VZCZCXRO0379
PP RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHBI #0505/01 2951153
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211153Z OCT 08
FM AMCONSUL MUMBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6673
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 7910
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 1903
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA PRIORITY 1698
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 1831

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUMBAI 000505 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC CASC IN PREL PGOV PHUM
SUBJECT: RAJ THACKERAY ARRESTED; MUMBAI EAC MEETING - OCTOBER 21, 
2008 
 
REF: A. MUMBAI 40 
     ¶B. MUMBAI 52 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  American Consulate General Mumbai Emergency 
Action Committee met on Oct 21, 2008 to discuss the arrest of 
Raj Thackeray, founder and president of the pro-Marathi 
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Party.  The arrest occurred 
early morning Oct 21st at Ratnagiri in South Maharashtra, in 
connection with the October 19 attacks in Mumbai on 
north-Indians who had come to take the application examination 
for railway workers.  Hundreds of MNS supporters were subject to 
"preventative arrests" as police attempted to prevent riots, but 
violence ensued in various parts of Mumbai and Maharashtra 
nonetheless, especially near the Bandra Courthouse in Northern 
Mumbai where Thackeray was taken.  No specific danger to 
Americans has been reported, but Post EAC agreed to authorize 
early departure for employees and to release a warden message. 
A/CG, CONS, POL/ECON, RSO, MED, and PD attended the meeting. End 
Summary 
 
 ¶2. (U) On Oct 19 MNS workers disrupted Indian Railways 
recruitment exams, assaulting many of the would-be applicants, 
and through violence and intimidation prevented hundreds of 
non-Marathi applicants from taking the exams in 13 test centers 
in and around Mumbai.  Despite widespread advertising of the job 
openings, MNS was protesting "inadequate representation" of 
local applicants in this exam.  On Oct 20, Railway Minister Lalu 
Prasad Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Mulayam 
Singh, president of Congress ally Samajwadi Party (SP), strongly 
criticized the Maharashtra Government for not being able to 
protect "the common man" from the "terror tactics" of the MNS. 
In a speech in the Ratnagiri district Oct 20, a combative Raj 
justified Sunday's attack on the north Indian job applicants and 
warned the state,  "Arrest me and be ready to bear the 
consequences...you will have to regret....If Raj is arrested, 
entire Maharashtra will be set on fire."  He was arrested early 
the next morning.  Following the arrest, Vialsrao Deshmukh, 
Congress Party chief minister of Maharashtra, and R.R. Patil, 
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) deputy chief minister of 
Maharashtra, told news channels that the arrest demonstrates 
that everyone is equal before the law. 
 
¶3. (U) According to press reports, prior to arresting Thackeray 
in the middle of the night, Maharashtra and Mumbai police 
conducted between 150 and 1000 "preventative arrests" of MNS 
activists, mainly from the cities of Nasik, Sangli, Pune, and 
Ratnagiri.  Police registered a FIR (First Information Report, 
i.e. criminal complaint) against Thackeray under the following 
sections of the Indian Penal Code for the October 19 violence: 
Section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants 
from discharging their duties); Section 153 (rioting); Section 
336 (endangering life or personal safety of others); Section 425 
(mischief); and Section 427 (mischief causing damage). 
Thackeray may also be subject to revocation of bail granted upon 
his arrest earlier this year on similar charges (see reftels). 
Although Thackeray was to have been arraigned late in the 
morning, police delayed moving him to the court until a crowd 
estimated to number approximately 1400 could be brought under 
control.  Media reports state that the police resorted to firing 
tear gas to disperse the crowd.  Mumbai police produced Raj 
Thackeray at the Bandra courthouse in mid-afternoon.  The court 
ordered him held in judicial custody pending a Nov 4 hearing. 
His lawyers say they will appeal to the High Court tomorrow, Oct 
22, seeking to reverse the decision to hold Thackeray. 
 
 ¶4. (U) Following Thackeray's arrest, MNS supporters stoned 
vehicles, burned several city buses and broke the windshields of 
parked taxis and buses in the northern part of the city.  They 
disrupted traffic in the cities and districts of Nasik, 
Ratnagiri, Sholapur, Pandharpur, and Thane.  MNS supporters 
attacked a toll booth located in the suburb of Mulund in Mumbai 
and set one of the counters on fire, police said.  There were 
also reports of unidentified men throwing stones at the suburban 
residence of Congress spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam, who hails 
from Bihar and has been a vocal critic of Thackeray.  Many 
schools in Maharashtra have already closed for Diwali holidays, 
but some schools (for example International Schools Ambani and 
Poddar of Mumbai) have declared a holiday today fearing traffic 
disruption.  Representatives of an American company from Pune 
told Econoff that the city of Pune remained tense following the 
news of arrest. 
 
 ¶5. (U) Shops and roads are closed temporarily in many areas. 
Traffic disruption was reported from various northern suburbs of 
Mumbai, but most of the consulate staff reported for work, and 
only a few visa applicants requested rescheduling of 
appointments.  One locally-engaged employee reported that police 
closed the main road from the northern suburb of Bandra, where 
several consulate employees live, to south Mumbai due to stone 
throwing by persons on an overpass.  Later in the morning 
 
MUMBAI 00000505  002 OF 002 
 
 
violence in that area was confined closer to the courthouse 
where Thackeray was to appear.  Employees who live in Thane and 
Dombivali report that there are no buses or taxis operating in 
their districts, making it difficult to reach railway stations. 
One Overseas Security Advisory Council constituent reported shop 
closings in the northern suburbs and Central Mumbai. 
 
 ¶6. (U) There are no reports of American citizens being injured 
in any attacks and no American companies have reported that they 
are closing early.  The American School of Bombay will remain 
open but is cancelling day-trips out of the school.  Post held 
an EAC meeting and decided to authorize liberal leave for 
employees wishing to depart early.  Post surveillance detection 
team personnel are checking the route for the Consulate's 
shuttles to the Bandra residential cluster.  At this time the 
area of concern near the Bandra Courthouse does not affect the 
shuttle or transit from South Mumbai to the airport. 
 
 ¶7. (U) Mumbai police also have an arrest warrant against 
Thackeray which was issued by a Jharkhand district court in 
Jamshedpur on September 30 for "hurting religious sentiments" of 
north Indians when he made derogatory remarks about a Chhath 
festival.  Thackeray has appealed to the Jharkhand High Court 
for a stay of that non-bailable arrest warrant.  The Jarkhand 
High Court has scheduled a hearing for October 25.  If Thackeray 
gets bail in the Mumbai October 19 case, he may be rearrested on 
the Jharkhand warrant. 
 
 COMMENT: 
 
------------------ 
 
 ¶8. (SBU) Raj Thackeray consistently presses a divisive 
anti-North Indian migrant agenda in Maharashtra politics. 
Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party  (BJP) president Nitin 
Gadkari told Consul General Folmsbee and Econoff recently that 
the Government of Maharashtra was not dealing with Thackeray's 
outbursts sternly enough because the ruling Congress/National 
Congress Party (NCP) alliance calculates that Thackeray's 
pro-Marathi rhetoric siphons Marathi voters from the opposition 
Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.  Gadkari admitted that Raj Thackeray 
appears to be winning support among a segment of the Marathi 
population.   Strong criticism by Congress' alliance partners 
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Samajwadi Party (SP) at the 
national level, however, forced the hands of Maharashtra rulers, 
per media commentators. 
KEISER