'Walmart Go Back': Traders Protest US Capitalist Takeover of Indian Retailer Flipkart

By teleSUR

03 July 18

"This deal is going against the interest of small traders," Praveen Khandelwal, national general secretary for CAIT, told CNNMoney.

undred of traders across 500 cities in India took to streets to protest Walmart's US$16 billion majority stake acquisition of Indian retailer Flipkart, an online store, offering similar services as the United States online giant Amazon.

 The nationwide protests were organized by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), with slogans like, "Walmart, Go Back," resonating the anti-colonial call of "East India Company, Go Back," where the Indian protesters called for nation-wide strikes under the banner of 'Quit India' movement to drive the British colonizers out of the country.

 In the northeastern city of Guwahati, nearly 300 traders staged a sit-in to protest the Walmart-Flipkart deal saying that it would affect the local vendors.

 One of the biggest concerns raised by the protesters is that the Walmart deal will facilitate a "backdoor entry" for Walmart into the country's retail market which will, in turn, hurt smaller offline retailers.

 "This deal is going against the interest of small traders," Praveen Khandelwal, national general secretary for CAIT, told CNNMoney. The confederation says Walmart will use its 77 percent stake in Flipkart to indulge in "predatory pricing" which could create "an uneven playing field."

 "This is the first phase of our protest. And if the government doesn't listen, we will decide our future course of action at our national convention in Delhi later this month," Khandelwal said, according to the Business Today.

 He has previously alleged that the "e-commerce marketplace has been vitiated to a great extent in past years by several leading e-commerce companies by indulging into all kinds of malpractices including predatory pricing, deep discounting and lose funding."

 The protests in the capital city, New Delhi, where CAIT is based, managed to stir only 50 traders and shopkeepers.

 Khandelwal pointed out that CAIT has already filed its objections in Competition Commission of India and is ready to challenge the deal in the court of law.

 "We have been expecting the government to reject this deal, but so far, we haven't heard from them... We will fight this deal tooth and nail, and, if necessary, take this matter to the Supreme Court," he told LiveMint.

 "We expect the government to intervene and take suitable action in accordance with various announcements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to uplift small businesses in the country. This deal will directly affect small traders of the country who will not be able to compete with Walmart," Khandelwal stated.