SRI LANKA: INDIAN CONCERT MARRED BY GRENADE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001984

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS
NSC FOR DORMANDY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/13/2014
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF ASEC CE IN
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: INDIAN CONCERT MARRED BY GRENADE
ATTACK AND RIOTS LED BY EXTREMIST BUDDHISTS

REF: A. COLOMBO 1952

B. COLOMBO 1805

Classified By: James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of Mission. 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Summary: A December 11 concert featuring film and
music superstars from India was marred by a grenade attack
that killed two people and left a dozen injured, although the
perpetrators have not been identified. Buddhist extremists
staged riots earlier in the day to protest the show, which
coincided with the one-year death anniversary of a well-known
right wing monk. The Jathika Hela Urumaya party, which had
earlier called for the show to be postponed, denied
organizing the day's protests and condemned the violence.
The government, while deploring the violence, took the
opportunity to blame the opposition United National Party for
organizing the protests and attack. While the various
political parties engage in mutual finger-pointing, the Sri
Lanka leadership has not yet assessed the serious damage the
weekend violence has wrought to the island's fading
reputation as a bastion of religious tolerance -- or to its
tourism industry. End Summary.

Violence at Indian megastars show
--------------


2. (C) In the concluding moments of a December 11 show at
the Colombo race course featuring the biggest film and music
stars from India entertaining over 30,000 fans, a hand
grenade exploded near the stage, killing two people and
injuring a dozen others, some critically. The incident
followed violent riots earlier in the day and a week-long
attempt by the Buddhist extremist Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU)
party to get the show canceled or postponed. Led by its monk
MPs, JHU members protested in front of the Indian High
Commission in Colombo on December 7 and harangued the
Government of Sri Lanka to reschedule the show because it
coincided with the December 12 one-year death anniversary of
Soma Thero, a Buddhist cleric known for his extremist
hard-line views (see Ref A).

Afternoon protests
--------------


3. (C) Responding to rallying calls from the JHU and from
other groups, including a Soma Thero memorial committee,
youth from various parts of Sri Lanka began to converge on
Colombo during the day on December 11. One groups of monks
-- not members of the JHU -- on the morning of December 11
declared fast-unto-death unless the show was cancelled.
According to JHU Deputy Leader Venerable Omalpe Sobitha
Thero, MP, JHU monks met with the group of fasting monks and
the show's organizers around 3:30 pm on December 11 and
worked out a compromise. The monks would end their fast and
the organizers would apologize for holding the concert on
Soma Thero's death anniversary and observe a moment of
silence at the start of the show that evening. Speaking to
poloff on December 13, Sobitha Thero added that several
groups of youth -- "extremists" according to him -- had
wanted to continue to protest, but he and his fellow JHU
monks had urged them to stop, telling them the organizers had
already apologized.


4. (C) As the crowd's frenzy built and some JHU members
trying to quell the disturbance, the situation turned violent
with stones thrown at buildings and cars attacked. Police
moved to disperse the rioters, using water cannons and tear
gas. The police arrested 12 people, but ultimately released
them -- without charges -- when some monks began protesting
the arrests in front of the police station. Embassy
officials caught up in the scene (none were attacked or
injured -- the demonstration was in a neighborhood where a
number of Embassy residences are located) commented that the
riot appeared to have been carefully orchestrated, with many
of the participants having arrived on buses from out of town.


5. (C) Sobitha Thero told poloff that the JHU publicly
condemned the riots and the later grenade attack and has
expressed its regrets to the families of those injured, as
well as to the Indian government, and the concert organizers
and stars. He denied that the JHU was in any way involved
with -- or responsible for -- the violence, blaming the
"extremist groups" for planning it all. Sobitha Thero added
the JHU would call on the government to cease blaming his
party and conduct a full investigation into the attack.

Grenade at the show
--------------


6. (C) Despite the riots that shocked many and heavy rain
earlier in the afternoon, over 30,000 people attended the
"megastars" concert. According to some sources,
approximately 5,000 fans were Indians from Mumbai and Chennai
who came specifically to see their hometown pop icons.
Towards the end of the show, police and contacts say a
grenade exploded near the stage. Two Sri Lankans were killed
immediately and several others taken to the hospital,
including one of the show's organizers. Some victims remain
in critical condition. The police have not made any arrests
in connection with the attack, although their investigations
are ongoing. (Note: There is no evidence -- or suspicion --
that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were involved in
the violence.)


7. (C) Many staff from the Indian High Commission --
including the High Commissioner -- were in attendance, but
none were injured. In a December 13 phone conversation with
DCM, Indian Deputy HC Mohan Kumar, who had been sitting in
the VIP section near the stage, said there was "no question"
that the grenade had been thrown from within the crowd and
was "probably intended for the stage." Kumar further
commented that security had been thorough at the beginning of
the evening but became noticeably more lax as the evening
progressed.

Government: the political response
--------------


8. (C) While the government was quick to condemn the
violence on December 11, President Kumaratunga was even
quicker to point the finger of blame at the opposition United
National Party (UNP). In press accounts of a speech the
President delivered on December 12, she accused the UNP of
trying to create a climate of terror in the South. According
to contacts, three of the protestors arrested during
afternoon riots on December 11 were UNP supporters from the
Colombo suburb of Kotte. Contacts theorized that the UNP
association may have led the government to blame the UNP,
specifically Ravi Karunanayake, an UNP MP from Kotte who has
publicly spoken against the President on many occasions.
(Note: As mentioned above, youth from around the island
answered the JHU's call to protest the Indian show. Most
contacts think it was only coincidence that three from Kotte
were arrested and not indicative of any connection with
Karunanayake.)


9. (C) The President may feel obligated to the JHU for its
votes in support of the budget, which passed on December 10
with all nine JHU MPs in favor. She may also be counting on
those nine votes for support to oust the Speaker -- currently
a UNP MP -- once Parliament resumes sitting in January 2005.
Interlocutors say that the President needs a
government-friendly MP in the Speaker position to convene the
constituent assembly she is seeking with which to change the
Constitution.

Repercussions
--------------


10. (C) A variety of interlocutors have commented that the
December 11 violence damaged Sri Lanka's reputation on the
world stage. Several, including Kumar, noted that tourism
from India -- currently the second largest source country for
tourists to Sri Lanka -- will surely suffer. Organizers of
other large concert productions, which provide revenue for
Sri Lanka and draw visitors from neighboring countries, will
also potentially reconsider touring Sri Lanka. (Note: Air
Supply, performing for the first time ever in Sri Lanka, gave
a moderately attended, protest- and violence-free concert the
previous evening of December 10.)
Comment
--------------


11. (C) The JHU, a small party that is disintegrating under
its own internal pressures (Ref B) is obviously clutching at
issues -- however inconsequential -- that it believes will
maintain its relevance to the conservative electorate that
forms its base. Unfortunately, religious fanaticism,
especially when stoked by out-of-town rent-a-crowds, is a
difficult sentiment to control. While the potential injuries
from the grenade and riots were thankfully limited, the
effects of the December 11 violence will long linger for Sri
Lanka. Few people believe the President's assertion that the
UNP was involved and clearly hold the JHU and other
extremists Buddhists responsible for fomenting the atmosphere
which led to the violence. The JHU's public denial of
responsibility in the incidents is unconvincing to many
observers in both the government and the Opposition, who view
the weekend tragedy as further evidence of the party's
naivete and inexperience. Unfortunately, the violence was in
some way a fitting commemoration of Soma Thero, whom many
believe incited the rash of attacks against Christian
churches that climaxed with his death in December 2003. End
Comment.

LUNSTEAD