In India, Death to Global Business

Insurgents attacked an iron-ore processing plant in India, setting equipment, buses and trucks on fire – and warned the officials in Chhattisgarh to stop shipping local resources out of state. The Naxalites, who abide by a Maoist philosophy and resent ownership and capitalism, resort to violence to disrupt state and corporate activities. The movement began in one village in 1967 and since spread through rural India and making plans to target urban communities. “The Naxalites may be the sleeper threat to India's economic power, potentially more damaging to Indian companies, foreign investors, and the state than pollution, crumbling infrastructure, or political gridlock,” writes Manjeet Kripalani, India bureau chief for BusinessWeek. The group attracts poor tribal members in remote districts of India who worship nature and resent intruding construction, mining and development crews with their trucks and outside workers, Kripalani explains. The Naxalites, once a small band, are determined to thwart India’s development, promoting education and equality along with a ruthless violence that stirs fear among their many targets. – YaleGlobal