A three minute rap video sung by a Chennai-born rapper, Sofia Ashraf, has done what years of protesting by activists and victims of the Kodaikanal mercury disaster calling for some corporate responsibility from Unilever has been hoping to achieve.
Rapper, Sofia Ashraf born and brought up in Chennai is the face behind “Kodaikanal won’t”, a remix version set to Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda, telling Unilever to step up, take responsibility and provide compensation to workers affected by a Unilever subsidiary thermometer factory that shut down in 2001, after mercury contamination was discovered.
A day after the video was released, it has been picked up by mainstream media from not only across India, but around the world. The French have picked it up, New York Times has, and even Nicki Minaj herself has acknowledged it.
But how many of us are aware of what really went down at Kodaikanal over a decade ago that warrants compensation or some sort of responsibility from one of the biggest corporates in the world? As one journalist quite well-aware of the going-on in Chennai/Tamil Nadu puts it, she says that despite being in the thick of things she never did quite know of the whole Kodaikanal incident until the video went viral.
The Kodaikanal tragedy was discovered in 2001 over ten years after the company began operations in the hill-station. Mercury was found, and over 500 workers of the thermometer factory were permanently affected, and many left infertile. The effects are seen even today.
Over the years, protests have been held right from Chennai up till Mumbai during Unilever’s Annual General Meeting asking the company to speak up and admit to its liabilities. Protests have also happened in Surrey, London where a sole voice called out for accountability, letters have been written to Unilever CEO, Paul Polman himself.
For one, over the years, protests, and dharnas by those affected and activists has not reached out to a larger audience the way it has this time. For the typical news reader, a protest or dharna in Chennai against a multi-conglomerate empire has not been relevant enough to retain enough attention.
So who’s fault is that? When a corporate such as Unilever is at fault for not admitting to its liabilities, doesn’t one have to point inwards and first identify how much importance it’s garnered in our own country.
“We’ve had bad experiences in getting main stream media (TV channels) to cover the Kodaikanal issue. I wonder if the silence has anything to do with Unilever being a big advertiser in a number of them,” says environmentalist, Nityanand Jayaraman, who has been supporting the cause of the Kodaikanal workers for a number of years. He says, many a time, main stream media (except some papers and TV channels that have dedicatedly reported on the issue), don’t make their presence felt at agitations conducted across a span of years.
So who’s fault is it that people and media in Tamil Nadu itself aren’t aware of what goes on in its backyard?
According to activists at least, Unilever has remained silent on various demands. Its website addresses the Kodaikanal incident stating that:
“Internal monitoring within the factory and external audits carried out by statutory authorities during the operation of the factory showed that there were no adverse health effects to the workers on account of their employment at the factory.”
In April, 2015, sediment, moss and lichen samples taken within the factory premises, and nearby rivers confirmed the presence of mercury higher than normal. And to make it clearer, the struggle is not without the faces of those affected.
But what has lacked in terms of media coverage and what can only be presumed as a lack of the regular public interest has only been compensated by massive social media outreach created by this video for the Kodaikanal cause.
“Social media is now Unilever’s Achilles heel,” says Nityanand Jayaraman.
Sofia herself says that the only reason she decided to be a part of the video was because she believed there would be positive outcome of it. “Unilever is not evil,” she says adding that considering that the corporate organisation did speak of sustainability, it should be doing something for those affected in Kodaikanal.
A corporate organisation that has its clout in different products and invests in billions in its advertisements, the company has been closely promoting socially relevant issues itself. From Bru to Fair and Lovely, Ponds , Pears , Lux, and Brooke Bond Red Label, over a 1000 brand names are sold worldwide under the Unilever umbrella.
Unilever itself has been doing a lot in the social responsibility sphere. From women empowerment to working towards water conservation and reducing the carbon footprint over the years, the corporate has also showcased an image of care and concern both for people and the earth.
For now, the video is working its magic. Whether Unilever responds and takes any step to address these workers has to be seen.
Read the entire story of the Kodaikanal mercury poisoning here.