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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 NEW DELHI 000343 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PBTS SOCI KWMN CH IN FR
SUBJECT: DELHI DIARY, JAN 21-28 
 
REF: A. 07 NEW DELHI 5119 
     ¶B. 07 KOLKATA 359 
     ¶C. 07 KOLKATA 356 
 
¶1.  (U)  Below is a compilation of political highlights from 
Embassy New Delhi for January 21-28, 2008 that did not 
feature in our other reporting, including: 
 
-- New HP Government Gets Moving 
-- Prime Minister Singh to Visit Indo-Chinese Border Areas 
-- French President's Visit Raises Turban Issue for Sikhs 
-- Controversial Writer Taslima Nasreen Back in the Headlines 
-- UNICEF Reports Four Indian Children Die Every Minute 
-- First school for HIV Positive kids 
 
 
 
New HP Government Gets Moving 
------ 
 
¶2.  (U)  In Delhi for a meeting of BJP-led NDA coalition 
consultations, recently-elected Himachal Pradesh Chief 
Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal announced a 50 percent reservation 
for women in local government panchayat institutions as well 
as urban representative bodies.  Dhumal told the press, "It 
is our first effort to empower women and increase their 
representation in the share of power.  We have taken the lead 
to bring them into the mainstream to make them part of the 
decision-making process and in matters of governance and 
development in rural and urban areas of the state."  Dhumal 
also vowed to take on corruption and reduce unemployment with 
a focus on building critically needed infrastructure and road 
networks. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Comment: The 50 percent reservation for women 
represents a welcome BJP commitment to opening the political 
sphere to women.  It may take time for women in the 
panchayats to assert themselves, but the Indian experience is 
that once they become more comfortable in their leadership 
roles, they are often more effective than their male 
colleagues.  Dhumal's pledges on corruption, unemployment and 
infrastructure sound hopeful, but heavy state debts, a sulky 
Congress government at the center and the usual Indian 
inertia and corruption will make these tasks difficult.  End 
Comment. 
 
Prime Minister Singh to Visit Indo-Chinese Border Areas 
------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Media sources report that Prime Minister Manmohan 
Singh will visit Arunachal Pradesh on January 30-31 but will 
likely skip a visit to Tawang District; perhaps the most 
contentious area in India's border dispute with China. 
Instead, the media reports that he will visit the Indian 
Army's Mountain Brigade Headquarters at Lohitpur (the 
tri-border area with China and Burma) and focus on 
infrastructure projects along the border.  Arunachal MP (and 
BJP member) Tapir Gao and Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu told 
the press that he would press the PM to clarify the GOI's 
stance related to China's claims to the entire state of 
Arunachal Pradesh. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Coming on the heels of his visit to Bejing, when 
touchy issues were placed on the backburner economic 
complimentarities and a shared vision of the "Asian 21st 
Century" were highlighted, the Prime Minister may seize the 
opportunity to take a shot across the bow of the Chinese 
regarding their claims to Arunachal Pradesh.  In addition, 
after Indian Defense Minister Antony's December statement 
that the infrastructure gap along the India-China border was 
"alarming," PM Singh will likely use the visit to provide a 
new impetus to border infrastructure projects including  the 
"Border Villages Illumination Program." 
 
French President's Visit Raises Turban Issue for Sikhs 
 
NEW DELHI 00000343  002 OF 004 
 
 
------ 
 
¶6.  (U)  Various Sikh organizations in India appealed to 
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to address the ban on Sikh 
turbans in French government-run schools during the visiting 
French President Nicolas Sarkozy. In 2004, the French 
government passed a law banning students from wearing turbans 
in schools. The French government also refused to issue 
passports, driving licences and residence cards to Sikhs who 
refused to remove their turban for ID photos. With a 
population of around 6,000 Sikhs in France demanded a 
revision to French law in order to protect the identity of 
the Sikhs. 
 
¶7.  (U)  The Sarkozy visit has stoked a turban revolution in 
Delhi and Punjab. In Delhi, at one of the most visited Sikh 
temples, Bangla Sahib, large posters with slogans saying 
"Sikhs have a right to wear turbans in France," have been 
hung. In Punjab, schools are training Sikh youths to tie 
their turbans and competitions are held rewarding students 
who can perfect the art of turban tying. The hit Punjabi 
songs include odes to turban wearing. Paramjit Sarna, 
President of the Delhi Gurudwara Sikh Committee asserted that 
the Prime Minister, who himself wears a turban, cannot turn a 
blind eye to the injustice being suffered by Sikhs in France. 
 
¶8.  (U)  Comment: The revival of the issue of the Sikh turban 
ban on the eve of the French President's visit clearly 
demonstrates the sensitivity of the issue amongst the Sikh 
population. Both the Indian Sikh community and the Sikh 
Diaspora in France will likely continue mounting a campaign 
to articulate their outrage and assertion that the French 
rules are a form of racial profiling. Awareness campaigns led 
by the Sikh community have already had an impact. In October 
2007, a revised US federal guideline gave airport screeners 
the option to pat down headwear at the metal detector if a 
passenger does not want to remove his turban for personal 
reasons. 
 
