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Home--News
Over 800 Protest Coca-Cola in India
For Immediate Release
November 30, 2005
Contacts:
Nandlal Master, Lok Samiti +91 94153 00520 (Hindi)
Amit Srivastava, India Resource Center [for International Inquiries]
UK +44 7731 865591 US +1 415 336 7584 E: info@IndiaResource.org
London (November 30, 2005): In another show of growing
discontent with Coca-Cola's bottling operations in India, over 800
community members marched on Wednesday, November 30, to Coca-Cola's
factory gates in Mehdiganj in northern India, demanding that the factory
shut down immediately.
The major demonstration comes exactly a year after another major protest
against the plant, in November 2004, where protesters were severely
beaten by the police and over 350 detained.
Over 250 police personnel were present at the march today, and there
were no arrests.
"We have had enough," said Nandlal Master of Lok Samiti, one of the
key organizers of the march and rally. "We will continue to work to
stop Coca-Cola which is causing severe hardships to the community,"
he continued.
Communities living around Coca-Cola's bottling plant in Mehdiganj,
near the holy city of Varanasi, have been experiencing severe water
shortages as a result of the company's operations in the area. The
company has also been accused of disposing of its toxic sludge to
farmers under the guise of fertilizer, as well as polluting the scarce
remaining groundwater in the area.
Coca-Cola's practices are causing dramatic impacts on the community.
Farmers, for whom the quantity and quality of water is key to successful
farming, have been particularly hit hard, losing significant crop
yields.
The protesters also lodged a formal criminal complaint on Wednesday,
accusing the Coca-Cola company of stealing water from the community.
The local village council, yielding to community pressure, has revoked
Coca-Cola's license to operate. The campaign is also receiving support
from a growing number of political parties across India, and Mr. V.
P. Singh, ex-prime minister of India has also expressed his solidarity
with the local community campaign to hold Coca-Cola accountable.
In a move to contain the growing campaign, state authorities have
filed false (but serious) charges against some key community leaders,
and introduced new charges against thirty additional community members
just last week- allegedly for their "criminal" activities from a protest
against Coca-Cola a year ago. Nandlal Master, a key community leader,
had his passport confiscated by the state authorities in an attempt
to prevent him from traveling internationally to highlight Coca-Cola's
crimes.
"Unfortunately, the state is abdicating its responsibility to ensure
the well being of the public. Instead, it is doing the bidding of
the Coca-Cola company," said Amit Srivastava of the India Resource
Center, an international campaigning organization.
In an attempt to weaken the turnout, Coca-Cola organized a volleyball
game in the surrounding village. There were also reports of groups
visiting villages last night, warning people that there will be violence
at the protest today. And in a very serious incident, an organizer
who had gone to mobilize protesters in a village was beaten and kidnapped.
The organizer managed to escape, and a criminal complaint has been
filed against the managers of the Coca-Cola bottling plant.
The protester's demands include the dropping of all criminal charges
against community members, an inquiry into the illegal manner in which
the Coca-Cola plant has occupied land belonging to the community as
well as compensation for farmers who have been adversely affected
by Coca-Cola's practices.
Coca-Cola has become the target of various communities across India
who are experiencing severe problems with the quantity and quality
of water as a result of the company's operations.
One of Coca-Cola's largest plants in India, in Plachimada in south
India, has remained shut down since Match 2004 because of local community
pressure. The state government of Kerala has recently sided with the
community in Plachimada, and has challenged Coca-Cola's right to extract
water in the Supreme Court of India.
Images from today's protest available upon request.
For more information, visit www.IndiaResource.org
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