KM Investigation Series: More Protest Against Profiteering from war,

SNC Lavlin Case: Minor Graft Case or tip of Iceberg for Major Arms Deal Scandal?

The SNC Lavlin graft case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is a hot topic in India, especially Kerala, West Bangal, Tripura and other states were the Communist Party of India is either a ruling party or a strong political force. SNC Lavlin case has been grabbing the Malayalam media attention for several months now, due to its role in the growing division between the State Chief Minister, VSA, and the party general Secretary, who is accused number 7 in the CBI Charge sheet. The street protests against the state Governor giving prosecution permission against Pinarayi and the just completed Central Committee and Politburo meetings too discussed the SNC Lavlin case. It appears that the defence industry dealers have influenced the CPM Leaders to oust V S Achuthananthan and keep mum on the main culprit, Pinarayi Vijayan, who is alleged to have benefited from the SNC Lavlin deal. SNC Lavlin is one of the largest Canadian defence industrial units.

The last meeting of the CPIM Central Committee has apparently approved the Politburo proposal to remove the veteran Marxist leader and the popular state Chief Minister V S Achuthananthan from the Politbureau allegedly for violating party discipline. The entire nation is shocked to see the CPM Apex body's decision to take such a stern action against the 85 year old CPM leader, the only surviving member of the party's founding fathers. Paradocially enough, the main culprit in the party's electoral debacle in the parliamentary election, the State Party General Secretary and the Politburo member escaped, without even a warning from the party bosses. Prakash Karat, the young grey haired CPM General Secretary seems to be very particular about "punishing" Mr Achuthananthan and ultimately remove him from the state chief minister ship.

The party's official line is that the SNC Lavlin case is a politically motivated and fabricated case and that comrade Pinarayi Vijayan is innocent and did not benefit "personally" from the power renovation station deals initiated by the UDF Minister K Karthikeyan. The party's stubborn stand to punish the crusader of truth and to leave the actual culprit safe and secure is in fact, a compromise on its long tradition of fighting corruption and corporate influence in political affairs. Here KM is exploring the political economy behind this paradoxical stand of the class warriors. SNC Lavlin is not only a leading engineering and construction firm, it is one of the leading arms manufacturers in Canada that supplied millions of bullets, catridges and granades that killed several thousand Iraqi and Afghan civilians! The party officials seem to be under the influence of the major arms manufacturing firm.

SNC Lavlin Graft Case.. a Tip of the Ice Berg?

Going by global corruption standards, the SNC Lavlin case is just a small graft case, pertaining to irregularities and corruption, in awarding the renovation contract for three hydro electric projects -- Panniyanr, Chenkulam and Pallivasal-when comrade Vijayan was the Electricity Minister (1998), three years before the US invasion of Afghanistan. The frenzy media coverage about SNC Lavlin in the Kerala media centers around three minor power projects in remote areas of Kerala, which may be peanut for a company with multibillion dollar turnovers. Reports on Tuesday suggested that the CBI is planning to question a Malayali businessman and middleman as part of its SNC Lavlin investigation. The CBI may be planning to question a dubious kidney dealer too. It appears that the SNC Lavlin case is more than what meets the eye -it is too complex a case involving bribery from an arms industrial company ! The alleged involvement of globalised Malayalis who have become overnight millionaires and the party leaders links to them are mysterious The rags to riches stories stories about these midlemen are in doubt and the party leaders wining and dining with such mediocre middlemen is raising questions about their integrity. Is the international arms lobby tightening its grip on the official party apparatus...the possibility cannot be ruled out.?

M P Veerendrakumar, the Mathrubhoomi editor and Janatadal leader often ridicules the state CPM Secretary for carrying revolvers and live cartridges in his bag. Being a prominent leader facing threat to his life, Pinarayi has every right to carry a gun. Reports said he was caught by the CISF at the Chennai airport sometimes back with five .38 live revolver cartridges in his laptop bag, while scanning it. The CISF men questioned him for an hour and the leader escaped then because it was a licensed revolver from 1994 He had forgetfully failed to remove the bullets. ADGP Kerala and, Jacob Punnose, faxed Pinarayi's gun licence to CISF and they let him off after confiscating the bullets. To quote Mr Veeran, he could not imagine CPM leaders like EMS or AKG carrying revolvers. Times have changed and there may be a threat to Pinarayis life. The question is not about the legality or controversy surrounding the revolver. It would be curious to know which brand of revolver and live cartridge the party leaders are carrying ? By any chance, are they also made by SNC Lavlin company. SNC-TEC (SNC-Technologies Inc.), a Lavlin group company is amajor arms and ammunition producer and supplier of the Canada based SNC Lavlin Group. Always on Target, reads the company's slogan about its bullets, catridges and granades, supplied around the world. Many of SNC-TEC defence marketing team have formed their own private defence companies to sell lethal weapons around the world....(More)

