper, Corruption, Human Rights, India, London, Mining, Pollution, protest, Repression, Sterlite, Supreme Court of India, Tamil, Tamil Nadu, Thoothkudi, Tuticorinlankoid

The police lathi charge against anti-Sterlite protesters at VVD signal junction on 22nd May

12th June 2018. These in depth articles by Ilangovan Rajasekaran were carried as a cover story in Frontline magazine, 22nd June print edition.

The first covers the myriad police violations of 22nd May in Thoothukudi, including attempts to split the movement prior to the protest, and torture of youth after the fatal shootings. The second details the plight of Thoothukudi’s fishermen whose seas have been rendered barren due to pollution.

Gunning down a protest

The police open fire, in a “stage-managed” riot situation, on people protesting against the Sterlite copper smelter plant in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. The death of 13 people and the grievous injuries suffered by many have only strengthened the residents’ resolve to fight against industries that threaten lives and livelihoods.

On the morning of May 22, Vanitha stood at the doorstep of her one-room house in Lion’s Town, a fishermen’s locality in Thoothukudi town in southern Tamil Nadu, and caught sight of her daughter waving to her from the street corner. The 18-year-old “darling” of her parents and two elder brothers was on her way to the Our Lady of Snows Basilica nearby. Residents had been asked to assemble there to participate in a rally to mark the 100th day of the “anti-Sterlite struggle”.

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London protests condemn Thoothukudi Vedanta Massacre; Demand action in India and the UK

May 26, 2018Actions, NewsAnil Agarwal, copper, De-list, Human Rights, justice, London, massacre, Mining, police, Pollution, protest, Samarendra Das, solidarity, Sri Lanka, Sterlite, Stock Exchange, Supreme Court of India, Tamil Nadu, Thoothkudi, Tuticorin, Vedantaamaranth

26th May 2018 An angry protest took place today at the Indian High Commission in London. The people were condemning the police firing which killed at least 13 unarmed protesters at an environmental demonstration against British company Vedanta Resources’ copper smelter in Thoothukudi (Tuticorin), Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. There was a strong call from all groups present today to delist Vedanta from the London Stock Exchange, while Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell also sent a statement demanding that Vedanta is de-listed as a ‘rogue corporation’.

Recent updates on the ground situation in Tuticorin and ongoing UK protests are also included at the end of this post.

A large and diverse crowd gathered outside the Indian High Commission

There were many speeches and songs from the people today. They shared new information such as Sterlite’s donations to the Police control room in Thoothukudi and highlighted the parallels and called for solidarity with Gaza, Marikana and Kalinganagar massacres. The London protest was called by Foil Vedanta, Tamil People in UK, Periyar Ambedkar Study Circle, South Asia Solidarity Group, Tamil Solidarity, Parai Voice of Freedom and Veera Tamilar Munnani.

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The anti-Sterlite movement: Saga of a struggle

April 20, 2018NewsAnil Agarwal, copper, Corruption, Human Rights, India, Koodankulam, Pollution, protest, solidarity, Sri Lanka, Sterlite, Supreme Court of India, Tamil, Tamil Nadu, Thoothkudi, Tuticorin, Vedanta, worker's deathslankoid

Crowds throng at 24th March 2018 public meeting

20th April 2018. This detailed history of the anti-Sterlite movement by Ilangovan Rajasekaran was first published in Frontline magazine on April 17. Reproduced with permission of Frontline and the author here.

In Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district, protests against Sterlite’s copper smelter plant get a second wind as local residents’ health and environmental concerns over the company’s expansion plan lead to the revival of a long-forgotten people’s movement.

PEOPLE of the port town of Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) in Tamil Nadu had never before poured out onto the streets in such large numbers as they did on March 24 in solidarity with the 100-odd residents of Kumareddiapuram who are waging a battle against the proposed Rs.3,500-crore expansion plan of Sterlite Industries (India) Limited’s giant copper smelter plant situated in the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (SIPCOT) complex that adjoins Kumareddiapuram and a few other villages.

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London and Tuticorin mass rally to ban Sterlite

March 24, 2018NewsAnil Agarwal, copper, Foil Vedanta, Human Rights, Koodankulam, London, Mining, Pollution, protest, solidarity, Sri Lanka, Sterlite, Supreme Court of India, Tamil Nadu, Thoothkudi, Tuticorin, Vedantalankoid

Anil Agarwal’s London mansion

24th March 2018 A noisy protest took place at 42-44 Hill Street in Mayfair, London, today, as British Tamils armed with traditional Parai drums joined with major demonstrations in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, India, against the expansion of British company Sterlite’s copper smelter in the State. The London protest, which took place at the $20 million home of company boss Anil Agarwal, was called by Foil Vedanta, Tamil People in UK and Parai – Voice of Freedom.

