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PP RUEHAST RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHBI #0369/01 2520912
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
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FM AMCONSUL MUMBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7443
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 8670
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 2113
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA PRIORITY 1901
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 2671
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUMBAI 000369 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF IN
SUBJECT: SHIV SENA-BJP TRY TO STOKE COMMUNAL VIOLENCE AHEAD OF 
MAHARASHTRA ELECTIONS 
 
REF: A. MUMBAI 170 
     ¶B. MUMBAI 130 
     ¶C. MUMBAI 364 
     ¶D. 2008 MUMBAI 234 
 
MUMBAI 00000369  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  The three major cities of Sangli, Miraj and 
Kolhapur in southern Maharashtra experienced Hindu Muslim 
communal violence for six days in early September during the 
final phases of the Hindu festival of Ganpati.  Sangli and Miraj 
remained under curfew for most of these six days.  Though the 
state Congress Party-led coalition government stepped in quickly 
to quell the violence, one person was killed on September 7. 
The politically motivated violence was stoked by opportunistic 
elements of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena opposition 
coalition who are trying to polarize voters before the upcoming 
state elections in October.  End summary. 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) Beginning on September 3, Hindu activists provoked a 
number of Hindu-Muslim clashes in several large cities in 
southern Maharashtra.  The communal violence started in Miraj on 
September 3, Anant Chaturdashi day, which is the final day of 
the Hindu festival of Ganpati, when the Ganesha idols are 
immersed in water.  During the idol procession, the Hindu 
nationalist Shiv Sena political party raised an arch depicting 
the fabled murder of Mughal warrior Afzul Khan by Maharashtrian 
Hindu hero Chatrapati Shivaji along the route.  This provocation 
led to a violent clash between Hindu and Muslim groups which 
continued over the weekend, resulting in the death of one person 
in Kolhapur on September 7.  The electronic media did not show 
inflammatory video footage of the riots, as had been the case 
with past incidents.  However, individuals posted YouTube videos 
of street battles between police and Hindu activists, and 
between Hindu and Muslim activists, helping the violence to 
spread to surrounding villages.  Police imposed a curfew in the 
cities of Sangli, Miraj and Ichalkaranji from September 3 to the 
afternoon of September 8.  There were reported incidents of 
stone-throwing and arson; the police arrested over 150 
activists, and closed markets and public transportation. 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) On September 7, on the orders of the Congress/Nationalist 
Congress Party (NCP) coalition government in Maharashtra, Mumbai 
police prevented Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists and the 
party's national vice president, Gopinath Munde, from boarding a 
flight to Kolhapur in the belief that his presence there would 
incite further violence.  (Note:  The Shiv Sena and the BJP are 
in a long-standing electoral alliance in the state.  End note.) 
The police forcibly turned back BJP activists who were trying to 
enter the departure terminal, and confiscated Munde's boarding 
pass.  Several BJP leaders tried to reach Sangli by road, but 
Maharashtra police successfully stopped them at Pune, 100 miles 
south of Mumbai. 
 
 
 
¶4.  (U) On September 9, after a meeting involving the heads of 
all the major political parties in Mumbai, the curfew was 
relaxed in Sangli-Miraj for a few hours.  The Ganesha festival 
organizers agreed to immerse the idols that they had kept back 
to protest arrest of Hindu rioters, and the Government too 
relented by releasing most of the detainees.  Most electronic 
media reported that there were no clashes on September 9. 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Sangli is the home district of three important 
regional Congress and NCP leaders.  Current home minister Jayant 
Patil of the Congress, former home minister R.R. Patil of the 
NCP and chief minister aspirant Patangrao Kadam of the Congress 
all hail from the district.  Jayant Patil, who was visiting his 
constituency for the Ganesha festival, remained on site for five 
days.  The Maharashtra chief of police himself rushed down from 
Mumbai and ensured that a major communal conflagration did not 
erupt.  Home minister Jayant Patil and Dalit leader Ramdas 
Athavale went on record to accuse local Hindu organizations of 
deliberately using a well-known incident from Shivaji's life to 
offend Muslims.  Though Shivaji is a symbol used more by the 
Shiv Sena than the BJP, the BJP, as the weaker and hungrier 
coalition partner, was quicker off the mark in trying to make 
political capital.  Strong action by Maharashtrian government 
prevented the violence from spreading. 
 
 
 
 
MUMBAI 00000369  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Comment:  Enter Shivaji, the Dark Horse Candidate 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Shiv Sena and the BJP are at the beginning of their 
campaign for the state assembly in Maharashtra, one that will 
likely be highly competitive.  Shivaji, the 17th century 
Maharashtrian warrior king, is a rich symbolic figure across the 
political spectrum in the state:  the BJP-Sena coalition invokes 
him for his supposed pro-Hindu leanings, the Congress-NCP for 
his Maratha caste identity.  In recent years, all of 
Maharashtra's political parties have done their part to honor 
his legacy for electoral mileage - the BJP-Shiv Sena government 
named a major train station and Mumbai airport after him, and 
the current Congress-NCP government plans to build a 300 foot 
statue of him astride his horse off Mumbai's coast, at the cost 
of USD 70 million. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Maharashtra has long seen minor Hindu-Muslim 
skirmishes surrounding the end of the 10 day Ganesha festival. 
With the latest violent events occurring in southern Maharashtra 
(traditionally a Congress-NCP bastion), it is clear that the 
Shiv Sena and BJP are trying to divide the Hindu and Muslim 
communities, thereby giving the Hindu nationalist parties a 
better chance during the upcoming state elections.  If the Sena 
and BJP manage to polarize Hindu voters in these districts - 
comprising 30 of the 288 state parliament seats - they will 
likely improve their chances in this hotly-contested state 
election.  End Comment. 
FOLMSBEE