Guns, Bullets, Granades, Missiles...We all know SNC Lavlin is one of the leading global power, engineering and construction firms. It is also one of the largest manufacturers of arms, ammunition, grenades, explosives and hundreds of other weapons systems used by US/NATO and other forces. It is also widely used in police departments and even mercenary armies.The only information from media report is that the revolver was a service revolver. It will be curious for the Indian comrades to know whether Comrade Pinarayi has been using SNC-TEC produced small arms - similar to the 300 million to 500 million bullets per year supplied to the US Military in Iraq and Afghanistan by the Canadian company! The CPM leaders who shed crocodile tears about innocent civilians being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan do not know that the US and NATO Soldiers are using the bullets and ammunition supplied by SNC TEC, an SNC Lavlin group defence company that has allegedly bribed the party leadership.

To those who are not familiar with the corporate world, SNC Lavlin is not just an engineering or power company alone as is widely reported in our media. It is one of the fourth largest arms and ammunition producer in Canada! SNC TEC won a contract with several other munitions companies to produce some 300-500 million bullets for the US military per year. SNC TEC has supplied the US military with ammunition of all calibers for the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. SNC Lavlin is also major beneficiery of reconstruction projects in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places were NATO/US Forces bombed civilian installations.

SNC TEC manufactures small, medium and large caliber ammunition, and produces Simunition training systems for the army and police. EXPRO TEC, SNC TEC's subsidiary manufactures extruded propellant for military purposes. SNC TEC clients include the Canadian Department of National Defence, police agencies across Canada, law enforcement agencies and armed forces in other NATO countries, and the U.S. Department of Defense. SNC TEC is also a major Defence Program manager in Canada and worldwide. Why all these details about SNC Lavlin and the defence industry? Till the company was sold to General Dynamics in June 2007, SNC TEC used to be an active Canadian defence company with strong interest in the Indian and international defence markets. Now it is worth examining the company's defence deals in India...

SNC TEC traces its roots back more than 120 years to Dominion Arsenals, an arms and ammunition company that supplied weapons during the first and Second World Wars. The company was privatised in 1967 and sold to the engineering firm SNC-Lavalin, in 1980. A prime contractor to Canada's Department of National Defence and other international defence organisations, SNC TEC works closely with clients from NATO countries, developing application-specific products and services to meet stringent requirements. According to Global Defence.com "SNC TEC has proved to be the first line of defence for NATO and forces worldwide in development and R&D relating to all types of ammunition." See Protest against SNC Lavlin making profit from war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan

SNC TEC is also accused by the Canadian social groups of using the Canadian Government Aid Agencies to grab major contracts including defense deals in the guise of supporting small irrigation and power projects. (Read the campaign against SNC Lavlin group profiteering from the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan.) The group also accuses SNC -TEC being used to arm mercenary forces around the world. The occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq havetaken longer than initially expected, and the US manufacturers cannot keep up with the demand for ammunition, so SNC's bullets have become part of Bush's "war on terror.", wrote a leading Canadian journalist about the five year contract. (Read) In addition to its main LAP facilities in Le Gardeur, it also has a brass cartridge case plant near Quebec City, a propellant plant (Expro Tec) in Valley-field and the company operates a testing and proofing facility in Nicolet. Active in over 30 countries with offices in the US, Europe and Asia, SNC TEC has an international distribution network for Simunition®, known worldwide for its training ammunition. It is also a major construction company specialised in making nuclear plants. V S Achuthananthan is a weak man to fight the mighty military contractors and their wealthy middlemen Prakash Karat, the party General Secretary too, seems to be vulnerable to the influence of the Military Industrial Complex! Almost all the English newspapers have pointed out the onsided decision to kick the whistle blower and pat the real culprit.

Harkishan Singh Surjeet, former CPM General Secretary Writes About Anti War Protests

SINCE we dealt, in these columns last week, with the implications of the US’s unilateral war against Iraq, the world has been witness to a couple of significant developments. Firstly, the pressure of anti-war demonstrations and other protest actions has mounted in all parts of the globe, even in US cities, and there are signs that these actions are likely to get further intensified in the days to come. Secondly, the media hype that accompanied the US aerial bombardments on Iraqi targets has been exposed for what it is. So much so that claims about the precision targeting capacity of US missiles have become a matter of ridicule, more so after a US missile fell down a British plane. HOWEVER, most importantly, giving a lie to all US claims that it would in no time force a regime change in Iraq, the Iraqis have considerably slowed down the US advance. What to talk of capturing Al Naasiriya, Basra and finally Baghdad, the Americans are facing a lot of trouble even in subduing the small port town of Umm Qasr near the Iraq-Kuwait border. ...THIS real aim of the US-UK imperialist war against Iraq and the threat it poses to the very future of mankind is as clear to the world peoples as daylight. Hence the intensity of their protest actions against this war. Read More