Chennai rapper Sofia Ashraf on her viral video, and being part of Unmaking India by music collective, Justice Rocks
Rapper Sofia Ashraf
Chennaiite Sofia Ashraf is no stranger to taking on controversies surrounding multinational corporations — her Don’t Work for Dow rap back in 2008, was the first sign of the raging activist in her, as she opposed Dow Chemical for their inadequate response to the 1984 Bhopal disaster. More recently, the young rapper’s Kodaikanal Won’t set to the tune of Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda, brought her international fame, as she shed light on Unilever’s thermometer assembly plant in Kodai spreading mercury contamination in the area — with lasting effects until today, despite being shut down 14 years ago.
Sofia, who used to work at an advertising firm in Mumbai, has since quit her job, and moved back to Chennai, where she hopes to continue the lobbying. Next on her agenda: Unmaking India — Justice Rocks 2015. “Justice Rocks is a collective of people from the city who want to bring about a subversive form of protest music — in many ways; you could define it as khadi rock. It’s been active for over six years now, and the idea is to oppose corporations who flout human rights/ social justice and think they can get away with it. It’s got a total Woodstock-kind of free vibe, and importantly, we also want to provide new artists a platform to voice their original work,” says Sofia.
Promoted as a copy-left initiative to challenge corporate globalisation and hate politics, Justice Rocks terms itself an ‘unsponsored event’, where deserving ‘unsponsors’ are made fun of as opposed to events where organisers pay tributes to sponsors.
Sofia explains — “Past editions include ‘Leaky Bucket’ unsponsored by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board to spotlight the state’s leaky electricity infrastructure; ‘Chillout’ on climate change unsponsored by the fossil fuel industry, and so on. And it’s completely free for anyone to attend!”
And what’s the issue addressed this time? “The whole phenomenon of ‘Make in India’, which should actually be termed ‘Unmaking India!’ Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for indigenous growth, but this rampant industrialisation is using our already depleted natural resources, and it’s time we nip it in the bud. Several communities and livelihoods are destroyed in the name of development, while India is becoming a hub for chemicals and pharmaceuticals,” she muses.
Unmaking India will have Sofia take the stage with her new band ‘Mallipoo and the Halwas’, while a host of other musical, stand-up comedy and performance acts unite over a common objective in mind. The events is also equally a celebration of all those farmers, weavers, artists, poets and so on who exemplify the true spirit of Making in India.
Which brings us to another venture brought to life by Sofia’s volunteering recently — the Cuckoo Forest School being built at the foothills of the Javvadu Malai in TN. “It’s a movement being pioneered by a group of volunteers since 2004, with the dream of establishing a self-sustaining, alternative school for rural children – a perfect example of the kind of ideals our collective wants to promote. It’s an incredible idea, that’s given me a new perspective in life. The construction of the school requires plenty of more volunteer work, and we urge anyone interested to help,” smiles the rapper.
Sofia signs off by adding that the success of their campaign was completely unexpected. “You know, we keep saying these videos went viral — but do they actually have any impact? Do people even remember them? Fortunately, the fact that our movement’s still strong means that desktop activism can actually work!” (Catch Unmaking India – Justice Rocks 2015, featuring music, and much more at Spaces Besi, Elliots Road, Besant Nagar on October 3)
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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