Immediate Withdrawal of Investments from Vedanta Resources plc
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Dear Shareholder,
As concerned citizens of the world we urge you to immediately withdraw your investments from Vedanta Resources plc. We would like to help you in making you fully aware of the true nature of this multinational mining company so that you can fully appreciate our reasons for concern and why this issue needs to be urgently addressed and resolved. We would like to assist you in making a well informed decision on why you must immediately disinvest from this atrociously destructive mining company, which is going to cause terrible environmental and human devastation.
HIGH LEVEL SUMMARY OF CONSEQUENCES OF VEDANTAS MINING
Vedanta Resources is a multinational mining company, listed on the London Stock Exchange whose spectacular rise involves violating Environmental Laws, Human Rights Abuse, Financial scams & Political corruption in Zambia, Armenia, India and other countries where it exploits poorly regulated mining enclaves. Recently Vedanta has announced plans to start mining in the Niyamgiri hills of Orissa, India from October 2009 and it aims to increase operations by 6 fold by 2011. Vedantas mining in Orissa will have a devastating impact on the fragile Ecosystem of this fertile and vitally important forested mountainous region and the state of Orissa in general. It will also commit Cultural Genocide against the ancient tribal civilization of the Dongria Kondh and Majhi Kondh tribes, who have lived ecologically sustainable & self sufficient lives for centuries in these mountains. Vedantas mining will also lead to severely toxic pollution, diseases, terminal illnesses, destruction of endangered wildlife, damage to the wild elephant population, devastation of crops and arable land and the poisoning and drying up of rivers and streams, which will have catastrophic effects on tens of thousands of people for whom these rivers are crucial lifelines in Kalahandi, one of the most drought prone regions of India.
DETAILED BACKGROUND ON WHY YOU MUST URGENTLY DISINVEST FROM VEDANTA PLC
After a highly controversial legal case lasting 3 years at The Supreme Court of India, which witnessed some outrageous distortion of facts and a major miscarriage of justice, Vedanta plc plans to start mining Bauxite in October 2009 and aims to increase by 6 fold by 2011.
CRITICAL REASONS WHY YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY WITHDRAW YOUR INVESTMENTS FROM VEDANTA INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING:-
Vedantas mining activities will have a catastrophic effect on the fragile Ecosystem of Orissa with over a thousand hectares of prime Evergreen Reserve Forests being wiped out, rivers being poisoned, ground water levels falling. Already Vedantas Refinery, which has been built on tribal land in Lanjigarh, is critically polluting. Major rivers of Orissa, including River Bansadhara, has already been polluted at its source. Toxic wastes have ruined fertile agricultural lands, polluted air, contaminated drinking & bathing water, & caused severe illnesses in people & wildlife. Mining will compound these effects.
Hundreds of the local indigenous population have been killed in work and road accident in and around this Refinery because of Vedantas criminal negligence. The Community has been violently split and is terrorised by thugs in Vedantas pay.
Niyam Dongar is the most densely forested mountain in the Niyamgiri range. It is home to the ancient civilization of the Dongria Kondh tribe, who have preserved their sacred mountain, prevented deforestation, lived ecologically sustainable & self sufficient lives for centuries.
Cultural Genocide is imminent with Mass Unemployment and Destitution as farmers, fishermen and forest dwellers will be displaced and abandoned in shanty-towns. Delicate social structure will be torn apart with the collapse of traditional Economic systems, Kinship system, Egalitarian power structures and Religious values. Already displacement and the invasion by an alien industry has led to a sharp rise in illegal liquor shops, fraudulent schemes, drunken violence, wife beatings, suicides, prostitution & serious fractures in the community. Cultural Genocide will also affect Majhi Kondh tribe and will culminate in the destruction of Niyam Dongar, the most sacred mountain of the Kondh tribe and their Lord of Law. The Kondhs perceive the mountains and the forests as their Gods. So their destruction is both an environmental and a cultural atrocity.
These Bauxite-capped mountains are the reason for the regions exceptional fertility and bio-diversity. Bauxite, which contains the Aluminium ore, soaks up rainwater, holds this water and releases it to numerous perennial streams and rivers, which are essential Lifelines in Kalahandi, one of the most drought prone regions of India. Removing this Bauxite will be catastrophic for the fragile ecosystem, endangered wildlife and for tens of thousands of people who rely on these rivers.
If mining starts on Niyamgiri, at least 50 other major mountains are next in line! Already tribal people and Dalits (Untouchables) have movements to protect Bapla Mali, Mali Parbat, Deo Mali, Gandhamardan and other mountains in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. BHPBilliton, Alcoa, Rio Tinto, Jindal & Dubai-based companies are poised to set up Bauxite mines.
