India: Kodaikanal Won't

Friday, 7 August 2015

Rapper Sofia Ashraf has made headlines around the globe with ‘Kodaikanal Won’t’, the protest song attacking Unilever.

Sofia Ashraf is a socially conscious rapper originally from Chennai who already took on another chemical company in 2008 with the song "Don’t Work For Dow".

Feminist and activist Sofia Ashraf is an example of the young generation of Indian women politically engaged and looking for more independance in a still very conservative society.

Three NGOs - Vetiver Collective, The Other Media, Kodaikanal Workers’ Association - have been fighting against Unilever for quite some time and they asked the rapper to write a song as part of their ongoing campaign.

Sofia Ashraf comdemns through her song, the company Unilever for poisoning workers and illegally dumping toxic mercury waste. The thermometer factory at Kodaikanal closed in 2001, but more than 1,000 former workers are alleged to have been affected by mercury poisoning, which can cause skin problems, sensory impairment and a lack of coordination.

 

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