The annual Global Day of Action against Vedanta will take place on Monday 14th August 2017, as their AGM is conducted in London.
While the Vedanta board try to don the ‘cloak of respectability’ of their London listing, communities affected by the company’s pollution, human rights abuses and tax evasion around the world will raise their voices through protests and reports showing the true face of this deadly British mining company. As usual we will bring the defiant energy and demands of these communities to London, in our theatrical protest outside the London AGM, and shareholder activism inside it.
JOIN US OUTSIDE VEDANTA’S LONDON AGM WHILE COMMUNITIES PROTEST ACROSS AFRICA AND INDIA!
Monday 14th August 2017, 2 – 4pm .
The Lincoln Centre, 18 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3ED
Bring drums, placards and loud voices.
Please join our Facebook event page if you can come to London on 14th August.
More info on why we are protesting Vedanta’s 2017 AGM below:
This year Vedanta was again excluded from the Norwegian Pension Fund investments following a report which found “numerous reports of Vedanta’s failure to comply with government requirements” at four subsidiaries in Odisha, Chhatisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Zambia.
In Goa, India, resumption of iron ore mining by Vedanta subsidiary Sesa Goa has already led to protests by Gowda Adivasis (a tribal group) suffering from air and water pollution, and accusations that the company is already exceeding its quota and continuing illegal mining under the guise of removing waste dumps. After being found guilty of widespread illegal mining Vedanta is already demanding that the resultant cap on mining is lifted.
In Niyamgiri, Odisha, harassment of tribal activists who succeeded in stopping Vedanta’s bauxite mine in a precedent referendum in 2013 is increasing, and key activists have been jailed and tortured this year, accused of being Maoists. Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti (NSS) and the Dongria Konds have held major blockades of Vedanta’s refinery in reaction demanding an end to harassment and the decomissioning of the refinery.
In Zambia, Vedanta has appealed against a precedent May 2016 judgment allowing thousands of farmers suffering eleven years of pollution by Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) to have their case against the company heard in the UK. During the London appeal hearing they claimed no connection between the parent and subsidiary, stating that corporate governance reports were just for show to comply with London listing rules. Meanwhile the pollution goes on in Zambia, where Vedanta have also been found guilty of widespread transfer mispricing and tax evasion according to a recent UNCTAD report. KCM have never published their annual accounts.
Parallel events in Zambia and India will take place on the 14th August for this Global Day of Action and questions raised by the communities will be asked inside the AGM meeting.
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. foilvedanta@riseup.net
Vedanta is a FTSE 250 British mining company controlled and owned by Anil Agarwal and his family through a series of tax havens and holding companies. It has become infamous for its violations of law, pollution and human rights abuses across India and Afrika. Vedanta is controlled and 69.6% owned by Brit Anil Agarwal and his family through a series of tax havens and holding companies. It was launched on the London Stock Exchange in 2003 with the assistance of the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), who continue with their support for the company.