RELIGIOUS MONKEY BUSINESS ROILS INDIAN WATERS, POLITICAL

UNCLAS CHENNAI 000605

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV IN
SUBJECT: RELIGIOUS MONKEY BUSINESS ROILS INDIAN WATERS, POLITICAL
AND REAL


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Political tempers have flared in the southern
Indian state of Tamil Nadu as a canal project off the state's coast
has turned into an unlikely source of political and religious
controversy. The long-proposed Sethusamudram project will dredge a
passage through the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka,
allowing ships to pass through the canal rather than making the
lengthier trip around Sri Lanka. Hindu groups believe the dredging
project will destroy a bridge built the Hindu god Ram's army of
monkeys (the bridge is known as the "Ram Setu" to Hindus). The
project, and opposition to it, had long been a local Tamil Nadu
matter, but it leapt into the national political debate when the
government filed a controversial affidavit in a court case which was
construed as negating the existence of Ram - one of the most revered
gods in Hinduism. Although the government quickly withdrew the
affidavit, a heated exchange ensued with the project's strongest
backer, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu "insulting Hindu religious
sentiment," a Hindu leader suggesting that the Chief Minister should
be beheaded for blasphemy, and followers of the Chief Minister
responding by attacking offices of the BJP and Hindu political
organizations in Tamil Nadu. The net political effect of the
controversy is so far unclear. END SUMMARY.

HINDU NATIONALISTS OPPOSE PROPOSED SHIPPING CANAL
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2. (SBU) In 2001, under the previous BJP-led coalition, the
government of India approved the Sethusamudram Project. According
to the canal's proponents, it will save ships sailing between
India's east and west coasts 420 nautical miles and more than thirty
hours of sailing time. The government of Tamil Nadu has been
strongly committed to the project. Tamil Nadu political figures
regularly refer to the Sethusamudram project as the "one hundred
fifty year dream of the Tamil people" (a reference to the fact that
the canal was first proposed in 1860 during the British Raj).


3. (SBU) Opposition to the project surfaced soon after the 2001
approval. Environmental advocates objected on the grounds that the
dredging would harm the area's sensitive marine ecology and make the
coastline more susceptible to damage from tsunamis. Others argued
that the project would wash away the area's significant mineral
resources, including a major thorium deposit. And two locally-based
Hindu activists initiated separate lawsuits arguing that the
dredging would destroy the sandy shoal they believe to be an
important religious site described in the Hindu epic story the
Ramayana known as the Ram Setu (Ram's bridge). The shoal, they
believe, is the remnant of the bridge built by Ram's army of monkeys
so that Ram could cross to Sri Lanka to rescue his wife Sita from
the demon Ravan. (NOTE: Of the pantheon of Hindu deities, Ram is
one of the most important from a contemporary political perspective.
The BJP and affiliated Hindu nationalist groups known as the Sangh
Parivar mobilized their followers in the 1990s around another
Ram-related issue. They believed Babri Masjid in Uttar Pradesh
occupied the site of Ram's birthplace and stormed it to make way for
the construction of a new Ram temple. Analysts believe the Babri
Masjid controversy in 1992-1993 marked the beginning of the BJP's
ascent to power by the end of the decade. END NOTE.)

GOVERNMENT DEFENDS PROJECT; OFFENDS HINDUS
--------------


4. (SBU) The Sethusamudram Project received little media attention
as the lawsuits made their way through the judicial system, but the
issue leapt onto the national stage on September 12 when the
Archaeological Survey of India filed an affidavit in the Indian
Supreme Court in response to the lawsuits filed against the dredging
process. The affidavit said the Ramayana "cannot be said to be
historical record to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the
characters, or the occurrence of events depicted therein." This
statement was explosive; many took it as a negation of the existence
of Ram. A journalist told post that it was "like the U.S.
government filing an affidavit saying Jesus didn't exist." The
Congress-led national coalition government quickly withdrew the
affidavit seeking to quell the controversy.

DMK CHIEF MINISTER CALLS RAM A "BIG LIE," A HINDU
THREATENS CHIEF MINISTER, DMK ATTACKS BJP HEADQUARTERS
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5. (SBU) But the controversy only heated up when Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister M. Karunanidhi gave a speech mocking the possibility that
Ram built the Ram Setu. Karunanidhi the leader of regional DMK
party, which is a critical partner in the Congress-led UPA coalition
government in New Delhi, went even further on September 20 when he
said "Ram is a big lie." In the same interview, Karunanidhi added
fuel to the fire saying Valmiki, the author of the Ramayana, had
himself called Ram a "drunkard."


6. (SBU) Karunanidhi's comments caused widespread condemnation
including reports from Ayodhya on September 21 that former BJP

member of parliament Ram Vilas Vedanti said "anyone beheading
Karunanidhi would be weighed in gold by the saints of Ayodhya."
Vedanti quickly backtracked saying on September 23 that he did not
make the statement against Karunanidhi but rather was only quoting
religious texts on the punishment for blasphemy. Nonetheless,
reports that Vedanti had threatened Karunanidhi enraged the
octogenarian Chief Minister's supporters in Tamil Nadu. DMK
activists attacked BJP offices in Tamil Nadu on September 25,
damaging them and injuring some BJP party members. The DMK-led
ruling coalition in Tamil Nadu called for a statewide general strike
on October 1 to protest "communal" forces efforts' to halt the
project and to urge its quick implementation.

