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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000038 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PTER PHUM PREL IN CE
SUBJECT:  SRI LANKAN WAR HEATS UP TAMIL NADU POLITICS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  A dramatic self-immolation by a young man in 
Chennai protesting Tamil civilian casualties in Sri Lanka gave 
opportunistic fringe parties a political opening.  Their efforts to 
whip up more widespread protests through the call for a statewide 
general strike, however, fell flat due to lack of participation by 
the state's major political parties and quick government action to 
preempt any escalation.  The occasion led Tamil Nadu's DMK Chief 
Minister M. Karunanidhi to criticize the the Liberation Tigers of 
Tamil Eelam, decisively casting the DMK's lot with Congress in the 
upcoming elections.  We expect Karunanidhi to step up his efforts in 
New Delhi to influence Colombo to minimize civilian casualties and 
offer a credible devolution package to Sri Lanka's Tamils.  End 
summary. 
 
Self-immolation in protest of Sri Lankan war 
--------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On January 29, Muthukumar, a 26 year-old Tamil activist 
committed suicide by immolating himself in front of a government 
office building in Chennai to protest the killing of Tamil civilians 
in Sri Lanka.  Muthukumar reportedly shouted protests against the 
Government of India's support of Sri Lanka's armed forces before 
setting himself on fire.  Students, lawyers, and politicians from 
fringe political parties which support the LTTE seized on 
Muthukumar's "act of martyrdom" to try to turn emotions in the state 
in favor of the Sri Lankan Tamil cause.  Their protests turned 
sporadically violent, resulting in damage to offices of two Sri 
Lankan-associated institutions, the Bank of Ceylon and Sri Lankan 
Airlines.  Protestors also directed their ire at Indian government 
officials, burning effigies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and 
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.  Initial reports of other 
suicides attributed to protest against Sri Lanka turned out to be 
less clear-cut than Muthukumar's:  for example, a man who jumped 
from a cell phone tower was reportedly mentally ill. 
 
Government acts quickly to cool things down 
--------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Worried that Muthukumar's self-immolation and the 
subsequent political protests could get out of hand, the state 
government quickly moved to cool down the situation.  The government 
ordered an indefinite closure of all of the state's colleges and 
their dormitories.  A senior government contact told post that the 
government was particularly concerned about the government-run 
liberal arts and law colleges.  He said these colleges "are hotbeds 
of agitation.  There are too many young people with too much time." 
The government also stepped up security at the Sri Lankan Deputy 
High Commission, stopping anyone from driving or walking down the 
busy thoroughfare.  Instead of arriving at a Consulate-hosted lunch 
in his usual Mercedes flying the Sri Lankan flag, the Sri Lankan 
Deputy High Commissioner came late for the lunch in a nondescript 
vehicle without diplomatic tags.  The Deputy High Commissioner 
explained that he had to switch cars for security reasons. 
 
General strike barely gets off the ground 
--------- 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) On February 4, Sri Lanka's national day, a group of small 
political parties in an ad hoc coalition called the "Eelam Tamils 
Protection Movement" (ETPM) held a general strike across the state 
to demand that India pressure Sri Lanka into a ceasefire with the 
LTTE.  The strike barely got off the ground, especially in Chennai. 
There were minor disruptions and a few attacks on government buses 
in outlying districts, but the strike failed to achieve its goal of 
bringing life in the state to a halt.  This was largely due to the 
fact that the state's two largest parties, the ruling DMK and the 
principal opposition AIADMK, did not participate.  The ETPM is 
largely composed of fringe political parties, including the MDMK and 
VCK.  (Note:  Vaiko, the head of the MDMK, met then Presidential 
candidate Obama in Chicago in July 2008.  Vaiko has since sharpened 
his rhetoric regarding the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils.  End note.) 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Two mainstream parties participated in the general strike: 
 the PMK and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).  The participation of 
the PMK, which is part of India's ruling UPA government and has two 
ministers in the central government, could be explained by the fact 
that it has been trying to distance itself from the state's ruling 
 
CHENNAI 00000038  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
DMK (another UPA member) of late.  A contact close to PMK Union 
Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss told post that the PMK was likely 
to complete its break with the DMK by pulling out of the UPA over 
the Sri Lanka issue.  The Tamil Nadu BJP extended half-hearted 
support to the strike, which observers attributed to the BJP's 
efforts to shake its image as a North Indian party. 
 
