Kodaikanal STILL Won’t: Sofia Ashraf Calls Out Unilever, Again

The video challenges Unilever’s false claims that it never dumped mercury in Kodaikanal, where it has a factory.
Sameeksha Khare
Environment
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Sofia Ashraf in the video. (Photo Courtesy: YouTube Screengrab)
Sofia Ashraf in the video. (Photo Courtesy: YouTube Screengrab)
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Multinational companies thinking that they can get away with their callous actions without any consequences, should think again.

Sofia Ashraf, of the Kodaikanal Won’t video song that went viral last year, is back telling Unilever that the mercury mess their factory has made in Kodaikanal wouldn’t just vanish without the company cleaning it up.

In the new video done in a John Oliver-esque way, Ashraf challenges Unilever’s claims, including the one where the company says it never dumped mercury in Kodaikanal.

In the video by Ashraf last year, she brought to light the harm that mercury released from Unilever’s factory in the city was causing to the people and the ecosystem.

The popularity of the video forced Unilever CEO Paul Polman to respond promising quick action. It resulted in Hindustan Unilever (HUL) compensating 591 of their ex-workers in Kodaikanal, many of whom had been devastated by mercury poisoning, reported Jhatkaa.org, the organisation that put out the video.

But that didn’t solve the existing problem. The company never cleaned up the mercury contamination inside and around their thermometer factory, which is poisoning forests and water bodies in the area.

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