VZCZCXRO7230
RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHCG #0028/01 0360718
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050718Z FEB 10
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2623
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3990
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000028 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV IN
SUBJECT: CPM REFORMS ALIENATE RELIGIOUS BELIEVERS 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Efforts by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) 
(CPM) to revamp itself after its disastrous performance in the 2009 
parliamentary elections received a setback in Kerala with a former 
CPM Member of Parliament quitting the party in protest of 
CPM-imposed curbs on religious expression.  CPM General Secretary 
Prakash Karat's explanation that rank and file party members are 
free to keep their religious faith but that party leadership is not 
has only aggravated the situation.  The debate could turn out to be 
a major problem in building bridges with electorally significant 
religious groups in the 2011 state elections in Kerala.  End 
summary. 
 
Church over party: Catholic CPM leader quits party 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) On January 8, Manoj Kurisinkal, a popular CPM leader from the 
coastal Alapuzha district of Kerala and former Member of the Lok 
Sabha, resigned from the party citing reasons of faith.  Manoj's 
resignation letter said that he disagrees with CPM's ongoing 
internal "rectification campaign", in particular, the party's recent 
directive urging members to refrain from participating in religious 
ceremonies.  "This I found difficult because I have a strong belief 
in my religion", he told the media after faxing the letter to the 
CPM local committee. 
 
¶3. (U) Manoj has always been an ardent Catholic.  He was the 
President of Kerala Catholic Youth Movement and a non-political 
social worker when the CPM identified him as a candidate for the Lok 
Sabha elections of 2004.  Manoj beat the immensely popular Congress 
candidate V.M. Sudheeran, by making inroads into the constituency's 
significant "Latin Catholic" community.  In the 2009 elections, 
however, Manoj lost out in a Congress wave that swept most of the 
state. 
 
Karat: okay for members to pray, not leaders though 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) The CPM national leadership quickly sensed the political 
fallout of Manoj's resignation and tried to do damage control.  On 
January 17, General Secretary Prakash Karat wrote an elaborate 
editorial in "People's Democracy" entitled "CPM, Rectification and 
Religion."  In the editorial Karat clarified that "while the CPM 
upholds the materialist outlook, it does not bar people having 
religious faith from joining the party...The CPM has no hesitation 
to join hands with believers and religious leaders who espouse the 
cause of the poor, or act in defence of the rights of the working 
people."  But he added an important caveat: "leading party cadres 
such as leaders of state committee, district committee, zonal/area 
committees etc. are expected to uphold progressive values in their 
personal and social lives.  They should not organize religious 
ceremonies or personally conduct religious rituals." 
 
Double standard, say Catholics 
-------------- 
 
¶5. (U) The Catholic church was quick to react to the "double 
standards" in the party's setting different rules for party members 
and leaders.  Father Paul Thelakat, a spokesman of the Catholic 
Synod pointed out that the rules introduce "a kind of caste system 
within the party".  "The CPM will have no future if it does not 
leave aside this outdated ideology," he said.  Manoj called it 
"duplicity in attitude."  In a rejoinder to Karat, Manoj said: "the 
party wants believers to stick posters, shout slogans...and become 
martyrs but will not allow them to become leaders and participate in 
the decision making forum of the party.  This is sheer feudalistic 
attitude." 
 
Muslim Communist leader forced out in 2009 
------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) In March 2009, the Kerala CPM forced out A.P. Abdullakutty, 
a dynamic young Member of Parliament from the state's substantial 
Muslim community.  The immediate cause was Abdullakutty's public 
praise for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's economic policies, 
but his confrontation with the party had its roots in his Islamic 
faith.  In an interview Abdullakutty, now a Congress member of the 
state legislative assembly, alleged that CPM leaders had criticized 
him for taking a pilgrimage to Mecca and attending Eid prayers. 
Later, he wrote in his blog:  "Marxist indoctrination played a major 
role in my metamorphosis from a faithful follower of Islam to a 
hard-boiled atheist.  Now the wheel has come full circle.  When I 
recently visited Makkah to observe the Uumrah, it became a talking 
point for the media.  Somewhere along the way I had regained my 
faith in Islam and I did not wish to keep it a secret.  And I was 
prepared to face the consequences." 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment:  After its rout in the 2009 parliamentary 
elections, the CPM initiated a much publicized "rectification" 
campaign aimed at correcting the "wrong trends and shortcomings" of 
both its leaders and general membership.  The party hopes that the 
 
CHENNAI 00000028  002 OF 002 
 
 
rectification campaign will help spur a dramatic turnaround before 
the 2011 state assembly elections in its two traditional 
strongholds:  Kerala and West Bengal.  But the effort to regain 
ideological purity may actually have the opposite effect by 
hampering much needed efforts to broaden its popular base.  The 
party's recent decisions make the party seem hostile to 
religious-minded people, which could seriously harm it in Kerala, in 
particular, where Christians, Muslims, and devout Hindus make up a 
substantial portion of the electorate.  End comment. 
 
SIMKIN