In Dec 2000 police opened fire on tribal campaigners, killing three at the Utkal project. While an Inquiry into the police firing was holding up this project Vedanta made its move, building its refinery before applying for permission to mine! Vedanta has repeatedly violated Government Pollution Guidelines, illegally occupied village land, criminally started construction work without Environmental Clearance, dumped toxic pollutants into rivers and cleared Reserve Forest land despite valiant efforts by villagers to protect their forests.
Mountains of North Orissa are some of the last pockets of wild elephants in Eastern India. These majestic animals are being threatened by the rampant mining. Magnificent wildlife, forests, some of the highest waterfalls in India and many tribal cultures are in serious danger of being wiped out forever.
WORLWIDE CONDEMNATION OF VEDANTA RESOURCES PLC
On July 9, 2009 Amnesty International stated that The Indian Government should immediately withdraw the clearance granted to a massive mining project (Vedanta) that threatens the lives and livelihoods of a protected indigenous community living in the Niyamgiri hills.
Vedanta has been blacklisted by the Norwegian Govt Pension Fund, with its pension fund investments divested in 2007 citing serious malpractice and contraventions of environment norms and ethics by the Vedanta management in the past wherever they operate and human rights violation. Procedural violations in procurement of environment and forest clearance for mining were cited. The Martin Currie Scottish Trust Fund also withdrew their 2.37m investment in Vedanta in July 2008 on grounds of environmental and human rights violation.
The Orissa State Pollution Control Board has issued more than 3 notices to Vedanta for violating pollution norms at its Refinery and the CEC committee of the Indian Supreme Court submitted several reports highlighting irregularities and corruption in Vedanta and recommending that Environmental Clearance for mining activities should NOT be give. Both Vedantas parent company- Sterlite and Vedantas subsidiary MALCO have been charged in court with the criminal violation of Environmental laws, callous dumping of toxic wastes and illegal construction.
Worldwide uproar followed Vedanta being awarded the Golden Peacock Award by the World Environmental Foundation (WEF) in 2009. Hundreds of organisations and individuals wrote to the jury of the The Golden Peacock Award and demonstrations were held at the Award ceremony in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Such was the public anger that even the jurors dissociated themselves from this prize and even the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and other Government officials refused to participate in the Award ceremony.
In early 2009, in a breathtakingly beautiful non-violent protest over 10,000 villagers and concerned citizens held hands to form a 17 kilometre human chain around the Niyamgiri hills.
The local communities have been protesting against Vedanta for many years now. On 25th July 2009 hundreds of men, women and children held mass demonstrations, blocked the roads and fought off the company goons and the local state Mafia, who is working in collaboration with Vedanta.
27th July 2009 was The Global Day of Action against Vedanta Resources plc. Strong, compelling protests were held outside Vedantas AGM in London and inside the AGM Vedantas Board was subject to a barrage of incisive questions by a tribal elder from Niyamgiri, campaigners, academics, intellectuals, filmmakers, NGOs, Amnesty International, journalists etc. None of the critical questions was rationally answered by Vedantas Board! Just some of the famous campaigners involved in the Global Campaign against Vedanta plc include Arundhati Roy, Joanna Lumley, Bianca Jagger and Nitin Sawhney.
Over 4000 concerned citizens in Trinidad supported The Global Day of Action against Vedanta Resources plc. Protests were also held in major Indian cities and a series of demonstrations, lectures and rallies will be held in Indian cities from 27 July 2009 onwards.
Press Coverage has extensively reported on the protests and the underlying issues as explained above. The urgent need for investors to disinvest from Vedanta has been repeatedly highlighted. Reasons why Vedanta Resources plc is an extremely poor investment, has been comprehensively revealed and some shareholders have already received very bad publicity for having invested in this monstrous company.
CONCLUSION- URGENT DISINVESTMENT FROM VEDANTA PLC NEEDED
Along with its other destructive impacts Vedanta Resources plc is a heavily polluting company as explained above. If and when International Accounting and Actuarial conventions and Legal and Legislative changes require Co2 and other pollution emissions to be financially quantified as Liabilities in Vedantas accounts, Vedantas Solvency Levels will fall drastically and the company may find itself financially bankrupt.
We trust you will carefully examine the above information and consider the Financial and disastrously Bad Publicity risks involved in holding shares in Vedanta Resources plc. We trust you will also carefully consider the Human Rights, Environmental, Ethical and Social Responsibility issues at stake here. Please assess the facts carefully. We will be very happy to discuss these details with you and answer all your questions. Please let us know if we can do anything further to explain to you the extent of the devastation Vedanta has caused so far and the catastrophe it will unleash if it commenced mining in Niyamgiri. We trust you will assess the facts fairly and make an informed decision on the urgency with which you must immediately withdraw your investments from Vedanta Resources plc.
By withdrawing your investments in this callously damaging company you would have made a very powerful statement on the ethical and socially responsible investment policy of your organisation.
