In 6 locations across Africa and India protestors held angry demonstrations over the last 2 days. These far flung and isolated communities are united by their experience of living with the operations of Vedanta, a British-Indian mining company 69.6% owned by London-based billionaire Anil Agarwal, which protestors accuse of looting, polluting and devastating their homelands. Vedanta's AGM in London, held this weekend and Monday, was mired by protesters chanting slogans and staging a theatrical boxing match between company executives outside the meeting, and dissident shareholders asking penetrating questions inside the meeting.
Vedanta has been consistently opposed by communities where it operates ever since it was launched on the London Stock Exchange in 2003. In 2013 the company lost a $10 billion investment when indigenous people and farmers won a 10-year struggle against the state and the company to stop mining of the Niyamgiri mountain in Odisha in India. Local communities are now demanding that the refinery built to process its ore is decommissioned.
