Communist leader Srikanth found to be the mastermind behind the attack on Karnataka’s Wistron facility

The violence at the iPhone manufacturing facility of Wistron is now taking a political turn as Srikanth – the leader of Student Federation of India (SFI)- the student wing of CPM, has been arrested in the case.

According to the local police, Srikanth, the taluk (tehsil) President of the SFI, was the mastermind behind the violence. He planned a protest and instigated the workers to vandalise the Wistron facility. Moreover, he circulated Whatsapp messages to instigate the workers for the same.

The police have arrested Srikanth for investigation. “Srikanth was detained. We are questioning his involvement in instigating the violence and also bringing in people outside of the company’s employees into the plant which was vandalised,” the police said.

Previously, District Lawmaker S Muniswamy of the BJP had alleged that the SFI is behind the violence. “We don’t care who it is, we will take action because this is about our district’s future. About 6,000 acres have been allotted for industries here. So when companies set up here, such organization like SFI are trying to scare them and dissuade them from investing here. We have all the footage and evidence on CCTV. I have told the SP and district authorities to take strong action against them. Those innocent should be spared but anyone guilty must be punished. There is no compromise on that,” he said.

The Communist Party-linked trade unions like All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), which is trade union arm of Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (Liberation) (CPI(ML)L), has already started batting for workers’ rights and is trying to prove the whole incident as worker’s revolt with claims like the company didn’t pay the workers. SFI leader Srikanth orchestrating the attacks on the Wistron facility too doesn’t come as a surprise.

Right after the attack, the Chinese Communist Party activated its propaganda claiming that the companies will regret their decision of moving to India.

“This is a potential risk when manufacturers consider moving their production lines out of #China where they have the most stable labour market supporting the nation to become the largest manufacturing hub. Does Terry Gou from #Foxconn, regret about moving those #iPhone lines to #India,” tweeted Qingqing Chen, a reporter of Global Times, the mouthpiece of Chinese Communist Party.

Global Times did an article on the same, titled- ‘Chinese netizens called for Apple to move manufacturing back to China’, claiming, “Due to the poor local security situation in India, Wistron’s factory was an obvious target for attacks.”

“Experts said that low productivity levels in India and violence, as well as the severe pandemic situation, would hinder India’s manufacturing capacity, disrupting the iPhone supply chain, so many believe that companies will choose to return to China,” added the article.

Moreover, most of the international media portals, many of which receive billions of dollars from CCP and its affiliate companies in the advertisement, were quick to pick up the story. The news spread like wildfire in the global media and many financial newspapers like Bloomberg, the New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal picked up the story instantly. Apple too announced a probe in the matter and dispatched a team to investigate the incident.

It is well-known that the Communists and Communist Student Fronts in India like SFI led by leaders like Srikanth do not have the best interest of the country in mind and their allegiance lies more with China than India. The Communists do not want the ‘Make in India’ initiative to succeed because its success would come at the cost of China’s loss. 

The Communists are now instigating the workers to attack foreign companies to malign India’s image as a safe manufacturing destination. A planned attack on the iPhone manufacturing unit of Wistron by leaders of SFI like Srikanth and previously on Sterlite in Tamil Nadu are some of such instances.