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O 181240Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI IMMEDIATE 3513
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3447
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 NEW DELHI 002513 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PINR KIRF SOCI IN
SUBJECT: KARNATAKA CHURCH ATTACKS ROOTED IN POLITICS; BJP MISHANDLES 
RESPONSE 
 
REF:  A) NEW DELHI 2498 B) CHENNAI 315 
 
This cable was drafted by Consulate General Chennai. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  On September 14, many Christian churches came 
under simultaneous attack by Hindu mobs in the coastal districts of 
southwest Karnataka (ref B) and the city of Mangalore.  The damage 
to the churches was extensive, and exacerbated by heavy-handed 
police responses to Christian protests in the wake of the September 
14 attacks.  Unlike Orissa, where caste played a critical role in 
the recent unrest there (ref A), the major factors in Karnataka's 
recent religious violence were the competitive political environment 
in the state's southwestern districts and the arrival of newer 
Protestant denominations that are believed to be more focused on 
conversion than the traditional Catholic and Protestant churches. 
Although there is no evidence directly linking the state's Bharatiya 
Janata Party-led government to the outbreak of violence, the state 
government must bear responsibility for its anemic response and the 
fact that the targets of police action were often the victims 
themselves.  Violence flared up again on September 17, with three 
additional churches attacked, and we believe sporadic attacks could 
continue if the state government does not focus on preventing 
further violence.   Consulate General Chennai will continue to 
monitor the situation closely. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On September 16 Political/Economic Officer toured churches 
and religious institutions in Mangalore, Karnataka in the wake of 
the September 14 attacks on Christian institutions in and around the 
South Indian city (ref B) and the September 15 protests by 
Christians against the attacks.  The city was at a standstill due to 
a general strike called by the Hindu organization Srirama Sena. 
Schools and government institutions were all closed, and most 
commercial establishments remained shuttered.  There was minimal 
vehicle and foot traffic and a heavy police presence throughout the 
city.  Due to the intra-community tension and the potential for 
violence, we moved around the city by following Karnataka Congress 
Party President Mallikarjun Kharge's police-protected motorcade. 
Despite the heavy police presence protecting Kharge, chanting BJP 
supporters briefly detained his vehicle by surrounding it but they 
eventually dispersed and allowed the motorcade to proceed. 
 
"Well Planned" Attack Desecrated Convent Chapel 
---------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Standing amidst broken glass and overturned pews in the 
Perpetual Adoration convent's small chapel, four parishioners from 
the nearby Milagres Catholic Church described the September 14 
attack.  The convent is a few hundred meters from the Milagres 
Church, with which the convent is associated.  One of the 
parishioners, who had been praying in the chapel at the time, said 
that a group of ten to fifteen men came to the convent chapel around 
10:15 a.m. on Sunday, September 14 and began breaking windows and 
desecrating holy images.  She assumed the attackers were Hindus, but 
said they did not identify themselves as such.  The damage we 
observed was extensive:  the attackers had shattered all of the 
windows in the chapel, broken off the arm of the statue of Jesus 
Christ on the cross, and damaged the chalice used to offer the 
Eucharist. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) According to the parishioners, the attack lasted less than 
ten minutes.  One said it was a "well planned attack," because the 
attackers knew that most congregants would be attending Sunday 
services at nearby Milagres leaving the convent unwatched.  The 
parishioner who was in the chapel when the attack began said that 
although the attackers let her escape she saw that they moved 
purposefully through the chapel as if they had planned to inflict 
maximum damage in a minimum amount of time.  The spokesperson for 
the Bishop of Mangalore told us that the "multiple, simultaneous 
attacks" indicated a high degree of advanced planning.  A policeman 
we spoke to at the scene of the violence at Perpetual Adoration 
convent discounted the idea that the attacks were well-planned; he 
blamed "rowdies" for the attack, but declined to offer any further 
explanation. 
 
