To protest the killing of 20 Indian soldiers by the Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control near Ladakh, several Zomato food delivery employees hit the streets in Kolkata tore and burnt their official T-shirts on Saturday.
According to the reports, the protests occurred at Behala, Kolkata against Chinese misadventures along the LAC. The protestors said that some of them had quit their job at Zomato as the food delivery has a sizeable Chinese investment.
The protesters also urged people to stop ordering food from the company. About a dozen delivery personnel of Zomato burnt the company’s uniform outside the Behala police station in south Kolkata. They also raised slogans like “Chinese agent Zomato leave India!”, with the tricolor in hand.
In 2018, the food delivery major Zomato had received a substantial funding USD 210 million from the Amt Financial, which is part of Chinese major Alibaba. The Chinese firm had acquired 14.7 percent stake in the Indian company. Recently, the firm had raised an additional $150 million from Ant Financial.
“Chinese companies are making profit from here and attacking the Army of our country. They are trying to grab our land. This cannot be allowed,” one of the protesters said. Another protester said they were ready to starve but would not work in companies having investment from China. “Zomato has tied up with Chinese company Alibaba to run its operations. Today we have quit Zomato and we hope consumers will also boycott this company,” said Dipankar Kanjilal, one of the employees participating in the protest.
“The Chinese are killing our soldiers using our money! If our soldiers are not safe, how can we be safe? So we shall boycott Zomato. 50-60 of us have uninstalled the app today,” another Zomato delivery agent said.
In May, Zomato had sacked at least 520 employees, 13 per cent of its workforce, as its business took a hit due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Indian troops killed by Chinese aggression along LAC
Twenty Indian Army personnel, including a colonel, were killed in a fierce clash with the Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on June 15. The Indian soldiers were killed in an unprecedented violent clash with PLA troopers in the Galwan Valley.
The official statement said that it took place during the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan valley. It reported that no bullets were fired but the Chinese troops pelted stones and used clubs and batons.
During the clashes, the Chinese troops have also suffered severe casualties as at least 43 Chinese troops are either injured or dead during the attacks that took place on Monday night, as per reports.
