SRI LANKA: STATUE STIRS STRIKE, VIOLENCE IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000916

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/2015
TAGS: PGOV ASEC KIRF PTER PHUM CASC CE LTTE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: STATUE STIRS STRIKE, VIOLENCE IN
TRINCOMALEE

REF: A. COLOMBO 870


B. COLOMBO 786

C. COLOMBO 472

Classified By: DCM JAMES F. ENTWISTLE. REASON: 1.4 (B,D).


1. (U) One person was killed and five injured in scattered
grenade attacks in the eastern district of Trincomalee on May
17 during a two-day strike, or "hartal," to protest the
erection of a large Buddha statue on government-owned land.
The Embassy has received no reports of U.S. citizens hurt or
stranded in the strike. The hartal, called by the
Trincomalee District People's Forum--widely believed to be a
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) front--closed down
most shops, businesses and vehicular traffic in the
ethnically diverse city May 17 and 18. Some Sinhalese shop
owners remained open in defiance of the strike; the lone
fatality was a Sinhalese produce vendor, open for business,
who was killed by a grenade. A 6:00 p.m.- 6:00 a.m. curfew
was in effect May 17-18. As of late afternoon May 18, no
decision had been announced whether the curfew would be
extended for a second night.


2. (SBU) The Buddha statue materialized "in the dead of the
night," according to a local resident, on May 16 near the
clock tower in the city center. The Sinhalese nationalist
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) told us on May 18 that a
JVP-affiliated union of trishaw drivers (who congregate near
the clock tower) was responsible for erecting the statue.
Local Buddhist monks reportedly told police authorities, who
were urging removal of the statue, that while they had not
supported its erection, they would not take it down. The
case was referred to a local court, and on May 18--with
uncharacteristic swiftness--the magistrate directed both
sides to reach an amicable settlement and report back to him
on May 26. According to Deputy Inspector General of Police
Neville Wijesinghe, the statue is remaining where it
is--guarded by police--for the time being. Wijesinghe added
that a large crowd of Sinhalese and Buddhist monks had
gathered near the clock tower earlier in the day May 18,
anticipating the removal of the statue, but had since
dispersed. There were unconfirmed reports of several
explosions following the announcement of the judgment.


3. (C) Comment: Trincomalee has a long history of ethnic
volatility (Reftels); throwing religion into the mix can only
aggravate tensions. Although the situation was relatively
calmer at COB May 18 than the previous day, the May 19
funeral of the Sinhalese victim of the grenade attack could
prove another flashpoint for renewed violence. With the JVP
backing the statue placers and the LTTE inciting the statue
protesters, this issue is about much more than religion. JVP
encroachments on government-owned land have touched off
violent protests in Trincomalee before (Ref C). Putting up a
Buddha statue on public property in the middle of a city that
is equal parts Tamil, Sinhalese and Muslim can only be
interpreted as intentionally provocative. The JVP's
appropriation of Buddhist symbols is a recent phenomenon--JVP
insurgents in the late 1980s did not espouse any religion and
many Buddhist monks were victims of JVP violence--but one
that suits the party's reinvention of itself as the guardians
of Sinhalese nationalism. The JVP's cynical manipulation of
religious sympathies will do little to advance the peace
process or embellish the image of Buddhism in this country,
but neither the government nor the Buddhist leadership is
likely to speak out on this sensitive and highly emotional
issue. Unfortunately, their silence only cedes the field to
more extreme voices, thereby increasing the chances for
continued confrontation.


LUNSTEAD