It is not surprising that the US government has stepped in to try and protect the interests of Coke and Pepsi in India.

With increasing pressure on Coke and Pepsi in India, following CSE report, governments in over half dozen states had banned beverages in government establishments and schools.

Neither Coke nor Pepsi have taken any public action to deal with their beverages having chemicals over 50 times above safety limits, they have started a concerted media campaign in India.

In Lucknow, for example, a media activist learnt that heads of regional papers had met with representatives from Coke and had begun to limit news of demonstrations against Coke or of more reports of the effects of its activities in Varansi. On the other hand, these newspapers have been carrying large ads on Coke and Pepsi.

The trend has been also seen across national papers. Almost every paper has come out with an editorial supporting Coke and Pepsi and against government action.

It is ironic that none of these papers have carried any editorials asking about Coke’s policies. How, for example, is it treating its effluents and why are large concentrations of Cadmium and Lead found in its effluents in a number of bottling plants? Why, for example, have cases of Coke from India been seized by Food and Drug Administration, USA, if it did not have higher levels of toxins? Why, for example, has Coke occupied land illegally in Mehdiganj, as court papers clearly show?

The biggest question needs to be asked of these papers, in fact. Why have these papers come out so strongly in support of two large multinationals with billions of dollars while they have consistently avoided writing about millions of people affected by these companies? Is there some interaction beyond fair reporting?

The interactions are perhaps clearer where the US administration presented a veiled threat to India vis-à-vis these bans, that such actions would affect investment.

Somehow, when the US government prevents various goods – textiles, food, fish, etc – from being imported from specific countries, under the guise of human rights or environmental issues or food safety, it does not feel the need to obey WTO rulings. However, with another country, the same rules do not apply.

While this scenario is being played out by the powerful national papers, local action against these drinks has continued to spread. In Varanasi and Lucknow, citizens cleaned public toilets with Coke and Pepsi. In Kaladera, another Coke bottling plant, a demonstration including a half dozen villages plan a protest on 2^nd August.

The communities are demanding the immediate closure of the plant, and there will be coordinated protests against Coca-Cola and Pepsico plants in Jodhpur and Alwar.

This is the latest in a series of demonstrations against the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Kala Dera.  In December 2005, over 1,500 people marched to demand the plant's shutdown, and in June 2004, over 2,000 people protested the plant.

With more demonstrations being planned in the coming months, Coke and Pepsi will perhaps look at taking more substantial action beyond ad campaigns – actions that speak to their ethics rather than their political power.