VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHCG #0021/01 0171124
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171124Z JAN 08
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1425
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2928
RUEHCG/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS CHENNAI 000021 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KIRF IN
SUBJECT: FIGHT WITH CHRISTIAN GROUPS FURTHER WEAKENS KERALA 
LEFTISTS 
 
REF: 07 CHENNAI 602 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Leftist political leaders have been engaged in a 
months-long war of words with Syrian Christian leaders in the South 
Indian state Kerala.  The Syrian Christians' anger at government 
proposals that would reduce their church's autonomy to manage its 
schools has pushed them into direct conflict with the ruling leftist 
coalition.  Although the state's diverse Christian community is 
unlikely to uniformly accept the bishops' exhortations on politics, 
the confrontation has certainly contributed the ruling leftist 
coalition's mounting political woes.  END SUMMARY. 
 
CHRISTIANS AN INFLUENTIAL AND DIVERSE MINORITY 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2. (SBU) Kerala has one of the highest proportions of Christians in 
India:  nineteen percent of Kerala's thirty-two million people are 
Christian.  Kerala has three major Christian communities, each with 
its roots in a different era of religious conversion.  The oldest 
traces its origins to first century AD churches established by St. 
Thomas, the second to conversions by Portuguese missionaries during 
the sixteenth century, and the third to conversions during the 
British period.  The oldest of the three groups, known as "Syrian 
Christians," wields much economic and political clout and runs a 
large number of educational institutions in the state.  The later 
groups are largely made up for former members of the backward castes 
and thus benefit from the state's affirmative action policies. 
Together, Christians constitute a major swing vote in Kerala, a 
state known for its tendency to alternate between Congress and 
Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led coalitions. 
 
COMMUNISTS THREATEN CONTROL OVER CHURCH SCHOOLS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Syrian Christians, who control a large number of 
schools, feel most threatened by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) 
government, which is led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) 
(CPI(M)).  Since the LDF came to power in 2006, the government and 
the Syrian Christians have clashed over the issue of schools. 
First, the government sought to bring private professional colleges 
under state control.  This evoked sharp criticism from the Church, 
which in turn prompted the CPI(M)'s student wing to stage violent 
protests at some of the colleges.  The conflict subsided only after 
a court struck down the contentious provisions of the government's 
legislation. 
 
¶4. (SBU) After being forced to abandon its attempt to take control 
of the colleges, the LDF government continued to antagonize 
religious schools.  Newspapers reported that the government planned 
to assert the right to appoint teachers in "aided schools" -- 
private schools (including many church schools) where the government 
pays teachers' salaries.  In justifying the move, government 
officials pointed out that these appointments are the source of 
considerable corruption with school management requiring prospective 
teachers to pay bribes to secure positions.  The private schools 
responded by saying the government move was simply a punitive 
measure meant to curtail churches' long held privilege to appoint 
teachers.  Tempers flared with a Syrian Christian Cardinal 
reportedly saying the Church would not allow the "drunkards and 
atheists" appointed by the leftist government to teach in its 
schools.  The State Education Minister retorted by noting that even 
liquor shops are subject to more regulation than religious schools. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Kerala's aggressive media fueled the fight by playing up a 
rather picayune dispute between the CPI(M) and the Church.  When the 
Syrian Christian Bishop of Thiruvambady claimed that a leftist 
leader had received "the sacrament" on his deathbed, communist 
luminaries took umbrage.  CPI(M) State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan 
publicly denounced the bishop, calling him a "wretched creature." 
Christians, in turn, took to the streets in Thiruvambady.  More than 
30,000 people turned out in protest, closing down schools and 
hospitals throughout the district. 
 
CHRISTIANS REACH OUT TO OTHER 
DENOMINATIONS, HINDUS FOR SUPPORT 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Syrian Christians have allied with a major Hindu 
organization, the Nair Service Society, in the battle to retain 
autonomy over religious schools.  Other Christian denominations have 
also expressed solidarity with the Syrian Christians because all of 
them own schools and colleges, and thus have a common interest in 
maintaining their control. 
 
¶7. (SBU) A Syrian Christian journalist told post that the Church has 
succeeded in moving the dispute into the media.   But, he said, the 
Church does not have the clout it had fifty years ago when it could 
force a change in government. The journalist said poorer sections of 
the Christian community are not swayed by the Bishops' pastoral 
 
letters urging believers to stay away from the Communist parties. 
He also pointed out that Hindu-Christian solidarity exists at the 
leadership level, but does not percolate down to the rank and file. 
Nonetheless, with Kerala's political scene carefully balanced 
between two equally powerful coalitions -- one led by the CPI(M) and 
the other by the Congress party -- a minor swing in popular 
sentiment (such as the one generated in the fight over control of 
Christian schools) could have an impact in elections.  Despite the 
Syrian Christian Church's diminished power, the journalist believes 
that the CPI(M) is vulnerable, having lost much of its popularity 
after sweeping the 2006 elections to the state assembly. 
 
SPAT WITH CHURCH PART OF CPI(M) INFIGHTING; 
ANOTHER SIGN OF LEFT'S POTENTIAL ELECTORAL CHALLENGES 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) COMMENT: The fight between the CPI(M) and the Christians is 
actually driven by the party's ongoing internal elections in which 
there is a bitter power struggle between Chief Minister 
Achuthanandan and State Secretary Vijayan (reftel).  Vijayan, as 
State Secretary, controls the party machinery; Achuthanandan, as 
Chief Minister, controls the government.  Vijayan, a reform-minded 
CPI(M) leader who is seen by many in the party as ideologically 
suspect, is clearly beating up on the establishment church in an 
attempt to shore up his reputation as a "true communist."  But by 
picking a fight with the still influential Syrian Christians, and by 
extension other Christian denominations as well as Hindus, Vijayan 
has further weakened an already troubled Kerala CPI(M)'s prospects 
in the event of early parliamentary elections.  END COMMENT. 
 
HOPPER