VZCZCXRO3791
RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHCG #0330/01 2730956
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 290956Z SEP 08
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1883
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3309
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000330 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC PINR KIRF SOCI IN
SUBJECT:  CONGRESS CONSIDERING BANNING HINDU FUNDAMENTALIST BAJRANG 
DAL 
 
REF: A) CHENNAI 326 B) NEW DELHI 2513 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  A prominent Catholic voice in the Congress party 
came away from a recent meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi 
and Indian National Security Advisor MK Narayanan feeling that India 
will probably ban the militant Hindu group Bajrang Dal as a result 
of the violence in Orissa and Karnataka.  He believes the government 
will also take unspecified actions against Pentecostal churches that 
have allegedly engaged in forcible conversions and the distribution 
of inflammatory anti-Hindu literature.  The contact refused to blame 
Karnataka's ruling BJP for the violence in that state and described 
the central government's unpublicized efforts to protect Christians 
in Orissa.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In a September 25 meeting, K.V. Thomas discussed Congress 
party thinking on the recent religious violence in Orissa and 
Karnataka.  Thomas, currently a member of the Kerala state 
legislative assembly who previously served as a member of the Indian 
parliament, is a prominent Catholic voice in the Congress party. 
Thomas told post that he met with Congress party President Sonia 
Gandhi and Indian National Security Advisor MK Narayanan during the 
week of September 15 - September 19 to discuss events in Orissa and 
Karnataka. 
 
Government to ban Bajrang Dal? 
--------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Thomas said that, based on his discussions with Gandhi and 
Narayanan, he believes the Indian government will probably ban the 
militant Hindu group Bajrang Dal, which admitted to attacking 
churches in and around Mangalore on September 14 (ref B).  He said a 
Bajrang Dal ban could be based on the fact that the group is 
"terrorist" and "anti-national."  But he added that Narayanan told 
him that "forced" conversions and anti-Hindu literature distributed 
by Pentecostal churches "are a big problem" that help fuel 
anti-Christian violence.  Thomas said that the government will also 
have to take some sort of action against Pentecostal churches if it 
decides to ban Bajrang Dal.  He acknowledged that it is not possible 
to enact an outright ban on the Pentecostal churches, but said the 
government will have to take some sort of action against them to 
curb their provocative activities. 
 
Don't politicize by blaming BJP 
--------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Thomas resisted blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 
for the recent violence in Karnataka.  Echoing what we heard from 
Mangalore Catholics (ref B), Thomas said that "forced" conversions 
and distribution of inflammatory literature by the new Pentecostal 
churches in India has harmed the Christian community's previously 
harmonious relations with the Hindu majority.  When asked whether 
the BJP government bore any responsibility for anemic police 
response to the church attacks, as well as for the violent quelling 
of Catholic protests in Mangalore on September 15 (ref B), Thomas 
said the police response was "understandable."  "The police are 99% 
Hindu and their feelings were hurt" by the Pentecostals, he said. 
He said one should not "politicize the issue" by blaming BJP. 
 
Under-the-radar efforts to protect Orissa Christians 
--------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Thomas explained that with parliamentary elections close 
at hand Congress had to carefully measure its response to the 
outbreak of violence.  Many of the government's efforts to protect 
Christians are done in a deliberately low-profile manner according 
to Thomas.  For example, he said, the government quietly sent to 
Orissa Central Reserve Police Force (CPRF) units from areas with a 
substantial Christian population.  Thomas said that these units have 
a larger proportion of Christians serving in them, which would help 
counterbalance Orissa's largely Hindu local police forces. 
 
Situation under control, but expect continued problems 
--------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Thomas told post that he believes the situations in Orissa 
and Karnataka are both largely under control.  He told us that Sonia 
Gandhi and MK Narayanan asked him to help open a dialogue between 
Christians and Hindus, which he said he has already begun to do. 
Despite these efforts, he expects "low-level" problems to continue 
until after the upcoming Indian elections because of the atmosphere 
of heightened tension surrounding the elections. 
 
Comment:  Election year means cautious Congress; mainstream Indian 
society suspicious of Pentecostals 
--------- 
 
 
CHENNAI 00000330  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Comment:  With an election around the corner, Congress is 
balancing the need to preserve law and order and protect minorities 
with its desire to avoid handing the BJP another opportunity to 
claim that Congress coddles minorities at the expense of the Hindu 
majority.  Banning Bajrang Dal would signal that Congress is willing 
to risk losing votes from the Hindu right in hopes of consolidating 
minority Christian and Muslim votes.  To ameliorate the impact on 
the Hindu vote, the party may pair its possible ban on Bajrang Dal 
with some sort of action against the Pentecostal churches.  But 
there is something beyond politics at play in MK Narayanan and K.V. 
Thomas's easy acceptance of the argument that there is a moral 
equivalence between the thuggish Bajrang Dal and the followers of 
the New Life church.  That an intelligence professional and a 
Catholic politician both feel this way shows mainstream society's 
deep-seated suspicions about the new Christian players -- especially 
the Pentecostal churches -- on the Indian scene.  End comment. 
 
SIMKIN