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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 002341 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PTER IN
SUBJECT: DELHI DIARY AUGUST 26-29 
 
REF: NEW DELHI 2308 
 
¶1.  (U)  Below is a compilation of political highlights from 
Embassy New Delhi for August 26-29, 2008, that did not 
feature in our other reporting, including: 
 
-- Bihar Floods a "National Calamity" 
-- Parliament to Convene October 17 
-- Congress-SP Alliance Takes Shape in U.P. 
-- India to Expand Ministry of External Affairs 
-- Life Sentences for Four in the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots 
-- Feds Investigate Court Bribery Case in Punjab 
 
Bihar Floods a "National Calamity" 
--- 
 
¶2.  (U)  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, United Progressive 
Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and several ministers 
surveyed flood-affected areas on August 27.  PM Singh 
described the situation as a "national calamity" and promised 
USD 23 million in federal disaster relief.  He also announced 
that a high-level committee would meet with Nepalese 
government officials next week to discuss flood control 
measures and that the UPA federal government would dedicate 
additional resources to evacuate flood victims spread over 15 
districts. 
 
¶3.  (U)  Severe flooding in the rural Bihar has displaced 
nearly two million people and destroyed more than 225,000 
homes after the Kosi River breached an embankment in Nepal 
one week ago.  The death toll in the state has been difficult 
to determine.  Bihar emergency management officials reported 
10 deaths on August 27, but Indian press reported as many as 
¶55.  According to UNICEF India, the water flowing from the 
embankment caused the Kosi River to switch direction, 
creating a new channel about 75 miles east of its river bed 
and causing floods in areas unaccustomed to high water 
levels.  As of August 28 state authorities have set-up 95 
relief shelters and 44 healthcare camps.  The Indian Army 
deployed more than 400 troops to assist with rescue 
operations, dispatching twenty rescue boats and air-dropping 
thousands of emergency supplies and food packets. 
 
¶4.  (U)  With the help of the Nepalese government, the 
federal and state governments hope to complete repairs to the 
river embankment this week but may face further delay due to 
heavy rains.  The state government has been heavily 
criticized for "failing on all fronts," including maintenance 
of river embankment and relief/rescue operations. 
 
BJP, Left Criticize Parliament Schedule 
--- 
 
¶5.  (U)  On August 27, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) 
government announced that the Parliament will convene for one 
month starting October 17 - November 21 (reftel).  The 
session would take the place of the monsoon session which 
traditionally starts in August, and the winter session which 
takes place in December.  The Bharatyia Janata Party and the 
CPI (M) criticized the UPA's decision to meld two sessions 
into one, accusing the UPA of attempting to "buy time" before 
general elections next year.  They also attacked the UPA for 
failing to control spiraling commodity prices and for not 
addressing intensifying violence in Jammu and Kashmir. 
 
Congress-SP Alliance Takes Shape in U.P. 
--- 
 
¶6.  (U)  Congress Party and Samajawadi Party leaders will 
meet in New Delhi August 30-31 to discuss seat distribution 
ahead of parliamentary elections due by May 2009.  On August 
28 in Allahadbad, All India Congress Committee (AICC) General 
Secretary Digvijay Singh said that the Congress Party would 
make a pitch for 20-25 seats, and the remainder would be left 
 
NEW DELHI 00002341  002 OF 003 
 
 
to the Samajwadi Party (SP).  He also suggested that the 
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) may join the Congress-SP alliance to 
counter the challenge posed by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 
Chief Minister Mayawati.  The Congress-SP alliance was forged 
in July when SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav supported the UPA 
government in the U.S.-India Nuclear Initiative and 
confidence vote. 
 
India to Expand Ministry of External Affairs 
--- 
 
¶7.  (U)  The GOI will create 139 new officer-level posts and 
110 support staff posts in the Ministry of External Affairs, 
which currently has only about 600 officers staffing the 
ministry and over 160 missions worldwide.  Minister of 
Information and Broadcasting Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi announced 
the decision after a Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime 
Minister Manmohan Singh.  The Cabinet also cleared the 
creation of 514 posts in the ministry over the next 10 years. 
 MEA has been chronically short-staffed and over-worked.  As 
a growing regional and global power, India's MEA will likely 
need even more positions than have been allocated to it in 
order to maintain the quality and range of its diplomatic 
interactions in Delhi and overseas.  Nevertheless, this 
effort, even if it is modest, will ease the pressure on 
officers in some MEA offices and Embassies.  More 
importantly, it is a signal that policymakers recognize that 
understaffing poses a serious problem for the Indian Foreign 
Service. 
 
Life Sentences for Four in the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots 
--- 
 
¶8.  (U)  In a landmark decision, the Delhi High Court 
sentenced four persons to life in prison and a fine for 
burning alive two Sikhs during the 1984 communal riots in New 
Delhi. These are the first convictions in the 1984 anti-Sikh 
riots in which upwards of 3,500 Sikhs were killed in 
retaliation for Indira Gandhi's assassination by her two Sikh 
bodyguards.  The four individuals were previously acquitted 
18 years ago in a trial court because the witnesses were 
"inconsistent and unreliable."  Releasing the Delhi High 
Court's verdict on August 27, Justice S.L. Bhayana explained 
that, "It is not a routine case of murder, loot and burning. 
In this case, members of a particular community were singled 
out, burned alive and their properties looted.  (This) 
sentence should be a deterrent in order to send a message." 
The High Court admonished the previous decision of the trial 
court stating that there was, "no inconsistency, only slight 
variation in the testimonies of the eyewitnesses. The 
testimony of the witnesses is trustworthy, we cannot 
disregard it." 
 
¶9.  (U)  Mr. Tarlochan Singh, a Member of Parliament and 
former Chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities, 
welcomed the verdict but asserted that, "while this move is 
positive, the Sikhs are not (only) interested in punishing 
the ones who committed the crime. It's imperative that 
Congress leaders like Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and Kamal 
Nath, the instigators and motivators of violence and crime, 
should be punished."  He also added that the cases were 
becoming too old and witnesses had either died or moved.  He 
underscored the importance of the Congress Party offering a 
formal apology to the Sikhs in India. 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  Comment: These prison sentences represent a 
positive development in what has been an ugly story of 
Congress Party involvement and stone-walling in one of the 
most shameful episodes in its history.  But, the conviction 
also highlights the fact that there are hundreds of other 
1984 anti-Sikh riots cases that still languish in the courts. 
 The victims complain with some justification when they say 
justice delayed is justice denied and wonder if those who 
instigated the violence will ever face punishment in their 
 
NEW DELHI 00002341  003 OF 003 
 
 
lifetimes.  End Comment. 
 
Feds Investigates Court Bribery Case in Punjab 
--- 
 
¶11.  (U)  A three-member Supreme Court panel transferred the 
corruption case involving former Haryana Additional Advocate 
General Sanjeev Bansal from Chandigarh police to the Central 
Bureau of Investigation (CBI).  The federal investigation 
stems from the August 13 incident when a clerk of Advocate 
General Bansal had "mistakenly delivered" USD 35,000 to the 
residence of Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice Nirmaljit 
Kaur, who called the Chandigarh police.  The money reportedly 
was intended for a different judge, Nirmal Yadav, who is also 
under investigation and went on leave shortly after the 
scandal surfaced. 
 
¶12.  (U)  According to press, this is the first time in 
recent history that an independent judiciary committee has 
been called to probe the role of High Court Judges in a 
corruption case.  The upper tiers of the judiciary have had a 
clean reputation, but the corruption culture may be starting 
to make inroads into even this bastion. 
 
 
MULFORD