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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 001721 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM SCUL SOCI KWMN KDEM KISL IN
SUBJECT: DELHI DIARY, JUNE 13-20 
 
¶1.  (U) Below is a compilation of political highlights from 
Embassy New Delhi for June 13-20, 2008, that did not feature 
in our other reporting, including: 
 
-- Congress and JDS Team Up Against the BJP in Karnataka 
-- Jammu and Kashmir: Amarnath Yatra Begins 
-- Presumed "Dead" Former Bonded Laborers Attempt to Immolate 
Themselves 
-- From the Sewers of Andhra Pradesh to the New York Fashion 
Scene 
 
Congress and JDS Team Up Against the BJP in Karnataka 
------ 
 
¶2.  (U) The Congress Party and Janata Dal (Secular) party 
(JDS) have taken the first steps towards formal cooperation 
in Karnataka in the wake of their recent electoral drubbing 
at the hands of the BJP in the state's May legislative 
assembly elections. Congress and the JDS announced on June 16 
an agreement that the two parties will cooperate on 
nominations to the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of India's 
parliament, where Karnataka has 12 seats) and the state's 
legislative council (the upper house of the state's 
parliament, which has 75 seats). The press reported that the 
agreement followed discussions between Congress leader Sonia 
Gandhi and JDS chief (and former Prime Minister) Deve Gowda. 
The new Congress-JDS alignment allowed the Congress Party to 
pick up two of the four Rajya Sabha seats up for election on 
June 19.  The BJP won the other two seats. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Revana Gowda, son of JDS leader and former Prime 
Minister Deve Gowda, told Consulate Chennai that he expects 
this agreement to initiate a long-term relationship between 
his party and Congress. He also said he expected greater 
floor coordination between the two parties in order to create 
an effective opposition to the BJP in the state. Roshan Baig, 
a Congress Party member of the state's legislative assembly 
who won big in the recent elections, told us that the only 
way his party can win a majority of Karnataka's Lok Sabha 
(the lower house of India's parliament) seats in next year's 
national elections is if it cooperates with the JDS. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Comment: The BJP had hoped that Congress and JDS 
would be unable to cooperate as a united opposition. The BJP 
has, therefore, refrained from wooing individual opposition 
assembly members to defect to its side, fearing that this 
would encourage Congress and JDS to unite. Now that the 
opposition parties have apparently decided to cooperate, the 
BJP may well start seeking to encourage defectors, 
particularly from the JDS, which is looking increasingly 
brittle. 
 
Jammu and Kashmir: Amarnath Yatra Begins 
------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Outgoing Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lt. General 
S.K. Sinha kicked off the Amarnath pilgrimage season on June 
18, leading devotees in chanting religious hymns and prayers. 
 Thirty thousand pilgrims made it to the shrine on the first 
day.  The Amarnath shrine, one of the most famous Hindu 
temples, is located at about 12,000 feet, 140 kilometers from 
Srinagar.  The last stretc of the journey is on foot and 
takes days to complete.  In past years Hindu pilgrims to the 
Amarnath shrine have been targeted by jihadi terrorists 
seeking the end of Indian rule in Kashmir.  Jammu and Kashmir 
government authorities say that they have arranged adequate 
security for the devotees this year amid reports that 
thousands of security personnel are lining the route to the 
caves.  Indian security forces are concerned that the 
increase in infiltration attempts this year presages 
increased violence by jihadi groups to disrupt a record 
tourist season and state elections, due in October. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Retired Lt. General Sinha is due to be replaced 
this month by N.N. Vohra, who was the Prime Minister's 
 
NEW DELHI 00001721  002 OF 003 
 
 
special envoy for Kashmir until his new appointment.  Vohra 
is the first civilian in more than 15 years to hold that 
post.  Sinha is leaving under controversy relating to his 
role as Chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, which 
manages the annual pilgrimage.  He is under heavy criticism 
from many in the valley who accuse him of improperly 
arranging the transfer of 100 acres of state-owned forestland 
to the Board.  Mirwaiz Omar Farooq of the separatist All 
Party Hurriyat Conference said, "We want to make it clear we 
won't allow anyone to occupy our land."  The controversy also 
promises to become an election issue.  Jammu and Kashmir 
People's Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti spoke up 
against the land transfer, accusing the Board of "running a 
state within a state" and blaming the National Conference 
party for enacting the legislation that established the 
Board.  National Conference leader Omar Abdullah responded by 
chiding Mufti for not amending/repealing the legislation when 
her father was Chief Minister of the state in 2002-2005 if 
her party found the law objectionable. 
 
