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