Thank you,
As concerned citizens of the world we urge you to immediately withdraw your investments from Vedanta Resources plc. We would like to help you in making you fully aware of the true nature of this multinational mining company so that you can fully appreciate our reasons for concern and why this issue needs to be urgently addressed and resolved. We would like to assist you in making a well informed decision on why you must immediately disinvest from this atrociously destructive mining company, which is going to cause terrible environmental and human devastation.
HIGH LEVEL SUMMARY OF CONSEQUENCES OF VEDANTAS MINING
Vedanta Resources is a multinational mining company, listed on the London Stock Exchange whose spectacular rise involves violating Environmental Laws, Human Rights Abuse, Financial scams & Political corruption in Zambia, Armenia, India and other countries where it exploits poorly regulated mining enclaves. Recently Vedanta has announced plans to start mining in the Niyamgiri hills of Orissa, India from October 2009 and it aims to increase operations by 6 fold by 2011. Vedantas mining in Orissa will have a devastating impact on the fragile Ecosystem of this fertile and vitally important forested mountainous region and the state of Orissa in general. It will also commit Cultural Genocide against the ancient tribal civilization of the Dongria Kondh and Majhi Kondh tribes, who have lived ecologically sustainable & self sufficient lives for centuries in these mountains. Vedantas mining will also lead to severely toxic pollution, diseases, terminal illnesses, destruction of endangered wildlife, damage to the wild elephant population, devastation of crops and arable land and the poisoning and drying up of rivers and streams, which will have catastrophic effects on tens of thousands of people for whom these rivers are crucial lifelines in Kalahandi, one of the most drought prone regions of India.
DETAILED BACKGROUND ON WHY YOU MUST URGENTLY DISINVEST FROM VEDANTA PLC
After a highly controversial legal case lasting 3 years at The Supreme Court of India, which witnessed some outrageous distortion of facts and a major miscarriage of justice, Vedanta plc plans to start mining Bauxite in October 2009 and aims to increase by 6 fold by 2011.
CRITICAL REASONS WHY YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY WITHDRAW YOUR INVESTMENTS FROM VEDANTA INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING:-
Vedantas mining activities will have a catastrophic effect on the fragile Ecosystem of Orissa with over a thousand hectares of prime Evergreen Reserve Forests being wiped out, rivers being poisoned, ground water levels falling. Already Vedantas Refinery, which has been built on tribal land in Lanjigarh, is critically polluting. Major rivers of Orissa, including River Bansadhara, has already been polluted at its source. Toxic wastes have ruined fertile agricultural lands, polluted air, contaminated drinking & bathing water, & caused severe illnesses in people & wildlife. Mining will compound these effects.
Hundreds of the local indigenous population have been killed in work and road accident in and around this Refinery because of Vedantas criminal negligence. The Community has been violently split and is terrorised by thugs in Vedantas pay.
Niyam Dongar is the most densely forested mountain in the Niyamgiri range. It is home to the ancient civilization of the Dongria Kondh tribe, who have preserved their sacred mountain, prevented deforestation, lived ecologically sustainable & self sufficient lives for centuries.
Cultural Genocide is imminent with Mass Unemployment and Destitution as farmers, fishermen and forest dwellers will be displaced and abandoned in shanty-towns. Delicate social structure will be torn apart with the collapse of traditional Economic systems, Kinship system, Egalitarian power structures and Religious values. Already displacement and the invasion by an alien industry has led to a sharp rise in illegal liquor shops, fraudulent schemes, drunken violence, wife beatings, suicides, prostitution & serious fractures in the community. Cultural Genocide will also affect Majhi Kondh tribe and will culminate in the destruction of Niyam Dongar, the most sacred mountain of the Kondh tribe and their Lord of Law. The Kondhs perceive the mountains and the forests as their Gods. So their destruction is both an environmental and a cultural atrocity.
These Bauxite-capped mountains are the reason for the regions exceptional fertility and bio-diversity. Bauxite, which contains the Aluminium ore, soaks up rainwater, holds this water and releases it to numerous perennial streams and rivers, which are essential Lifelines in Kalahandi, one of the most drought prone regions of India. Removing this Bauxite will be catastrophic for the fragile ecosystem, endangered wildlife and for tens of thousands of people who rely on these rivers.
If mining starts on Niyamgiri, at least 50 other major mountains are next in line! Already tribal people and Dalits (Untouchables) have movements to protect Bapla Mali, Mali Parbat, Deo Mali, Gandhamardan and other mountains in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. BHPBilliton, Alcoa, Rio Tinto, Jindal & Dubai-based companies are poised to set up Bauxite mines.
