Echoes in UK: Tamilians in London protest outside Sterlite owner’s house

Expressing solidarity with their counterparts in Thoothukudi, the protesters in London brought their families and held banners that read: ‘Tamil Killer lives here’ and ‘We demand independent investigation’. 

They condemned the Tamil Nadu government for not taking appropriate steps against the copper plant polluting Thoothukudi. In a video, they were also seen shouting slogans against Sterlite and the state government.

Immediately after the violence was reported, Thirumurugan Gandhi, the founder of May 17 Movement called on Tamilians to siege Agarwal’s house in London ‘condemning massacre on anti-Vedanta, anti-Sterlite protestors in Tamil Nadu,’ as he posted on his Facebook page.

Earlier in March, the group had staged a protest carrying traditional Tamil parai drums outside Agarwal’s house demanding immediate shutdown of the plant to support the protests in Thoothukudi.

Sterlite was the first company set up by UK-based Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal in India before he launched Vedanta Resources on the LSE in 2003, where it is now a multinational company with operations across India and Africa.