VZCZCXRO2871
RR RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHCG #0318/01 1220734
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020734Z MAY 07
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0880
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2476
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0768
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 5035
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1325

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000318 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER EFIS IN CE
SUBJECT: TAMIL NADU SAYS LTTE TO BLAME FOR KILLING AND ABDUCTING 
FISHERMEN 
 
REF: CHENNAI 00280 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Through a surprise announcement that the 
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (not the Sri Lankan Navy)  shot 
five Tamil Nadu fishermen dead on March 29 (reftel), Tamil Nadu has 
embarrassed and silenced Tamil Tiger supporters in the state.  The 
Tamil Nadu government also alleged that the 12 Indian fishermen 
missing since March 4 are being held captive by the Tigers.  If 
Tamil Nadu is able to prove this allegation, it will dash all hopes 
of reviving support for the Tigers in Tamil Nadu.  Support for the 
Tigers suffered a near fatal blow with the assassination of Rajiv 
Gandhi in 1991.  The revelation that the Tigers are responsible 
could provide the ruling DMK the opportunity to harden its stance 
against the terrorist organization, and thus to solidify its 
relationship with the Congress party.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) On April 27, the Director General of Tamil Nadu police, D. 
Mukherjee said in an official statement to the press that the Sea 
Tigers, the marine wing of the Tamil Tigers, shot five Tamil Nadu 
fishermen dead on March 29.  According to Mukherjee, the six Sea 
Tigers captured by the Indian Coast Guard on April 11 admitted that 
their colleagues had killed the fishermen while the Sea Tigers were 
transporting weapons from a Tiger ship to a camp in northern Sri 
Lanka.  Moreover, Mukherjee claimed that the 12 Indian fishermen (11 
from Tamil Nadu and one from Kerala) missing since March 4 are in 
the custody of the Tigers in one of their camps. 
 
¶4. (U) Chief Minister Karunanidhi confirmed the news to the State 
Assembly on April 28.  "Initially, we were all under the impression 
that the Sri Lankan Navy was responsible for that firing.  But I 
must now say with sadness that the information we have since 
received is that the Liberation Tigers are involved, something that 
shocks us all," he said.  The Chief Minister promised to take all 
possible steps through the central government to obtain release the 
12 fishermen.  On the previous day, he had told the Assembly that he 
did not support the LTTE which has "no job here," that "it is not 
involved in any activity here," and that "their aims and purposes 
are different." 
 
¶5. (U) The Congress party of Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, demanded the 
arrest of MDMK party General Secretary Vaiko for continuing to make 
public statements in support of the banned terrorist organization. 
The Chief Minister, however, was evasive on the issue and said that 
he would consult with the central government.  [NOTE: When the rival 
AIADMK party was in power in Tamil Nadu, Vaiko had been arrested 
under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and kept in prison from 
July 2002 to February 2004 for expressing support for the Tigers in 
a public speech.  The state government later withdrew the charges. 
END NOTE] 
 
¶6. (U) The Hindu newspaper, Tamil Nadu's most strident voice against 
the Tigers, in wrote in a May 1 editorial:  "The time has come to 
remind the Congress-led government at the Center that foreign 
policy, even when it involves Sri Lanka, must be made in Delhi - not 
in Chennai, and certainly not under the influence of pro LTTE 
parties.  It has become abundantly clear that the banned terrorist 
organization, especially through the Sea Tigers and now a small air 
wing, has emerged as a security problem for India.  The people of 
Tamil Nadu - who decidedly do not want a return to the benighted 
experience of 1983-1991 - expect both the Central and State 
governments to crack down on all groups and fringe elements that aid 
and abet, from Indian soil, the activities and cause of the LTTE. 
India must also equip its neighbor to deal defensively with threats 
to its vital installations." 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT:  Tamil Nadu's governing DMK has a complicated 
history with the Tamil Tigers.  Prior to the 1991 assassination of 
Prime Minster Rajiv Gandhi by the Tigers they had broad political 
support in Tamil Nadu.  But the assassination resulted in a serious 
backlash against them in Tamil Nadu.  In the post-1991 period the 
DMK's primary opposition, the AIADMK, staked-out a strong anti-Tamil 
Tiger position while a DMK breakaway, the MDMK, took up the Tamil 
Tiger banner.  Left in the middle of these two positions, the DMK, 
as the traditional party of pan-Tamil solidarity, has carefully 
expressed clear opposition to the terrorist tactics of the Tigers 
while maintaining its support for the broader cause of the Tamils in 
Sri Lanka. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED:  Until now, the mid-sea attacks on 
Tamil Nadu fishermen had been assumed to be the work of the Sri 
Lankan Navy.  Tamil Nadu's pro-Tiger parties regularly used these 
instances to whip up anti-Sri Lanka passions in the state.  The 
surprising revelation that the Tigers were responsible for killing 
the fishermen has silenced their supporters and slowed the drumbeat 
of criticism against Sri Lanka.  But the silence may not last unless 
the government can successfully trace the 12 missing fisherman to 
the Tamil Tigers, as only then would public opinion swing decisively 
 
CHENNAI 00000318  002 OF 002 
 
 
against the Tigers.  Such a linkage may provide the DMK the 
political cover to harden its stance against the Tamil Tigers. 
Doing so would eliminate an irritant in the alliance between the DMK 
and the Congress party, which is led by Rajiv Gandhi's widow, Sonia 
Gandhi.  Nonetheless, given its stated support for broader cause of 
the Tamils in Sri Lanka, the DMK is unlikely support any actions - 
such as direct military aid by India to Sri Lanka - that would 
materially strengthen the position of the government of Sri Lanka in 
its conflict with the Tigers. END COMMENT. 
 
HOPPER