In Dec 2000 police opened fire on tribal campaigners, killing three at the Utkal project. While an Inquiry into the police firing was holding up this project Vedanta made its move, building its refinery before applying for permission to mine! Vedanta has repeatedly violated Government Pollution Guidelines, illegally occupied village land, criminally started construction work without Environmental Clearance, dumped toxic pollutants into rivers and cleared Reserve Forest land despite valiant efforts by villagers to protect their forests.
Mountains of North Orissa are some of the last pockets of wild elephants in Eastern India. These majestic animals are being threatened by the rampant mining. Magnificent wildlife, forests, some of the highest waterfalls in India and many tribal cultures are in serious danger of being wiped out forever.
WORLWIDE CONDEMNATION OF VEDANTA RESOURCES PLC
On July 9, 2009 Amnesty International stated that The Indian Government should immediately withdraw the clearance granted to a massive mining project (Vedanta) that threatens the lives and livelihoods of a protected indigenous community living in the Niyamgiri hills.
Vedanta has been blacklisted by the Norwegian Govt Pension Fund, with its pension fund investments divested in 2007 citing serious malpractice and contraventions of environment norms and ethics by the Vedanta management in the past wherever they operate and human rights violation. Procedural violations in procurement of environment and forest clearance for mining were cited. The Martin Currie Scottish Trust Fund also withdrew their 2.37m investment in Vedanta in July 2008 on grounds of environmental and human rights violation.
The Orissa State Pollution Control Board has issued more than 3 notices to Vedanta for violating pollution norms at its Refinery and the CEC committee of the Indian Supreme Court submitted several reports highlighting irregularities and corruption in Vedanta and recommending that Environmental Clearance for mining activities should NOT be give. Both Vedantas parent company- Sterlite and Vedantas subsidiary MALCO have been charged in court with the criminal violation of Environmental laws, callous dumping of toxic wastes and illegal construction.
Worldwide uproar followed Vedanta being awarded the Golden Peacock Award by the World Environmental Foundation (WEF) in 2009. Hundreds of organisations and individuals wrote to the jury of the The Golden Peacock Award and demonstrations were held at the Award ceremony in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Such was the public anger that even the jurors dissociated themselves from this prize and even the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and other Government officials refused to participate in the Award ceremony.
In early 2009, in a breathtakingly beautiful non-violent protest over 10,000 villagers and concerned citizens held hands to form a 17 kilometre human chain around the Niyamgiri hills.
The local communities have been protesting against Vedanta for many years now. On 25th July 2009 hundreds of men, women and children held mass demonstrations, blocked the roads and fought off the company goons and the local state Mafia, who is working in collaboration with Vedanta.
27th July 2009 was The Global Day of Action against Vedanta Resources plc. Strong, compelling protests were held outside Vedantas AGM in London and inside the AGM Vedantas Board was subject to a barrage of incisive questions by a tribal elder from Niyamgiri, campaigners, academics, intellectuals, filmmakers, NGOs, Amnesty International, journalists etc. None of the critical questions was rationally answered by Vedantas Board! Just some of the famous campaigners involved in the Global Campaign against Vedanta plc include Arundhati Roy, Joanna Lumley, Bianca Jagger and Nitin Sawhney.
Over 4000 concerned citizens in Trinidad supported The Global Day of Action against Vedanta Resources plc. Protests were also held in major Indian cities and a series of demonstrations, lectures and rallies will be held in Indian cities from 27 July 2009 onwards.
Press Coverage has extensively reported on the protests and the underlying issues as explained above. The urgent need for investors to disinvest from Vedanta has been repeatedly highlighted. Reasons why Vedanta Resources plc is an extremely poor investment, has been comprehensively revealed and some shareholders have already received very bad publicity for having invested in this monstrous company.
CONCLUSION- URGENT DISINVESTMENT FROM VEDANTA PLC NEEDED
Along with its other destructive impacts Vedanta Resources plc is a heavily polluting company as explained above. If and when International Accounting and Actuarial conventions and Legal and Legislative changes require Co2 and other pollution emissions to be financially quantified as Liabilities in Vedantas accounts, Vedantas Solvency Levels will fall drastically and the company may find itself financially bankrupt.
We trust you will carefully examine the above information and consider the Financial and disastrously Bad Publicity risks involved in holding shares in Vedanta Resources plc. We trust you will also carefully consider the Human Rights, Environmental, Ethical and Social Responsibility issues at stake here. Please assess the facts carefully. We will be very happy to discuss these details with you and answer all your questions. Please let us know if we can do anything further to explain to you the extent of the devastation Vedanta has caused so far and the catastrophe it will unleash if it commenced mining in Niyamgiri. We trust you will assess the facts fairly and make an informed decision on the urgency with which you must immediately withdraw your investments from Vedanta Resources plc.
By withdrawing your investments in this callously damaging company you would have made a very powerful statement on the ethical and socially responsible investment policy of your organisation.
Thank you,
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