Die monster die…

You know how those monsters in the movies are killed in the end, but just before the movie credits roll some slimy body part spookily begins to twitch ? Cue hopelessly optimistic producers hoping to turn the ghastly movie you’ve already regretted watching into a franchise horror, usually replacing the meagre traces of acting with even more special effects and sex.

The same holds true for the mining giant Vedanta whose controversial bauxite mining permit in the Nyamgiri Hills in eastern India was revoked. You couldn’t make it up ; big mining company with a dodgy reputation, picturesque tribals whose way of life was threatened, international organisations who fed the media with Avatar movie parallels, an Environment Ministry that suddenly woke up to its responsibilities and finally even the Church of England withdrawing its shares in Vedanta fearing negative publicity or fall in share prices or both. Vedanta was caught in a perfect storm that had only one inevitable conclusion. They took it in the balls. And like all good movie monsters they slithered to a dark place to lick their wounds and bide their time. We know the beast still lives and breathes and that a sequel is in the offing; But now is the time to rejoice.