RAJASTHAN GOVERNMENT QUELLS HARASSMENT OF EMMANUEL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001660 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KIRF KDEM PGOV SCUL CASC IN SUBJECT: RAJASTHAN GOVERNMENT QUELLS HARASSMENT OF EMMANUEL MINISTRIES REF: NEW DELHI O-I MARCH 7 NEW DELHI 00001660 001.3 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Local press recently reported that Hindu activists had attacked churches, hospitals and schools associated with the Emmanuel Ministries (EM) in Rajasthan, and blocked its employees from entering a hospital and orphanage. Embassy contacts in Rajasthan acknowledged that Hindu activists had entered a school run by EM and burned an effigy of its founder, but that reports of a barricade are false. An AmCit volunteer at the EM hospital in Kota told us that Hindu chauvinist groups continue to harass employees of EM and that he remains concerned over the Rajasthan Government's inadequate action to protect the Ministry. Rajasthan Chief Minister Raje announced in the state assembly on March 1 that religious persecution would not be tolerated in the state and a contact in the state government told us that extra police had been sent to protect EM properties. Local media contacts credit this intervention with preventing further incidents. Post will continue to follow and report on the situation. End Summary. ¶2. (U) On February 24, The Hindustan Times reported that Hindu activists attacked a school run by EM in Kota, Rajasthan and burned an effigy of its founder, Bishop M.A. Thomas on the roof of the building. The story and subsequent press reports of attacks on other Emmanuel Ministries properties and harassment of its employees have resulted in the Embassy receiving numerous faxes and emails from concerned parties in the United States, likely due to Emmanuel Ministries' connection to US-based Hope Givers International (www.hopegivers.org). ¶3. (SBU) Post continues to monitor the situation, and has reached out to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Rajasthani contacts and members of the Rajasthan government. NHRC Joint Secretary Aruna Sharma told us that the commission immediately dispatched an investigative team to Kota and has discussed the situation with the Rajasthan state government. She stated she would inform us of the teams' findings. ¶4. (SBU) An AmCit volunteer currently living in the EM hospital compound on the outskirts of Kota told PolOff on March 9 that, while he does not feel endangered, he remains concerned that Hindu groups continue to threaten EM members while the local police and authorities do nothing. The AmCit noted his biggest concern is that the Rajasthan government has frozen the assets of EM, and without funding, the children in the EM-run orphanages will not be fed. He remarked that "caring people from the local community" are currently filling the monetary gap, but believes this support will shortly run out. He remarked that in the last two months, local Hindu groups have been waging an ongoing campaign of violence and intimidation focused on EM. ¶5. (SBU) Our contact in the Rajasthan government indicated he was aware of the problem, but discounted reports that anyone has been barricaded out of any EM facilities. (Note: Several news reports stated that doctors had been locked out of a EM hospital and were unable to treat patients. End Note.) The Rajasthan state official remarked that he was upset over the "false propaganda" and reiterated Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's March 2 announcement in the state assembly that religious persecution would not be tolerated in Rajasthan. He noted that extra police had been sent to the area to protect EM property. NEW DELHI 00001660 002.3 OF 002 ¶6. (SBU) Media contacts based in Rajasthan also told us that no siege of the orphanage had occurred, but acknowledged that an attack on a EM school had taken place. The reporter told us that Raje's quick action ensured that no further incidents took place. He concluded that Social Welfare and Cooperative Development Minister Madan Dilawar, who is also a local politician, would have liked to close down the mission due to a long-standing "animosity" towards EM, but Raje's stern warning forbade this. ¶7. (U) Post will continue to monitor the situation closely and report notable developments. ¶8. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website: (http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/sa/newdelhi/) BLAKE