Jeff Bezos is on a trip in India, and said Wednesday that Amazon plans to invest $1 billion in "digitizing small and medium businesses" in the country.
But not everyone was excited by Amazon's interest in India. Thousands of local shop owners took to the streets to protest Bezos' visit, holding signs that said: "JEFF BEZOS GO BACK."
Protests were held in as many as 300 cities across India, according to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), one of the trade associations that organized the demonstrations.
Sumit Agarwal of CAIT tweeted that Bezos and Amazon were "foreign economic terrorists & invaders." Protesters also compared Amazon to the East India Company, a British company that colonized India, parts of Southeast Asia, and Hong Kong.
Enough of tolerance! @TEAMCAIT @AimraIndia will fight this battle against foreign economic terrorists & invaders till the very end and bring back peace & prosperity for our 70 million retailers. @narendramodi @rajnathsingh @PiyushGoyal @nsitharaman It’s now time for action! https://t.co/aHpsJJNGt1
— SUMIT AGARWAL (@sumitagarwal_82) January 12, 2020
