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FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1871
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3301
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENNAI 000326 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC PINR KIRF SOCI IN
SUBJECT:  INCIDENTS AGAINST CHURCHES IN KARNATAKA CONTINUE AS 
GOVERNMENT ORDERS POLICE PROTECTION 
 
REF: A) CHENNAI 315, B) NEW DELHI 2513 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  In the wake of another round of apparent attacks 
on churches in Karnataka on September 21, Consul General Andrew 
Simkin visited Bangalore September 23-24.  The CG used the 
opportunity to emphasize the importance of protecting religious 
freedom to a wide variety of interlocutors, including Karnataka 
government officials.  The September 21 incidents occurred in 
Bangalore and the Kodagu district in southern Karnataka.  Accounts 
vary (either two or three incidents took place), but the incidents 
occurred at night, so there were no injuries and only minimal 
property damage, in stark contrast to the daylight attacks on 
churches and Christians in Mangalore on September 14.  The police 
believe that at least one of the incidents was simply a burglary of 
church property, not an "attack" designed to intimidate 
church-goers.  The police do not have clear evidence of the 
perpetrators, although the press quickly concluded that the 
incidents were the work of the Bajrang Dal, a militant Hindu 
organization 
 
¶2. (SBU) The September 21 incidents followed the arrest on September 
18 of Mahindra Kumar, leader of the Bajrang Dal's Karnataka branch, 
who had proudly claimed credit for organizing the September 14 
violence against the churches in Mangalore (reftels).  Police and 
Karnataka officials have told us that the state government has 
ordered police to protect churches and church-goers.  All of the 
Karnataka officials we met with expressed their regret over the 
September 14 incidents but stressed that it was an unfortunate 
occurrence unlikely to repeat itself in the state, which has a long 
history of religious tolerance.  They also downplayed the 
significance of the September 21 incidents, noting that the media 
was greatly exaggerating their importance.  Leaders of several 
Christian groups told us, however, that they were very worried about 
the current situation in the state.  End Summary. 
 
Bajrang Dal leader arrested, churches victimized 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶3. (U) Karnataka police arrested on September 18 Mahindra Dal, 
leader of Karnataka's Bajrang Dal chapter.  Dal had taken credit 
publicly for organizing the September 14 attacks in Mangalore.  His 
arrest followed the deployment of a central government team from New 
Delhi to investigate the cause of the September 14 violence. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In the wee hours of September 21, multiple (two or three, 
according to various reports) churches in Karnataka (one in Kodagu 
and either one or two in Bangalore) were damaged by unknown 
perpetrators.  The police believe that one of the incidents in 
Bangalore was a simple burglary attempt, noting that the 
perpetrators appeared to have been looking for money, leaving most 
of the church's religious icons untouched.  There were no injuries 
in any of the September 21 incidents.  Some church members, 
protesting the damage to their place of worship, blocked roads in 
Bangalore.  Unlike the ugly scenes in Mangalore that saw police 
using force against those participating in civil disobedience, 
however, Bangalore police held talks with church leaders, which 
helped defuse the situation. 
 
¶5. (SBU) These incidents took place even though police protection 
had been promised at all churches.  A top police official told us 
that the September 21 incidents occurred when the constables posted 
at the locations had either deserted post or had been assisting 
security in another location.  He noted that at least one constable 
had been suspended and that round-the-clock security was now in 
place, vice the dawn-to-dusk protection put in place following the 
September 14 violence. 
 
CG emphasizes the importance of religious freedom 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Consul General (CG) Andrew Simkin, in separate meetings 
with the Home Minister (which included the Director General of 
Police and the Chief Minister's (CM) Private Secretary -- the CM 
himself was out of town), the Chief Secretary, and the Governor 
emphasized the importance of religious freedom and religious 
expression.  The CG also stressed that people in the United States 
and elsewhere were following these incidents closely and that the 
situation could damage Karnataka's generally excellent reputation 
among international companies and high-tech investors.  The CG's 
visit was widely covered by the press, and he drove home his message 
of the importance of religious freedom by having lunch with several 
Christian leaders, hosting the Consulate's first-ever iftaar dinner 
in Bangalore for more than 100 Muslims, and visiting a Hindu 
temple. 
 