Protestant churches attacked en masse 
---------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) On the same day as the attack on the Perpetual Adoration 
monastery, Protestant churches throughout three coastal districts in 
southwest Karnataka came under attack (ref B).  According to media 
reports 17 churches were attacked on September 14, but the All India 
Christian Council (AICC) told post that they had confirmed 27 
attacks on that day.  The Karnataka AICC President said that Hindu 
fundamentalist groups attacked isolated Protestant churches in 
"calculated, strategic attacks."  According to the AICC, the Hindu 
groups by and large targeted statues, altars, and religious books, 
 
NEW DELHI 00002513  002 OF 004 
 
 
and also physically assaulted parishioners who attempted to stop the 
desecration of their churches.  As a result, according to the AICC, 
50 to 70 people suffered injuries but there were no fatalities. 
 
 
Catholic protests lead to severe police retaliation 
---------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) At the St. Sebastian Catholic Church in Permannur, outside 
of Mangalore, parishioners described the violent police response to 
a Christian protest.  St. Sebastian's associate priest told us that 
the congregation had gathered on September 15 to protest the 
previous day's attacks on churches in Karnataka. When the police 
ordered the protestors to disperse, the protestors moved into the 
church.  The priest acknowledged that, as the congregation sought 
shelter in the church, "some of the young men threw stones" at the 
policemen who were demanding they disperse.  The priest said the 
police immediately responded by storming the building, "beating our 
people like mad dogs," and ransacking the church.  We saw damage 
throughout the entire church building.  Windows were shattered, a 
statue of the Virgin Mary knocked over, filing cabinets broken open, 
and the priests' personal quarters rummaged through.  The breadth 
and intensity of the destruction suggested a police response that 
was far out of proportion to the alleged provocation. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Nuns at the nearby Kulshekhar Catholic Church told a 
similar story.  They said that members had gathered on the road in 
front of the Church on September 15 to protest the previous day's 
attacks.  According to a local policeman, the large crowd of 
Christians blocked vehicle traffic on the road, prompting police to 
demand they cease their protest.  Nuns who witnessed the protest 
said the police gave the protestors just minutes to respond to their 
demand to disperse before the police used tear gas and riot control 
canes on the assembled crowd.  According to the nuns, the police 
followed the protestors when they fled into the nearby Sacred Heart 
School.  Inside the school, police allegedly beat several students 
and nuns who had taken shelter there.  The nuns told us that at 
least three nuns and five students, along with many other 
protestors, had to be hospitalized as a result of the police 
beatings.  We observed little physical damage to the school, 
however. 
 
Differing Christian approaches play an important role 
---------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The difference in approach between the Catholic Church, 
which has a long history in South India, and the new Protestant 
denominations appears to have been an important factor in the recent 
events in Karnataka.  The Catholic Church claims an almost 2,000 
year history in South India, believing that Christ's Apostle Thomas 
came to India in 54 A.D.  The 16th century arrival of the Portuguese 
cemented the role of the Catholic Church in the region.  Although 
Protestant churches have been present in India since British rule 
and formally joined together to form the Church of South India in 
1947, Protestant activity stepped up substantially in South India 
during the 1990s as new, smaller charismatic Protestant churches 
entered the field. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Many contacts attributed the problem in Karnataka to the 
newer Protestant churches, which have a reputation for being more 
aggressive than the more established Catholic Church and Church of 
South India (CSI).  A political scientist based in Udupi district, 
where a number of churches were attacked on September 14, told us 
that the established Christian communities (referring to the 
Catholic Church and the CSI) "know how to deal" with Hindu 
sensitivities by not emphasizing conversion.  The day after the 
church attacks, the Bishop of Mangalore said that "we never 
encourage conversions."  The Karnataka chief of the controversial 
Hindu fundamentalist group Bajrang Dal told reporters "we have no 
problems with the Catholic churches" because, in his opinion, they 
do not engage in questionable proselytization activities. 
 
