Zomato employees burn company T-shirts in protest against Ladakh face-off

If it is nationalism, it should be ‘burning.’ This seems to be the spirit driving a group of employees from food delivery platform Zomato in Kolkata as they tore and burnt their official T-shirts on Saturday (June 27) in protest against the killing of 20 Indian soldiers by the Chinese Army in Ladakh last week.

During the protest at Behala, some of them claimed they had quit their jobs as Zomato had a sizeable Chinese investment, and urged people to stop ordering food via the company.

In 2018, Ant Financial, part of Chinese major Alibaba, had invested $210 million in Zomato for a 14.7-per-cent stake. The food delivery major recently raised an additional $150 million from Ant Financial.

“Chinese companies are making profits 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.

In May, Zomato laid off 520 employees or 13 per cent of its workforce in a huge retrenchment exercise due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

There was no immediate reaction from Zomato and whether the protesters were among those who were retrenched was not known.

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.

There have been protests across the country and calls from various quarters to boycott Chines goods. Recently, the Maharashtra government had put on hold investments worth Rs.5000 crore from Chinese firms.

(With inputs from agencies)

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