India's Maoist Rebels: Corporate Funding

India's Maoist Rebels: Corporate Funding

news.bbc.co.uk

A top Maoist leader in India has alleged to have received regular funds for his party from leading corporate houses, the BBC has learnt.

The details were given by Narla Ravi Sharma, a senior leader in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand, to the police after his arrest a fortnight ago.

The BBC is in possession of Mr Sharma's "preliminary interrogation report".

(visit the link for the full news article)

More from the article:

"Many big companies regularly pay a levy to our parties in both Bihar and Jharkhand," Mr Sharma is quoted as saying in the interrogation report.

The Maoist leader named some of the companies - most have huge interests in mining and manufacturing and are prominent on India's stock markets.

But the BBC is not in a position to reveal those who have been named because of legal considerations.

His revelations about corporate funding of Maoists has prompted police and intelligence officials to suggest that the massive military effort planned against the rebels will not yield the desired results unless their "finance line" is choked .

This is not the first time Indian firms doing business in rebel-dominated areas have been accused of funding the rebels.

In the 1980s and 1990s big tea and oil companies were accused of regularly giving funds to the separatist United Liberation Front of Assam and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland in the north-east.

What a fascinating story. Maoism is sometimes described as one of the proverbial "third ways" between socialism and capitalism, which might explain how such odd bedfellows are being made in India. India's Maoist rebels are a violent lot, contrary to what socialists traditionally believe. Is this because of corporate co-opting of the movement, much like Wall Street involving themselves in the Bolshevik Revolution?

Here is additional info on India's Maoist rebels:


A spectre haunting India: Maoist rebels are fighting a brutal low-level war with the Indian state


news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 29-10-2009 by Someone336]

Which corporations are funding the Maoists? If it's a similar situation to India in the 1980s, which the BBC article seems to suggest, then it's the tea and oil companies. But why? A communist state would be a major blow to a corporate driven world.

From September 15, 2009:

India is 'losing Maoist battle'

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says his country is losing the battle against Maoist rebels.

Mr Singh told a meeting of police chiefs from different states that rebel violence was increasing and the Maoists' appeal was growing.

The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of the poor.

They operate in a large swathe of territory across central India, and in some areas have almost replaced the local government.

Are the corporations hedging their bets, suspecting that the Maoists will triumph in the end? Maybe if they supported the rebellion then the new government will go easy on them?

The India oil industry is a massive industry in the country. To give you an idea of their oil pipeline situation, here it is:

"India and China in the next few years will be in direct competition with America and European Union for oil and natural gas from all over the world specially Middle East. The bottom line is that who ever gets to use the oil, will grow faster and eventually dominate the world."

Sonia Chaturvedi, India Daily, February 16th, 2005

India forms part of a 'strategic triangle' alongside Russia and China (keep in mind that there is also the Russia-China-Iran axis):

On June 2, 2005, "in Vladivostok there was a historical meeting of foreign ministers from Russia, India and China -- Sergey Lavrov, Natvar Singh and Li Zhaoxing. The old dream of [former Russian foreign minister] Evgeny Primakov, who [in 1998] envisioned the creation of a 'strategic triangle Moscow-Beijing-New Delhi,' came true. As it was designed by Primakov, one of the most important task[s] of this 'triangle' is to curb US influence. Moscow thinks that the most urgent issue right now is to fight together with the 'triangle' members against 'color revolutions' in Central Asia, supported by USA."

www.kommersant.com...

This triangle forms three out of four parts of the BRIC Alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, and China:

"While the whole world is focused on America and the Euro zone for the super power challenges, both these powers are looking small when you combine the powers of the new coalition [Vladimir] Putin is building with India, China, Russia and Brazil. Add to that Venezuelan oil that supplies America a substantial crude oil, and now you have the actual scenario of confrontation"

Sudhir Chadda, India Daily November 27 2004

However, the BBC reported in 2005 that British Petroleum, ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil were in talks to develop the oil fields in the Krishna Godavari basin. Then there is the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline:

The original project started in March 1995 when an inaugural memorandum of understanding between the governments of Turkmenistan and Pakistan for a pipeline project was signed. In August 1996, the Central Asia Gas Pipeline, Ltd. (CentGas) consortium for construction of a pipeline, led by Unocal was formed. On 27 October 1997, CentGas was incorporated in formal signing ceremonies in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan by several international oil companies along with the Government of Turkmenistan. In January 1998, the Taliban, selecting CentGas over Argentinian competitor Bridas Corporation, signed an agreement that allowed the proposed project to proceed. In June 1998, Russian Gazprom relinquished its 10% stake in the project. Unocal withdrew from the consortium on 8 December 1998.

The new deal on the pipeline was signed on 27 December 2002 by the leaders of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.[1] In 2005, the Asian Development Bank submitted the final version of a feasibility study designed by British company Penspen. Since the United States military overthrew the Taliban government, the project has essentially stalled; construction of the Turkmen part was supposed to start in 2006, but the overall feasibility is questionable since the southern part of the Afghan section runs through territory which continues to be under de facto Taliban control.

On 24 April 2008, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan signed a framework agreement to buy natural gas from Turkmenistan.[2]

The 1,680 kilometres (1,040 mi) pipeline will run from the Dauletabad gas field to Afghanistan. From there TAPI will be constructed alongside the highway running from Herat to Kandahar, and then via Quetta and Multan in Pakistan. The final destination of the pipeline will be the Indian town of Fazilka, near the border between Pakistan and India.[3]

The strategic alliance between India's energy sector and that of China is interesting if the oil companies are funding the Maoist rebels - because China is a so-called 'Maoist' state; a capitalist state masquerading as a communist country. Though a left wing government, China still leans towards the authoritarian-fascist model, under seeming corporate control.

Are the energy corporations of India seeking a similar state?

On a side note, this is an interesting read:

China's Corporate Friends in High (and Low) Places

[edit on 29-10-2009 by Someone336]