See a short video of the London protest HERE

Coverage in Hindustan Times – British Tamils protest outside Vedanta chief Anil Agarwal’s home in London

The News Minute – Can you hear the voice of UK Tamils? Sterlite protests outside Vedanta founder’s house in UK

Meanwhile in Tuticorin 250,000 people packed the streets for a major demonstration and public meeting organised by the Anti Killer Sterlite People’s Movement. Shutters on shops throughout the town were also down today following a total shutdown (bandh) called by The Merchant’s Association. This is the biggest protest yet against the Sterlite plant, and comes on the 40th day of continuous protest in the town, demanding that the plant is permanently closed and the expansion stopped. Permission for the protest was initially turned down by police but was successfully challenged by activists and granted by the High Court on 14^th March.

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Vedanta excluded again by Norwegian pension fund

March 16, 2017Newscopper, Corruption, Displacement, Dongria Kond, Human Rights, India, KCM, Lanjigarh, Mining, Niyamgiri, Odisha, Orissa Mining Corporation, Pollution, Sterlite, Supreme Court of India, Tamil Nadu, Thoothkudi, Tom Albanese, Tuticorin, Vedanta, Vedanta Aluminium, worker's deaths, Zambialankoid

16th March 2017. In its latest report, released on 9th March 2017, the Norwegian Council of Ethics has again excluded Vedanta from the Government Pension Fund’s investment universe. The report is an indictment of Vedanta’s pattern of operation at four subsidiaries in Odisha, Chhatisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Zambia, finding “numerous reports of Vedanta’s failure to comply with government requirements” and concluding that “there continues to be an unacceptable risk that your company will cause or contribute to severe environmental damage and serious or systematic human rights violations.”

The Fund first divested from the company in 2007 after Vedanta Sterlite’s operations in India — Thoothukudi, Chhattisgarh and Orissa — and in other parts of the world were found to be in violation of accepted human rights and environmental norms.

The Pension Fund is “the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund with shares in 9,000 companies. . .[and] 1.3 percent of the entire world’s listed equity, giving the decisions it takes to drop or reinstate shareholdings or warn firms considerable weight among investors.”

Read the Council’s full assessment of Vedanta’s operations below. Continue reading →

Global Day of Action against Vedanta – 5th August

July 6, 2016ActionsAGM, Dongria Kond, Foil Vedanta, Human Rights, India, KCM, London, Mining, Niyamgiri, Odisha, Supreme Court of India, Vedanta, Zambialankoid

The time has come around again for our annual Global Day of Action against Vedanta at their AGM. As usual we will bring the defiant energy of communities fighting (and winning) against Vedanta around the world to London! From pollution affected communities of Zambia who won their 9 years battle in their Supreme Court, and now won the right to have their case heard in Britain, to the indigenous Dongria Kond who are now demanding the dismantling of their refinery in Lanjigarh after winning their case in the Supreme Court of India (see below for more).

Parallel demonstrations are already planned in Zambia and India on the 4th August for this Global Day of Action and questions raised by the communities will be asked inside the AGM meeting.

JOIN US OUTSIDE VEDANTA’S LONDON AGM WHILE COMMUNITIES PROTEST ACROSS AFRIKA AND INDIA

CELEBRATE THE VICTORIES WON THIS YEAR AT NIYAMGIRI AND ZAMBIA!
Bring drums, placards and loud voices.

Friday 5TH AUGUST 2016, 2 – 4pm.

Ironmongers Hall, Barbican, EC2Y 8AA

LOOTER! POLLUTER! CRIMINAL!

Please join our Facebook event page if you can come to London on 5th August.
If you would like to plan a demonstration or organise any event in solidarity with any Vedanta affected community, in any part of the world please get in touch.

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Eight days of protest on Niyamgiri

June 7, 2016UncategorizedCorruption, Displacement, Dongria Kond, Human Rights, India, Lanjigarh, Mining, Niyamgiri, Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, Orissa Mining Corporation, protest, Repression, Supreme Court of India, Vedanta Aluminiumlankoid

Dongria Kond leader Lado Sikaka speaking to press

7th June, 2016. A seven day padyatra (foot march) involving occupants of up to 112 of the remote villages of the Niyamgiri hills ended on Sunday in Jaganathpur (Lanjigarh). The padyatra, led by the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti and indigenous leaders from the villages, amplified demands to decommission Vedanta’s Lanjigarh refinery and celebrated the recent victory when the Supreme Court turned down Vedanta’s appeal to the decisive 2013 referendums which had put an end to mining plans on the mountain, as well as protesting the ongoing harassment from the company and the colluding state government and police forces. Various local and national Indian media covered the major event which ended in a large rally on World Environment Day, 5th June. The Orissa Post reported that:

Coming down heavily on the government, Loda Sikaka, a member of the Samiti, said the government has unleashed a reign of terror on the foothills of Niyamgiri by deploying platoons of paramilitary forces and special operation group japans.

