Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06NEWDELHI888
2006-02-07 13:41:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy New Delhi
Cable title:  

CARTOON WARS: INDIAN MUSLIMS (BARELY) PROTEST

Tags:  PGOV KISL ASEC OVIP KDEM SOCI IN IR DA 
pdf how-to read a cable
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 000888 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/06/2016
TAGS: PGOV KISL ASEC OVIP KDEM SOCI IN IR DA
SUBJECT: CARTOON WARS: INDIAN MUSLIMS (BARELY) PROTEST

NEW DELHI 00000888 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: PolCouns Geoff Pyatt for Reasons 1.4 (B, D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 000888

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/06/2016
TAGS: PGOV KISL ASEC OVIP KDEM SOCI IN IR DA
SUBJECT: CARTOON WARS: INDIAN MUSLIMS (BARELY) PROTEST

NEW DELHI 00000888 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: PolCouns Geoff Pyatt for Reasons 1.4 (B, D)


1. (SBU) Summary: Indian Muslim reaction to the controversy
over publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a
Danish newspaper spilled out into the streets on February 6
in the form of a peaceful city-wide strike in Muslim-majority
Srinagar, a student demonstration in New Delhi, and small
protests elsewhere, but in general the Indian reaction was
muted. Police stopped the New Delhi protest from reaching
the Danish Embassy after marchers reportedly threw stones,
but no other violence was reported. The low-key response is
representative of India's Muslim community, in many ways
mindful of global trends affecting Muslims, but disinclined
to espouse the more radical viewpoints that flourish
elsewhere. Anti-US politicians and community leaders will
likely roll the cartoon protests into larger agitation
planned over the Iran IAEA vote and the upcoming visit of
President Bush, but are unlikely to stir up significant
anti-US emotions. Sixty years of democracy have convinced
Indian Muslims of the value of free speech, for better or
worse. End Summary.

Public Protests but No Threats
--------------


2. (U) As the Indian media picked up stories of violent
clashes elsewhere in Asia and the Middle East, a few hundred
students gathered at Jamia Millia Islamia university in
Southeast New Delhi to protest the Danish publication on
February 6. Poloff, who was at the campus for other
business, witnessed small groups chanting and holding signs
in the morning, but when the group assembled closer to the
diplomatic quarter of New Delhi to march to the Danish
Embassy in the afternoon, police broke up the protest with
water cannons after allegedly being pelted with stones. No
injuries were reported, and a small student delegation was
later allowed to present a written protest to the Danish
Embassy.


3. (SBU) Michael Just Hjortso, Danish PolCouns, told Poloff

on February 7 that the Danish Embassy received a heavy police
cordon on February 6, but the Embassy was unaware of the size
of the protest or the police actions until reports surfaced
in the media. The first Indian interest in the cartoons
followed the original publication in September, Just Hjortso
reported, with a day-long strike in Srinagar and an MEA
diplomatic note expressing "dismay" over the cartoons. The
Danish Embassy has informed the GOI of subsequent statements
of apology by the Danish Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister,
and the GOI has made no further official demarches on the
subject, Just Hjortso confirmed. The Danish Embassy saw no
threat to its citizens or interests, he added, and had no
plans to issue a travel advisory for India.

Elsewhere in India...
--------------


4. (SBU) Police in Mumbai beefed up their presence at a
locally-staffed Danish Consulate in Mumbai, but no
demonstrators appeared on February 6. ConGen Mumbai's Muslim
contacts report that Mumbai Muslims will likely engage in
protests after the holiday marking the tenth day of Muharram
on February 9, or after Friday prayers on February 10. The
Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, supported by
local trade unions, instigated a day-long strike in the
Kashmir Valley on February 6 that local journalists called
"near total." Pioneer reporter Khursheed Wani told us that
while businesses and government offices were nearly deserted

NEW DELHI 00000888 002.2 OF 003


because of the transportation shutdown, many would have
remained at home in any case to watch the India-Pakistan
cricket match. The capital city Srinagar witnessed scattered
demonstrations but no violence, contacts said.


