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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 NEW DELHI 002698 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PTER IN
SUBJECT: DELHI DIARY, OCTOBER 1-8 
 
REF: NEW DELHI 2631 
 
¶1.  (U)  Below is a compilation of political highlights from 
Embassy New Delhi for October 1-8, 2008, that did not feature 
in our other reporting, including: 
 
-- Congress Grapples with Jamia Incident 
-- PM Reiterates Support for Palestine 
-- Embassy Iftar a Roaring Success 
-- NSA Chief "Gravely Concerned" about Sri Lankan Tamils 
-- Jodhpur Stampede Death Toll Rises 
-- Continuing Debate on Sexual Orientation Rights in India 
-- BJP and Regional Party Forge Haryana Alliance 
 
Congress Grapples with Jamia Incident 
--- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  The Congress Party is scrambling to a find a 
political response to the September 19 shootout in Delhi's 
Jamia Nagar neighborhood, in which two suspected Indian 
Mujahideen members were killed.  There has been considerable 
public debate on the circumstances leading up to the violent 
police encounter in the predominately Muslim neighborhood. 
Some United Progressive Alliance (UPA) officials have called 
for a government probe into the Jamia incident, which many in 
the Muslim community believe was staged by the GOI to 
buttress its terror-fighting credentials (ref A).  Leaders of 
the Opposition from the Bharatiya Janata Party, on the other 
hand, have justified the police response in Jamia as a 
necessary measure in the war against Islamic extremism. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  During a meeting with UPA President Sonia Gandhi 
and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on October 3, senior 
Congress leader Salman Khursheed criticized the Home 
Ministry's handling of the encounter and demanded a "fair, 
balanced response as quickly as possible."  On October 4, 
Samajwati Party (SP) General Secretary Amar Singh called for 
a government probe and threatened to pull out of the UPA 
coalition government if the Jamia shootout was "proved to be 
fake." 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Convening a judicial inquiry would help 
consolidate support for the Congress Party among its Muslim 
supporters.  It would be especially welcomed by Congress's 
regional allies, particularly the SP which has a large Muslim 
constituency in Uttar Pradesh.  The UPA government has yet to 
make a final decision, but the Delhi state government took a 
step to respond to the pressure by sending an investigative 
team to Jamia and considering the possibility of having the 
National Human Rights Commission look into the case. 
 
PM Reiterates Support for Palestine 
--- 
 
¶5.  (U)  In a gesture to reaffirm India's commitment to the 
Palestinian cause, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on October 7 
announced an assistance package of USD 20 million to the 
Palestinian Nat)onal Authority (PNA) and reiterated the GOI's 
support for a negotiated solution to the Israel-Palestine 
conflict.  The PM addressed a group of Indian and Palestinian 
government officials at a dedication ceremony for the new 
Palestinian Embassy in the heart of New Delhi's diplomatic 
enclave.  He called for diplomatic efforts to ensure the 
Middle East peace process would succeed in securing a 
"sovereign, independent, viable and united state of Palestine 
living in a secure border, side-by-side with Israel."  Of the 
new assistance package, USD 10 million would go to the PNA 
for budgetary support, and USD 10 million would be earmarked 
for economic development. (Note:  PM Singh's address 
coincided with PNA President Abbas's four-day official visit 
to India.  Post will provide a full readout of visit septel.) 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  PM Singh's appearance at the dedication ceremony 
and announcement of a new assistance package underline the 
 
NEW DELHI 00002698  002 OF 004 
 
 
Congress Party's historic support for the Palestinian cause. 
Such alignment is considered crucial for the party's appeal 
to its Muslim voter base.  In the run up to national 
elections by May 2009, we can expect the UPA to take other 
steps to further consolidate support within the strategic 
Muslim vote bank. 
 
 
Embassy Iftar a Roaring Success 
--- 
 
¶7. (U)  PolCouns hosted over 350 guests at Embassy New 
Delhi's seventh annual Iftar on September 24.  The 
oversubscribed attendance demonstrates the success the 
Embassy is having in reaching out to Indian Muslims. 
Prominent Sunni and Shia Muslims attended the celebration, as 
well as members of the Hindu, Sikh, Baha'i and Christian 
communities.  Significantly, clerics from the conservative 
Darul Uloom Deoband madrassa attended the event as did Imam 
Bukhari, the Barelvi Imam of Delhi's largest mosque, Jama 
Masjid.  Many contacts traveled great distances to New Delhi 
for the Iftar, which has become a not-to-be-missed annual 
event for the Indian Muslim community. 
 
¶8. (U) The vernacular press favorably covered the Iftar. 
Many papers printed a full Urdu translation of PolCouns' 
speech, which focused on tolerance and social cohesion in the 
face of terrorism.  While all guests deplored the recent 
bombings in Islamabad and Delhi, many expressed concern that 
the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has allowed 
anti-Muslim sentiment to thrive in India. 
 
NSA Chief "Gravely Concerned" about Sri Lankan Tamils 
--- 
 
¶9.  (U)  Under pressure from Indian Tamil constituents, 
Indian National Security Advisor Narayanan called on Sri 
Lankan Deputy High Commissioner Palithaganegoda on October 7 
to express "grave concern" for Tamil civilian deaths in Sri 
Lanka.   According to press reports, Narayanan asked the 
Government of Sri Lanka to act with greater restraint against 
the rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) 
noting the "growing casualties of unarmed Tamil civilians as 
a result of military action."  He also appealed for Sri Lanka 
to revive diplomatic dialogue with the LTTE in order to stem 
the deteriorating humanitarian situation. 
 