CRPF and SOG jawans, instead of checking Maoist activities and providing security to inhabitants, kill poor tribals under cover of encounters. They misbehave with tribal women, loot their houses, domestic animals and poultries, lodge false cases against innocent people by branding them Maoists. The most worrying factor us that the government is conspiring to snatch the livelihood of tribals by leasing out the hills to Vedanta for bauxite mining.

The procession aimed at gaining public support against alleged anti-tribal activities of the government. It also aimed at urging the government to ensure sustainable development of the region while keeping the ecology intact.

The fighting is not limited to this specific region. It is a struggle of the humanity to protect nature and civilisation, Dadhi Pusika, another member of the Samiti, said.

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Authors pull out of Vedanta JLF, and a rebuttal to the organisers

May 17, 2016Newsbauxite, copper, Dongria Kond, Foil Vedanta, Human Rights, India, KCM, London, Mining, Niyamgiri, Pollution, protest, Sterlite, Supreme Court of India, Vedanta, worker's deaths, Zambialankoid

17th May. On 14th May we released an open letter calling for the renowned authors and artists participating in the Jaipur Literature Festival at Southbank, London, to pull out of the event in view of its sponsorship by Vedanta Resources – dubbed ‘the world’s most hated company’. The letter has now been signed by over 100 writers, academics, activists and people directly affected by Vedanta’s operations, including poets Nabina Das, Hemant Devate, Rafiq Kathwari and Surya Vahni Priya Capildeo and writers Tariq Mehmood, Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, Courttia Newland and Gladson Dungdung.

In response two speakers have already pulled out. The scientist and broadcaster Aarathi Prasad and K. Satchidanandan, a Malayalam and English poet have both refused to participate. (Please see the full article critiquing the neocolonialist approach of the Jaipur Literature Festival by Kavita Bhanot here)

Despite this, Sanjoy Roy, the managing director of Teamwork Arts, which produces the festival, issued this statement to the media on behalf of the festival organisers Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple:

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Vedanta’s toxic debt tricks

May 5, 2016Articles, NewsAnil Agarwal, debt, India, KCM, Lanjigarh, Niyamgiri, Supreme Court of India, Tom Albanese, Vedantalankoid

5th May 2016 With $2.9 billion in debt covenants and inter-company loans due in 2016 Vedanta is turning to increasingly controversial and irregular methods to bleed cash from its few profitable subsidiaries. Having already asset stripped the Zambian Konkola Copper Mines, being prevented by an employees union from getting access to Hindustan Zinc Ltd’s $4.6 billion cash reserves, and by shareholder action from getting hold of Cairn India’s cash, Vedanta are now paying themselves ridiculous 1200% dividends in a desperate attempt to grab the cash and keep the lenders happy.

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Prosperity or plunder?: The real story behind the global mining industry

August 12, 2015Articlesbauxite, copper, Displacement, Foil Vedanta, Human Rights, iron ore, KCM, Mining, Samarendra Das, Sesa Goa, Sterlite, Supreme Court of India, Tom Albanese, Vedanta, Zambialankoid

modern technology: Australian iron ore being loaded onto ships

12th August 2015. This editorial on the ecological economics and social impacts of the global mining industry was published in the July/August edition of the socialist Hindi magazine Samayik Varta. Please click the link to read it in Hindi or download a PDF version of the article here: Prosperity or plunder? The real story behind the global mining industry

Prosperity or plunder?: The real story behind the global mining industry

Samarendra Das and Miriam Rose, Foil Vedanta

Foil Vedanta is a grassroots international solidarity group based in London. We aim to hold the FTSE 250 UK listed company Vedanta to account by building a global movement of communities opposing its operations, and using scholar activism to expose the real interests behind Vedanta and other mining companies. In 2014 our report Copper Colonialism: Vedanta KCM and the copper loot of Zambia, which followed our visit to Zambia, ignited protests and helped change Zambian mining policy.

A history of mining:

Scientists still don’t fully understand how the deposits of precious metal in the Earth’s surface were formed, but the most recent theory suggests that they were brought to the Earth by enormous meteors which smashed into the planet 200 million years after the earth formed (4.3 billion years ago).^¹The earth’s crust is mostly made up of Oxygen (47%) and Silicon (28%), followed by Aluminium (8%) and Iron (5%). Other metals are much more rare; Copper makes up 0.01%, Zinc 0.004%, Lead 0.002%, Tin 0.001%, Thorium 0.001%, Uranium 0.0004%, Silver 0.00001% and Gold 0.000001%. Only a fraction of these percentages are to be found in densities which are economically viable to extract.

In other words, metals are a very rare and very precious resource on our planet, and are completely irreplaceable. However, in 2014, after only a century of industrial scale mining, the speed and scale of extraction of metals has become so immense that most metals are predicted to run out in the next few decades. For example between 1.1 and 1.3 billion tonnes of aluminium has been extracted historically (until 2014), and at the current extraction rate of 40 – 46 million tonnes per year the remaining 8 billion tonnes will be used up in 20 – 40 years.^²

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