Watch: Mumbai-based rapper Sofia Ashraf’s Kodaikanal Won’t
Set to the beat of Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda,” the protest song takes on Unilever and asks the multinational to take responsibility for poisoning Kodaikanal, the hill station in Tamil Nadu, with mercury
It takes more than a chain mail and signature petitions for social media junkies across the world to wake up to an environmental hazard at a hill station in Tamil Nadu. Rapper Sofia Ashraf’s new video for her rap song “Kodaikanal Won’t” has achieved just that: interest from armchair activists [and we hope, serious ones as well]. The video has gone viral with close to 80,000 views and the song talks about Unilever’s role in poisoning the lake and forest of the hill station Kodaikanal with mercury. Unilever, previously known as Hindustan Lever, set up a thermometer factory in Kodaikanal, which downed its shutters 14 years ago but former employees claim that toxic pollution at the site have led to several deaths in the hill station . While Unilever is yet to comment or release a statement on the video, it has garnered a huge response on social media with the likes of vocalist and composer Vishal Dadlani and Nicki Minaj herself sharing the video. “Kodaikanal Won’t,” by Ashraf has also increased awareness around this petition, which demands  ‘Paul Polman, CEO, Unilver Clean up Kodaikanal’s mercury pollution and compensate the workers.’
Watch the video below
