VZCZCXRO5431
RR RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHBI #0513/01 3011001
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271001Z OCT 08
FM AMCONSUL MUMBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6686
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 7924
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 1706
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 1913
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 1845

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUMBAI 000513 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV ASEC CASC IN
SUBJECT: RAJ THACKERAY OUT ON BAIL, GOVERNMENT OF MAHARASHTRA PLANS 
FINES FOR PROPERTY DAMAGE DURING POLITICAL PROTEST 
 
REF: MUMBAI 505 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary: Facing multiple criminal charges across 
Maharashtra stemming from October 19 attacks against North 
Indian candidates for the Indian Railway exam by his Maharashtra 
Navnirman Sena supporters, Raj Thackeray appealed to the 
Sessions Court and was granted preemptory bail and an order 
directing that all cases be combined into one action against 
him. Thackeray walked free at 4:55 on October 22. In the wake of 
Thackeray's arrest on October 21, many areas of Maharashtra were 
vandalized and riots broke out despite curfew orders. Mumbai has 
been relatively since the 22nd.  The American School closed as a 
precautionary measure on the 22nd. Legal maneuvering is likely 
to continue as the state looks for ways to prevent Thackeray 
from inciting violence against north Indians.    End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Controversial Maharashtra leader Raj Thackeray of the 
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Party was released on bail from 
the court in the northern Mumbai suburb of Bandra late on 
October 21, on the ground that he was not a direct participant 
in the attacks on the north Indians on October 19.  He was 
immediately arrested on charges filed against him in a court in 
Kalyan, in the Thane Rural District of Maharashtra approximately 
50 kilometers northeast of Mumbai. The Government of Maharashtra 
pursued a calculated strategy of registering a series of cases 
against Thackeray across the state to keep him in custody even 
if granted bail by the courts. As he was released on bail in 
Kalyan late the 22nd, Railway police and Thane police stood 
ready with arrest warrants, but they were thwarted from 
executing the warrants as Thackeray's lawyers had obtained an 
order from the Sessions Court granting preemptory bail on all 
pending charges and ordering that the cases related to the 
October 19 attacks be combined. Thackeray walked free from the 
court in Kalyan at 4:55 pm on October 22. 
 
 ¶3.  (U) Post distributed a warden message the evening of 
October 21 warning Americans to avoid large crowds and exercise 
caution in the vicinity of areas of unrest.  Traffic in Mumbai 
flowed smoothly on the 22nd as taxis and many auto drivers 
stayed home in fear of continued violence. The American School 
of Bombay closed on the 22nds as a precautionary measure, as did 
its neighbor the Ambani International School, but classes 
resumed on the 23rd. 
 
¶4. (U) Government of Maharashtra passed an ordinance on October 
22, authorizing the collector, a senior bureaucrat, of each 
district to fine any political organization that causes 
destruction of public property in the course of its protests. 
The agitation over Thackeray's arrest on October 20 reportedly 
led to destruction of or damage to 250 to 350 cabs, 115 city 
buses and many private vehicles in Mumbai alone on October 21; 
200 buses of Maharashtra state transport corporation were 
damaged throughout the state.  According to Anami Roy, chief of 
Maharashtra police, 125 cases of arson, rioting and stone 
throwing were registered on October 21 and 2,085 people were 
arrested.  A curfew was declared in Kalyan, yet over 1,000 MNS 
supports assembled outside the courthouse, demonstrating 
complete lack of regard for the law.  The mob grew violent, 
throwing stones, burning four bikes and a car. 
 
¶5. (U)  According to reliable but un-confirmed print media 
reports, four youths (two from Uttar Pradesh and two from 
Maharashtra) died in rioting between MNS and north Indian 
migrants the evening of October 21, in the northern suburb of 
Kalyan where Thackeray was held in police custody.  Police 
refused comment on this statistic. 
 
¶6. (U) Thackeray's arrest generated predictable reactions across 
the political spectrum in the Indian parliament on October 21 
and 22.  Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party -- 
representing the north Indian migrants in Maharashtra, said that 
Thackeray's arrest was too little too late and demanded sterner 
action.  Regional parties,  Shiv Sena and the Biju Janata Dal of 
Orissa pointed out that the objection raised by MNS regarding 
cornering of jobs in the Indian Railways by residents of Bihar 
had led earlier to mass agitations (and attacks on North Indian 
candidates appearing for recruitment tests) in Karnataka, 
Orissa, and Punjab.  These parties alleged that Indian Railway 
Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav skewed hiring policies to benefit 
youth from his home state.  These parties maintained that a 
system of preferential hiring for local residents for the jobs 
in that particular state must evolve to stave off future 
agitations. The BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj alleged that lack 
of stern action against Thackeray was calculated 
Congress-Nationalist Congress party strategy to fracture the 
vote-base of opposition parties in Maharashtra. 
 
¶7. (U) Comment:  The strategy of the Congress-led Government of 
Maharashtra to keep Thackeray immobilized until the current 
parliamentary session ends on October 24 was foiled by 
Thackeray's successful appeal to the Sessions Court. It is too 
 
MUMBAI 00000513  002 OF 002 
 
 
early to say if north Indians will protest Thackeray's release, 
but post anticipates a respite in the violence for the time 
being.   End comment. 
FOLMSBEE