 
DMK condemns LTTE 
--------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) DMK Chief Minister Karunanidhi addressed the party 
leadership on the eve of the February 4 general strike.  Karunanidhi 
sharply criticized the LTTE for its fratricidal policies and 
dictatorial tendency.  Referring to a 1987 magazine interview by 
Prabhakaran in which the LTTE leader described his plans for a 
dictatorship in the future Tamil nation, Karunanidhi reportedly said 
"from then on, I became sick of the Tigers' war... Later, many 
people were killed by the LTTE and the sympathy towards that 
movement was dwindling gradually and at one point, it completely 
vanished."  He emphasized that his party's sympathy extends to Sri 
Lanka's Tamils, but not to the LTTE.  At the same time, the DMK 
formally urged India and Sri Lanka to take immediate steps to ensure 
full devolution of powers to the Tamil dominated North and East of 
Sri Lanka.  Karunanidhi announced that the DMK would organize 
state-wide rallies to garner support for its Sri Lanka policy. 
Karunanidhi further distanced the DMK from the LTTE-sympathizing 
ETPM by formed a competing umbrella organization he dubbed the "Sri 
Lankan Tamils Liberty and Welfare Organization." 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Observers from across the spectrum agreed that Karunanidhi 
took a big step by criticizing the LTTE at a time when concern for 
the Sri Lankan Tamils is high.  An editor with The Hindu described 
Karunanidhi's coupling of criticism of the LTTE with his commitment 
to devolution as the political solution as "a big step; it was 
brilliant."  The Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner said 
Karunanidhi's stand was "a welcome development." 
 
DMK cries foul against PMK 
------------------ 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Karunanidhi accused the PMK of trying to bring down the 
state government by driving a wedge between the DMK and the Congress 
party.  (Note:  The DMK lacks a majority in the state assembly and 
depends on the Congress party's support to maintain power in Tamil 
Nadu.  End note.)  Karunanidhi told reporters that the PMK "is 
trying to create enmity between me and the Center."  Though the 
parties joined to form the Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) for 
the 2006 state elections, they have since fallen out with 
Karunanidhi kicking the PMK out of the DPA in 2008.  The two, 
however, remain members of the Congress-led ruling UPA in New Delhi. 
 The continued feuding at the state level makes it increasingly 
unlikely that the two parties will work together in the upcoming 
parliamentary elections, but media contacts refuse to guess which 
way the PMK will ultimately go.  The party has a history of 
unpredictability. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment:  Concerns about the possibility of additional 
suicides and more violent protests after Muthukumar's 
self-immolation appear to have been unfounded.  The failure of the 
general strike reinforces the belief that the LTTE's assassination 
of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi reduced support for the terrorist 
organization in Tamil Nadu to the far fringes of the poltical 
spectrum.  Sri Lanka, nonetheless, factors into Tamil Nadu's 
political situation.  The DMK's past associations with Sri Lankan 
militant groups and Karunanidhi's personal penchant for Tamil 
identity politics make the party vulnerable to charges of betrayal 
by the LTTE-sympathizing fringe parties.  In criticizing the LTTE 
and calling for devolution, Karunanidhi has made his most decisive 
break with the past.  He has clearly cast his lot with the Congress 
party, largely out of political compulsion, but also perhaps in an 
effort to be on the right side of history as the LTTE's power wanes. 
 With his eyes trained on the upcoming elections we expect 
Karunanidhi to demand that New Delhi influence Colombo to minimize 
civilian casualties and offer a credible devolution package.  End 
comment. 
 
SIMKIN