Controversial "New Life Fellowship" 
angers Hindus and Catholics alike 
---------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) It is clear that one particular church, the "New Life 
Fellowship," plays a central role in the recent events in Karnataka. 
 We found that New Life was a lightning rod for criticism from Hindu 
and established Christian churches alike.  Hindu groups, including 
the Bajrang Dal, referred to a pamphlet allegedly produced by New 
Life that insulted Hindu deities as an explanation for the September 
14 attacks.  Bajrang Dal's Karnataka head, Mahendra Kumar, 
reportedly told reporters that "they [New Life] say our Gods don't 
exist."  Kumar also accused New Life of forcible conversions of 
Hindus. 
 
NEW DELHI 00002513  003 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Interlocutors told us that the CSI and Catholic church 
also take issue with New Life because the new church has been 
targeting their members for conversion.  They explained that New 
Life has successfully focused on converting Konkani Catholics, a 
linguistic minority in the Karnataka Catholic church, and more 
recently has turned its efforts to members of the CSI.  Parishioners 
from Milagre Catholic Church were furious at the mention of New 
Life.  Echoing the Bajrang Dal's claim that New Life insulted Hindu 
gods, the parishioners blamed New Life for instigating attacks by 
members of the Hindu majority.  They also claimed that New Life 
offered food and money to poor people -- Hindu and Catholic alike -- 
to induce them to convert. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) We were unable to reach leaders of the New Life church, 
but in statements to the media various New Life pastors said the 
church does not engage in forcible conversions and denied that their 
church had printed the offensive pamphlet attributed to it.  Govind 
Belgaumkar, Mangalore bureau chief of The Hindu, said that to his 
knowledge, no evidence has been produced to show that New Life 
either forced or induced conversions.  He told post, however, that 
he did see a copy of the pamphlet attributed to New Life.  Although 
it was impossible for him to say that New Life actually produced the 
pamphlet, the journalist did say that the pamphlet contained 
scurrilous descriptions of Hindu deities.  The Karnataka AICC 
President said he believed the pamphlet was actually produced by 
Hindu fundamentalists to whip up anger against Christians, which he 
claimed was a common practice in India. 
 
Link to Orissa unclear but AICC blames BJP 
---------- 
 
¶13.  (SBU) The degree to which the Karnataka attacks and the recent 
communal violence in Orissa (ref A) are linked is unclear.  Contacts 
agreed that, unlike in Orissa, there is no caste angle to the 
attacks in Karnataka.  But Belgaumkar of The Hindu said he felt 
there was some connection between the attacks in the two states.  He 
said he had seen provocative pamphlets the Sangh Parivar (an 
umbrella term for BJP-affiliated Hindu nationalist groups) 
circulated throughout Mangalore in the days before the attacks about 
the killing of Swami Lakshmananda, the Hindu leader whose 
assassination set off the violence in Orissa. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) A consultant who works closely with AICC told post that 
although they had found "no hard link" between Orissa and Karnataka, 
the Karnataka attackers may have been emboldened to engage in 
"copycat attacks because of the lack of consequences" for the 
perpetrators of the Orissa violence.  The President of the Karnataka 
branch of the AICC claimed there was such a link, but did not 
provide any evidence and proceeded to talk about the Bharatiya 
Janata Party's (BJP) culpability for laying the groundwork for the 
Karnataka attacks. 
 
BJP/Congress rivalry plays out in church attacks 
---------- 
 
¶15.  (SBU) Several contacts said the church attacks were more the 
result of local political conditions than any prevailing 
anti-Christian sentiment.  They emphasized the role of the 
BJP/Congress rivalry.  They noted the region is closely split -- 
basically 50/50 -- between the Congress and BJP and that both sides 
believe they could gain from communal tensions:  BJP by energizing 
Hindu voters and Congress by consolidating the areas substantial 
minority populations.  Belgaumkar of The Hindu told us that the BJP 
did not do as well as it had expected to do in Mangalore during the 
last elections.  As a result, he said, local party leaders felt 
pressured "to do something to regain their base."  A Mangalore-based 
Congress party leader told us that political positioning in advance 
of the upcoming parliamentary elections created conditions favorable 
for intra-religious violence, but he refused to say BJP was directly 
responsible for the attacks. 
 