WHO BENEFITS POLITICALLY?
--------------


7. (SBU) S. Gurumurthy, a close friend and adviser to BJP
Opposition Leader LK Advani, told post that the Ram Setu issue --
especially Karunanidhi's comments against Ram -- is creating a
"tectonic shift" in the Indian political environment in favor of the
BJP. Gurumurthy is a radical proponent of Hindutva (NOTE: Hindutva
literally means "Hinduness" and used to describe right-wing Hindu
nationalist ideology that is often associated with anti-Muslim
sentiment. Gurumurthy, for example, described the Koran as
"neurotic" and said though "the United States certifies Islam as a
peaceful religion with more than a billion adherents, all it takes
is 100,000 of those Muslims to set the world on fire." END NOTE.)
He told us that insensitivity to Hindu sentiment on the part of
Congress and its allies will drive Hindus to vote against those
parties, especially in north India. We mentioned that the BJP is
weak in south India, especially in Tamil Nadu, and has been
unsuccessful in the past in whipping up communal sentiment.
Gurumurthy responded that things are changing even in Tamil Nadu and
Karunanidhi could not get away with so blatantly insulting Ram.


8. (SBU) Kanimozhi, daughter of Chief Minister Karunanidhi and DMK
member of parliament, seemed unconcerned. Although she acknowledged
spending a lot of time fielding calls from anxious coalition
partners, Kanimozhi said "Congress should be worried" up in the
north because this type of issue sells there. But "things here are
different" she said, because of Tamil Nadu has a long history of
permitting people to question religious beliefs. She said the Ram
Setu issue could actually play to the DMK's advantage by
consolidating anti-northern sentiment among Tamils in favor of the
party. Suggesting continued agitation from the DMK in favor of the
project, Kanimozhi told us "Congress wants to go slow on Ram Setu
but we can't let that happen." She quickly followed by saying that
despite the controversy surrounding Ram Setu and the U.S.-India
civil nuclear initiative, Congress and the DMK are together.


9. (SBU) Peter Alphonse, a Congress member of the state legislative
assembly, told us the Ram Setu controversy worried the national
Congress Party. He said the party's poor reaction to the crisis is
a consequence of fear and confusion. Alphonse noted that the
northern wing of the Congress party has a substantial number of
members who practice "soft Hindutva" and for whom the Ram Setu issue
and Karunanidhi's comments are particularly troubling. That said,
Alfonse was not overly concerned because he said feelings over the
issue will dissipate with the passage of time. "It might require us
to postpone elections by two to three months" but he did not expect
it to hurt the party. With respect to the impact of Ram Setu in
Tamil Nadu, Alfonse was dismissive. He said, "people are less
religious in Tamil Nadu than in the north. It won't be such an
issue here." Alfonse also said controversies like Ram Setu are
associated with the hardline hindutva of BJP's LK Advani, who
Alphonse said is very unpopular in Tamil Nadu.

COMMENT: WITH EARLY ELECTIONS POSSIBLE THE
DMK TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT AWAY FROM RELIGION
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10. (SBU) COMMENT: If the UPA/Left split over the U.S.-India civil
nuclear initiative leads to early elections, the UPA has nowhere to
go but down in Tamil Nadu as the UPA partners, together with the CPI
and the CPI(M),had won all thirty-nine parliament seats from the
state in 2004. Already anxious about defending so many seats, the
DMK has not been eager for early elections. At the same time, the
DMK's principal opposition, Jayalalithaa's AIADMK, has been
floundering. She recently joined the Third Front only to quickly
break ranks from the new coalition by voting for the BJP candidate
in the presidential elections. The Ram Setu controversy's
explosive mix of religion and politics only adds to the uncertainty
in Tamil Nadu.


11. (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: Despite the state's tradition of
tolerating criticism of religion, Chief Minister Karunanidhi
probably went too far in calling Ram a "lie" and a "drunkard."
Media contacts said even in Tamil Nadu insulting Ram "is a bad
idea," but that it would probably be forgotten in a few months.

Karunanidhi and the DMK seem to recognize this and have been trying
to reframe the debate away from his insults to Ram. They are trying
to shift focus to the importance of the Sethusamudram project to the
people of Tamil Nadu as well as by rallying Tamil sentiment against
north Indians through highlighting Vedanti's reported threat to
Karunanidhi. A media contact told us that a senior DMK leader had
said they needed to "get people to forget the Ram is a drunkard
comment" by going on the attack. He thought Vedanti's comments and
the planned October 1 general strike will serve as a pivot and allow
the DMK to change the debate. If early elections for parliament are
held, we expect that the DMK and its allies would still hold onto a
majority of the thirty-eight seats, but given the heat generated by
the Ram Setu matter they will likely prefer to delay elections until
the dust settles and Karunanidhi's intemperate comments are
forgotten.


12. (SBU) EMBASSY COMMENT: The BJP and its cultural branch sister
organizations (the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Sangh Parivar) have
already latched onto the Ram Sethu controversy in the North,
planning demonstrations as far at Jammu to incite Hindus on the
issue. At its national executive meeting in Bhopal, September
21-23, in passing a resolution condemning the Ram Sethu project, the
BJP has committed itself to a Hindutva agenda in the upcoming
national election. Congress will have to tread carefully as
Ram-related issues have shifted the balance of power in the past.
END COMMENT.


13. This cable was coordinated with Embassy New Delhi.

HOPPER