¶10.  (U)  There has been considerable public debate 
surrounding the escalation of violence in Northern Sri Lanka. 
 Indian Tamils have taken to the streets in South India 
calling for UPA intervention.  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and 
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M. Karunanidhi demanded 
that the UPA summon Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to complain 
about the "genocide" taking place against Tamils in Sri 
Lanka. 
 
¶11.  (SBU)  Narayanan's statements criticizing Sri Lankan 
military operations help to consolidate support among the 
UPA's Tamil constituents.  Tamil Nadu's ruling party and UPA 
coalition partner the DMK would particularly welcome an 
aggressive policy stance.  We expect the UPA to take further 
steps to consolidate important vote banks in the run up to 
hotly contested national elections next year. 
 
Jodhpur Stampede Death Toll Rises 
--- 
 
¶12.  (U)  A state-ordered probe into the cause of the 
September 30 Hindu temple stampede in Jodhpur, Rajasthan 
raised the death toll from 147 to 224 on October 2.  The 
panel, presided over by retired judge Jas Raj Chopra, noted 
that the earlier death toll did not account for fatalities at 
local hospitals.  The disaster happened just as the doors of 
the Chamunda Devi Temple were being opened for worship on 
 
NEW DELHI 00002698  003 OF 004 
 
 
September 30 to more than 12,000 people lined up to celebrate 
the Hindu festival of Navratri.  The cause of the stampede is 
still unknown. According to reports, false rumors of a bomb 
may have triggered panic among the thousands of pilgrims 
lining up at the temple entrance. 
 
¶13.  (U)  More than 360 people have died this year in 
religious festival stampedes.  Last month, more than 140 
pilgrims were killed in a stampede at a mountain temple in 
Himachal Pradesh.  Ahead of the busy festival season starting 
in October, local media and politicians have called for 
better coordination among religious leaders, pilgrimage 
organizers and government officials.  Religious festivals are 
a part of the fabric of life in India, and few expect that 
incidents such as last week's stampede will deter people from 
attending them. 
 
Continuing Debate on Sexual Orientation Rights in India 
--- 
 
¶14.  (U)  On September 18, the Delhi High Court began hearing 
a petition filed by the Naz Foundation, an NGO that works on 
HIV/AIDS issues, challenging Section 377 of the Indian Penal 
Code.  The provision makes sex between same sex partners 
illegal.  The Foundation's attorney argued for making sex 
between consenting adults of the same sex in private legal, 
while acts of forced sex and sex with children would remain 
punishable under Section 377.  The previous month at an 
international conference, GOI Health Minister Anbumani 
Ramodoss had openly supported legalization of consensual sex 
between same sex adults.  He advised that such legalization 
was imperative to contain the growing number of HIV/AIDS 
cases in the country. 
 
¶15.  (U)  On September 25, Additional Solicitor General P.P. 
Malhotra, representing the GOI, argued that consensual sex 
between same sex partners, "is not a universally acceptable 
behavior and Indian society objects to sex against the order 
of nature completely."  Malhotra told the High Court to 
disregard Health Minister Ramodoss' views because they did 
not represent the will of the Parliament and the Indian 
people.  According to Ravi Nair of the South Asia Human 
Rights Documentation Center, Chief Justice A.P. Shah of the 
High Court is an independent-minded man who has been 
listening carefully to the legal arguments. 
 
¶16.  (SBU)  Despite Minister Ramodoss' statement, the Home 
Ministry is reticent in this case.  This reserve is likely 
due to the reluctance of the UPA government to give the 
opposition BJP party another wedge social issue ahead of the 
upcoming parliamentary elections.  The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, 
an organization close to the BJP and devoted to Hindutva and 
Hindu chuvinism, has filed a petition against revising 
Section 377 and is likely to portray a High Court verdict in 
favor of the Naz Foundation as being anti-Hindu. 
 
BJP and Regional Party Forge Haryana Alliance 
--- 
 
¶17.  (U)  Despite opposition from local party leaders, the 
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to ally itself with 
the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) party of former Haryana 
Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala in the coming 
parliamentary polls in Haryana.  BJP President Rajnath Singh 
conveyed the decision to local party leaders who argued for 
the party contesting the state's 10 parliamentary seats on 
its own. 
 
¶18.  (SBU)  The BJP-INLD tie-up promises to be a formidable 
force in the coming parliamentary elections because it 
consolidates the rural Jat vote bank of the INLD with the 
urban middle class support of the BJP.  The INLD also brings 
with it pockets of support in neighboring Uttar Pradesh and 
Rajasthan.  The INLD decision to go with the BJP sounds the 
 
NEW DELHI 00002698  004 OF 004 
 
 
death-knell for the United National Progressive Alliance 
(UNPA), the third front that the communist parties had tried 
to forge in 2007 with some regional parties to challenge the 
Congress Party and the BJP.  INLD was a founding member of 
the UNPA when it was formed.  Another founding member, the 
Samajwadi Party, had left the fold in July 2008 when it 
decided to side with the UPA over the civil nuclear deal. 
The BJP-INLD agreement reflects the high level effort that 
the BJP is devoting to building alliances with smaller 
players around the country well ahead of the parliamentary 
elections.  Two weeks ago, BJP leader L.K. Advani was in 
Assam, no doubt trying to strengthen the BJP's ties with the 
Asom Gana Parishad, another important regional party that 
battles with the Congress Party in the northeast. 
WHITE