¶16.  (SBU) Christian views of the BJP's role were split.  Unlike the 
CSI and Catholic Church, which did not directly attribute the 
violence to BJP control of Karnataka state government, newer 
Protestant churches explicitly did so.  The Karnataka AICC President 
told post that "the main reason for the attacks is that BJP is in 
power in Bangalore."  He argued that timing of the attacks -- the 
weekend after the BJP held its national party conference in 
Bangalore -- is evidence that they were part of a deliberate 
electoral strategy to demonize Christians. 
 
BJP blamed for lax police response; attacks continue 
---------- 
 
¶17.  (SBU) Several contacts blamed BJP control for hampering the 
 
NEW DELHI 00002513  004 OF 004 
 
 
state government response once the attacks happened.  Belgaumkar of 
The Hindu said police officers told him that their hands are tied. 
As evidence, Belgaumkar pointed out that Bajrang Dal perpetrators 
remain free despite the fact that the group's leader Mahendra Kumar 
admitted at a press conference that its members committed the church 
attacks in retaliation for forced conversions.  A Bangalore-based 
human rights NGO told post it recorded instances in which police 
watched but did not intervene when large groups of Hindu protestors 
gather outside of churches.  According to the NGO, this was clear 
evidence that the police were allowing Hindu groups to intimidate 
Christians.  Several interlocutors also pointed out that the vast 
majority of people arrested to date have been Christians who were 
protesting, while very few Hindu have been picked up for their 
involvement in the actual church attacks. 
 
¶18.  (SBU) Although media contacts told us that Mangalore had 
returned to normal by September 18, church groups expressed fears 
that the attacks will continue.  The AICC noted that the attacks 
continued past the weekend, with at least three churches hit on 
September 17.  On September 16, BJP Chief Minister Yeddyurappa told 
reporters that "in the backdrop of reports about forcible 
conversions in parts of the state, which led to attacks on churches, 
the government has ordered a scrutiny of such accounts which receive 
foreign funds for conversion."  One pastor told post that the Chief 
Minister's September 16 statement, which seemed to justify the 
church attacks as a reasonable response to forcible conversions by 
Christians, emboldened militant Hindu groups to keep up the attacks. 
 The announcement of the plan to investigate foreign funding of 
churches was evidence that Yeddyurappa's government blamed the 
victims of the attacks, according to the pastor. 
 
Comment:  BJP dropping the ball on response to attacks 
---------- 
 
¶19.  (SBU) Comment.  The multiple, simultaneous church attacks 
appear to be a well-planned campaign rather than a spontaneous 
outburst - as was the case in Orissa -- of Hindu outrage.  They stem 
from the region's close electoral balance and the emergence of new 
Protestant churches in the area.  There is no evidence, however, 
that links the attacks directly to the BJP government that runs 
Karnataka.  That said, the government bears a great deal of 
responsibility for the police's inadequate and often misplaced 
response.  It appears that, at minimum, local government and police 
feel that they should not act aggressively against the Hindu 
fundamentalists.  This impression has no doubt been reinforced by 
the Chief Minister's partial justification of the attacks and 
deflection of responsibility onto the victims themselves.  Worse 
yet, we saw evidence that the police felt justified in using 
excessive force to quell the Christian protests that followed the 
attacks.  We believe sporadic attacks could continue if the state 
government does not focus on preventing further violence.  Consulate 
officers remain in Karnataka and we will continue to monitor the 
situation closely.  End comment. 
 
Mulford