Presumed "Dead" Former Bonded Laborers Attempt to Immolate 
Themselves 
------ 
 
¶7.  (U) To protest an erroneous and egregious filing error, 
150 presumably "dead" former laborers threatened to immolate 
themselves in front of the district collector's office in the 
Orissa city of Bargarh. Most in the group were over the age 
of 70, originally hailed from Jharkand, and were demanding a 
rehabilitation package that they never received after being 
"rescued" from bondage in 1981-82. Bargarh Additional 
District Magistrate Mr. Meghnath Nayak assured the protestors 
that they would be given a proper rehabilitation package. 
 
¶8.  (U) In 1981-82, the district administration identified 
about 1,200 bonded laborers in 10 villages in Jharkand. The 
following year, the state compensated 480 and assured others 
they would get a rehabilitation package "shortly." In 2004, 
the district administration conducted a survey on bonded 
laborers via an NGO, BISWA. The survey reported that there 
were no bonded laborers in the district and falsely asserted 
that 720 laborers had died. 
 
¶9.  (U) Comment: 'Tis a comedy of errors to include 
bureaucratic ineptitude, red tape, and NGO incompetence. 
Stories like this regularly pepper the national and 
vernacular papers, but are never front page news or found 
above the fold. In many Indian state governments, the 
smorgasbord of administrative challenges (e.g. woefully 
insufficient resources, corruption and competing priorities) 
are simply too ordinary to be newsworthy. As a result, 
official bungling is a frequent occurrence. 
 
From the Sewers of Andhra Pradesh to the New York Fashion 
Scene 
------ 
 
¶10.  (U) Fifty female (former) toilet cleaners from a small 
village in Andhra Pradesh will show off their new vocational 
skills in the field of clothing design at a fashion show on 
July 2 at the UN headquarters in New York City. Coinciding 
with the UN's 2008 International Year of Sanitation, aimed to 
raise awareness and encourage development of basic sanitation 
practices, Indian designer Abdul Haldar teamed up with NGO 
Sulabh International. Sulabh is one of the largest social 
services organizations in India, with 60,000 volunteers who 
promote environmental sanitation, health and hygiene.  It has 
pioneered safe and hygienic waste disposal technology in 
India. (Note: The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements 
recognized Sulabh's cost-effective and appropriate sanitation 
system as a global 'Urban Best Practice' at the Habitat-II 
conference held at Istanbul (Turkey), in June, 1996. The 
Economic and Social Council of United Nations has granted 
Special Consultative Status to Sulabh in recognition of its 
outstanding service to mankind. End Note.) The famous 
 
NEW DELHI 00001721  003 OF 003 
 
 
designer along with the famous NGO, started a rehabilitation 
centre to train these women in various skills such as clothes 
making, embroidery, dyeing and stitching; providing them with 
an opportunity to make ends meet, become more independent, 
and teaching basic literary skills. The Bulgarian Embassy 
first hosted a small fashion show. 
 
¶11.  (U) Comment: While not literally a rags to riches story, 
it is close. In India, where sewerage facilities and flush 
latrines are available to about 30 percent of population in 
urban areas and only 3 percent of rural population, issues of 
cleanliness are directly associated with class and caste. 
Sulabh technology has helped thousands of scavengers rise 
from the demeaning practice of physically cleaning and 
carrying human excreta. While the fifty women have certainly 
been empowered, perhaps their presence in NYC may be poignant 
enough to further raise awareness of sanitation issues for 
the 200 UN delegates and 150 country heads. 
MULFORD