'We had no plans for violence': Indian campaign against toxic smelter turned deadly

Fatima Babu's decades-long campaign against a toxic copper smelter in Tamil Nadu says the cost of victory was too high

For 24 years, Fatima Babu struggled to galvanise the citizens of Tuticorin in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu against the toxic threat posed by the Sterlite Copper smelter. Often working thanklessly and sometimes alone, she filed lawsuits, organised workshops and gave interviews to raise awareness.

The English professor-turned-activist hoped that people would eventually rally to the cause, but never in her wildest dreams did she imagine how quickly opinion could change or how violently the authorities would respond.