5. (C) According to Embassy contacts, Maulana Kalbe Jawaad,
a prominent pro-Iranian cleric in Lucknow, the center of
India's Shia minority population, attempted to organize a
demonstration against Denmark and the US, but was unable to
gather enough supporters (or find any handy Danish flags to
burn). Many Muslims in Lucknow avoid watching television
during the holy month of Muharram, and so have steered clear
of the cartoon controversy. Maulana Agha Roohi Abaqati told
us that Jawaad and his fellow agitators, led by the Uttar
Pradesh state Samajwadi Party (SP),plan to tie the
anti-Denmark protests to anti-US and anti-GOI agitation over
the next week to protest the Iran IAEA vote and the upcoming
POTUS visit. In the southern centers of Muslim population in
Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, few demonstrations were noted
except one "extremist-led" march in Kanhangad, Kerala, in
which protesters burnt a French flag before police arrested
39 youths. COMMENT: Maybe it was the only European flag
available. END COMMENT.

Interested Parties Trying to Fan the Flames...
-------------- -


6. (C) In a February 6 meeting with Poloff, Imam Bukhari of
Delhi's Jamma Mosque reported that he was under considerable
pressure to participate in anti-American and anti-cartoon
demonstrations. He emphasized, however, that he rebuffed
overtures from Mahmood As'ad Madani, the General Secretary of
the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind and the management of "Rashtriya
Sahara," the Urdu language newspaper of the Sahara group.
Bukhari purportedly refused to endorse their campaigns,
telling the organizers that it would "embarrass" the Mosque
and its management, as it is a "public institution," which
should not become enmeshed in political protests. Bukhari
confirmed that as an Imam he felt obligated to make a public
statement condemning the cartoons, but had tried to keep it
reasonable and mild.


7. (C) Bukhari claimed that his biggest problem was dealing
with India's Urdu media. The media, he said, routinely takes
little issues and tries to make them into big ones, and often
puts an anti-American spin on issues that do not involve the
US. He was particularly upset with "Rashtriya Sahara," which
he said was being very unhelpful by sponsoring a "Bush go
back" campaign and pestering Muslim leaders to participate.
In Bukhari's view, the paper was not genuinely interested in
Muslims, but was acting at the behest of Uttar Pradesh
politician Amar Singh and his SP, which is embroiled in a
feud with the Congress Party.

Comment: It's Just Smoke, No Fire
--------------


8. (C) The conjunction of India's vote against Iran in the
IAEA, the publication of the Danish cartoons and the
impending POTUS visit has resulted in considerable ferment in
the Indian Muslim community. Opportunistic troublemakers
have combined the news frenzy over the cartoons with broader
complaints against the West and the US to promote domestic
political advantage, or Iranian interests. Our contacts
confirm that the Iranian Embassy has been very active in
recent weeks, devising ambitious anti-US programs and
approaching Bukhari and other influential Muslims to
participate. However, the peaceful nature of the protests

NEW DELHI 00000888 003.2 OF 003


here demonstrates yet again the resistance in the Indian
Muslim community to violence or radicalization. Although
some anti-Western and anti-US sentiments circulate in the
148-million strong Muslim population, Indian Muslims, like
their compatriots of other religions, tend to hold favorable
views toward the West and the US, and are proof that an
active public outreach effort can have a positive effect on
host country populations. For example, we have met regularly
with Imam Bukhari over the past six months and his
appreciation of the positive attention contributed to his
apparent decision to keep the anti-US crowd at bay. Shia
clerics in Lucknow who are in regular contact with the
Embassy and regularly receive Embassy mailings have also
helped promote a message of moderation and harmony, with Shia
Maulanas criticizing Jawaad and other Iranian-supported
clerics and highlighting the assistance the US has provided
to Shia in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. Finally, this
episode shows that Indian Muslims value free speech - even
when offensive - thanks to sixty years of democracy.


9. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website:
(http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/sa/newdelhi/)
MULFORD