¶7. (SBU) All of the CG's Karnataka government interlocutors 
 
CHENNAI 00000326  002 OF 003 
 
 
expressed regret over the September 14 incidents and emphasized that 
the government has taken steps to insure that they are not repeated. 
 They downplayed, however, their overall significance, noting that 
Karnataka has long fostered a religiously tolerant atmosphere and 
that the extraordinary events of September 14 were an aberration. 
They noted that the situation had now become a media frenzy, and 
that India's sensationalistic press was now attempting to exaggerate 
minor happenings -- like the September 21 incidents -- into major 
events.  Speaking on September 25 from Chitradurga, a town located 
approximately 100 miles northwest of Bangalore, Karnataka Chief 
Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa was quoted as saying that the incidents 
have caused the government to "hang its head in shame."  As reported 
in a national paper, Mr. Yeddyurappa said that such people would not 
be allowed to discredit the Government and create communal strife. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Home Minister pointed out that his state has tens of 
millions of people and that there are inevitably going to be some 
tensions among various groups.  He said that he did not take the 
September 14 events lightly, but emphasized that they need to be 
viewed against the larger background of India where violence occurs 
frequently, and usually goes unreported unless it involves Christian 
groups with links to large, international organizations. 
 
¶9. (SBU) A collection of AmCham Bangalore's members told us that the 
September 14 violence was extremely unfortunate, but that the 
incident was extremely unusual for Karnataka, which prides itself on 
its religious tolerance.  None of them indicated that the situation 
had noticeably affected the business climate in the state.  The 
Muslim founder of a large education foundation told us much the same 
thing, noting that the tolerant social fabric of the state was very 
strong and that the situation would quiet down soon. 
 
Christians less sanguine 
------------------------ 
 
¶10. (SBU) The CG also met a group of prominent Christians, led by 
Dr. Sajan George, National President of the Global Council of Indian 
Christians.  The group also included H.T. Sangliana, a BJP member of 
the national parliament recently booted out of the party for voting 
for the U.S.-India civil nuclear deal.  Group members were deeply 
dismayed by recent events, arguing that they were an acceleration in 
a pattern of harassment against Christians in the state stretching 
back several years.  They also agreed that they feared that even 
worse incidents were in store for the future.  One even suggested 
that we were witnessing the start of a "new Holocaust." 
 
¶11. (SBU) Group members gave the CG a folder documenting 91 attacks 
on Christians and churches that have occurred in Karnataka this 
year.  According to these documents, 24 occurred from January to May 
(when the state's BJP-led government came to power), while 67 -- 
including 17 separate attacks on September 14 -- have occurred since 
then.  Sangliana also provided copies of letters he had written to 
top Karnataka government officials complaining about the 
"indifference" of police officers and beseeching government 
officials to direct the police to put a stop to the attacks and 
arrest the perpetrators. 
 
Political will to counter violence appears to grow 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Originally hampered by an apparent lack of definitive 
direction from the state's political leadership, the police now seem 
more confident that they have the political backing they need to 
crack down on the violence.  One top official, who told us earlier 
this week that there had hitherto been "little proper guidance from 
the political executive," showed us the directive he had received 
from the government ordering the police to protect churches and the 
orders he had issued to his officers to do the same. 
 
¶13. (U) We witnessed some of this police protection first-hand when 
a group of several hundred Christian protestors noisily passed by on 
a major road next to an office where the CG was having an unrelated 
meeting.  The protesters, who behaved entirely peacefully during the 
several minutes we witnessed their march, were accompanied by dozens 
of baton-wielding police officers who marched along the margins of 
the procession.  The police did not interfere with the protest, but 
appeared to insure that traffic was minimally disrupted and perhaps 
to guard against any clashes with counter-protesters, of whom we saw 
none. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) It appears that the government has ordered police to offer 
adequate protection.  Not all Karnataka government officials appear 
to understand fully how the international community views these 
 
CHENNAI 00000326  003 OF 003 
 
 
incidents, but some (like the Chief Secretary, a former Minister for 
Economic Affairs at India's Embassy in Washington) do. 
 
¶15. (SBU) The Home Minister may be guilty of political 
tone-deafness, but his remarks probably capture how many Indians 
view the ugly incidents against Christians in Karnataka.  From a 
practical standpoint, it is also unlikely that the police -- even 
with the best of intentions -- will be able to protect adequately 
every Christian and church in the state, so anti-Christian 
miscreants will continue to have the opportunity to create more 
violent incidents if they wish. 
 
¶16. (SBU) The Christian community has a legitimate reason to worry, 
and the state's BJP government needs to demonstrate resolve to treat 
all its citizens fairly.  Suspicions remain that the government is 
biased against religious minorities and these events demonstrate 
that the government has its work cut out for it if it wishes to 
demonstrate otherwise:  Christians already believe that fellow 
believers arrested for the protests in Mangalore are being treated 
more harshly than those who perpetrated the original attacks.  A 
thorough and transparent investigation of the September 14 events, 
followed by arrests and prosecutions of those who broke laws would 
be a good start.  End Comment. 
 
SIMKIN