Controversial Writer Taslima Nasreen Back in the Headlines 
------ 
 
¶9.  (U) On January 9, controversial writer Taslima Nasreen 
was awarded the French Prix Simone de Beauvoir for feminist 
writing.  Currently, the exiled Bangladeshi writer remains at 
an undisclosed location in Delhi after she was forced to flee 
her home in Kolkata last November due to protests by Muslim 
groups who consider her writing anti-Islamic (reftels). 
French President Nicolas Sarkozy had hoped to present the 
award to Nasreen during his January 25-26 official visit, but 
fearing unrest, GOI on January 23 refused to allow a formal 
ceremony citing "security reasons."  The French government 
then invited Nasreen to travel to Paris to receive the award, 
but the writer declined and asked that the award be sent to 
her. 
 
¶10.  (U) On January 24, the Indian government did, however, 
grant Nasreen a six month extension on her visa.  The six 
month extension allows the GOI to periodically review 
Nasreen's status.  Muslim groups protested the decision but 
have not taken to the streets. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Comment: The Muslim vote bank remains important to 
Congress' electoral strategy, and after electoral defeats in 
Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh a public celebration of the 
lightning rod Nasreen was the last thing Congress wanted. 
The six month visa extension basically allows the UPA to 
split the baby, not feting Nasreen while not kicking her out 
of the country (although they probably would have preferred 
Nasreen accept the award in France and not return).  This 
episode proves again that Congress is "secular" but only up 
to a point.  End Comment. 
 
UNICEF Reports Four Indian Children Die Every Minute 
------ 
 
NEW DELHI 00000343  003 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶12.  (U)  The UN reported that India loses 5,753 children 
below the age of five every day - that's four a minute. 
Stepping back, the largest absolute number of newborn deaths 
occurs in South Asia, and India contributes a quarter of the 
world total. The UNICEF's State of the World's Children 
Report 2008 said about 20 per cent of these children die 
within an hour of birth and another 30 per cent within 28 
days. Pneumonia kills most children in India - about 2 
million followed by diarrhea. Of those who survive, about 46 
per cent are malnourished. While the report is sobering, it 
is hardly surprising. Earlier this year, the UN's Human 
Development Report said that nearly 47.7% of Indian children 
are malnourished and 2.5 million annually die of starvation. 
Forty million kids will never go to school, and another 30 
million must work to survive. Meanwhile, 380 million Indians 
subsist on less than a dollar a day, over 100 million are 
jobless, 24.71 million homeless, and 300 million still live 
in darkness. Two million Indians die each year from 
sanitation-related diseases like diarrhea, and nearly 
two-thirds have no access to clean drinking water or toilets. 
 
¶13.  (U)  Comment: While several aspects of India may shine, 
the progress report is not exactly picture perfect. India's 
record is worse than its less developed neighbors Bangladesh 
and Nepal. The UN reports are extraordinarily useful in 
reminding Indians (and the world) that not every Indian 
citizen is benefiting from their country's annual growth rate 
of 9.2 percent. While India has a food surplus, it also has 
more starving people than sub-Saharan Africa. While medical 
tourism is the latest rage, many Indians are desperately in 
need of primary health centers. While the politicians are 
scrambling to project the image of social responsibility, it 
is the media that has been a more effective instrument of 
change. Journalists argue that the answer is not population, 
nor policy, nor economics. The heart of India's inequitable 
human development may be the belief that citizens are, in 
fact, unequal. It is this attitude that will continue to set 
India apart from the Development World, no matter how many 
Bentleys the elite buy. 
 
First School for HIV Positive Kids 
------ 
 
¶14.  (U)  In Nagpur, the largest city in central India and 
the second capital of the state of Maharashtra, the Municipal 
Corporation (NCM) has set up schools exclusively for HIV 
positive children that have similar facilities to other civic 
schools. To date, the school is now providing classes to 147 
children who had to be forced to stop studies in regular 
schools after they were shunned and ostracized by society. 
The children have been given free text books and mid-day 
meals. NMC officials are also trying to root out the stigma 
against HIV infected children by also admitting 28 children 
who either have no parents or have just one parent. The 
Nagpur school demonstrates the first attempt by a civic body 
to shoulder the responsibility of educating children living 
with HIV. 
 
¶15.  (U)  HIV / AIDS is one of the greatest threats to 
India's desire to become a more productive and prosperous 
nation. There are more than five million Indians infected, 
and new infections are occurring every day. On paper, 
discriminating against people with HIV / AIDS in India is 
prohibited. However, discrimination is visible in society and 
HIV positive people are struggling to lead lives of dignity. 
Unfortunately, the crisis continues to deepen, as it becomes 
clearer that the epidemic is affecting all sectors of Indian 
society, not just the groups - such as sex workers and truck 
drivers - with which it was originally associated. 
 
¶16.  (U)  Comment: Isolating the children from mainstream 
schools is still discriminatory. But local NGOs report that 
children are being turned away from mainstream school and, 
even if they are not, parents are unwilling to send them as 
 
NEW DELHI 00000343  004 OF 004 
 
 
they fear stigma and discrimination. We will continue to 
monitor the success of this "separate but equal" attempt to 
provide education to an otherwise disenfranchised population. 
MULFORD