HINDU NATIONALISTS TARGET STATE COMMUNIST PARTY CHIEF IN

UNCLAS CHENNAI 000104

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM PINR IN
SUBJECT: HINDU NATIONALISTS TARGET STATE COMMUNIST PARTY CHIEF IN
BANGALORE

REF: A) NEW DELHI 795, B) CHENNAI 30


1. (SBU) Summary: A group of Hindu nationalists reportedly
ransacked the home of the communist party chief in the South India
state of Karnataka's on March 9. The attack was likely inspired by
violence against Hindu nationalists by communists in the neighboring
state of Kerala several days earlier. Police have made no arrests
in the case, and the media has speculated that they may be fearful
of political reprisals if the BJP gains power in upcoming state
elections. Police also fear that the incident may incite
retaliatory attacks. This type of attack against a communist target
is a new phenomenon in Karnataka, and it is likely a crude signal to
communist thugs in neighboring Kerala to cool their violence against
Hindu nationalists there. End summary.

RSS goons terrorize woman, ransack house
--------------


2. (U) Local media reported that a group of masked men from the
Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
barged into the Bangalore residence of VJK Nair, the Secretary for
the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) in Karnataka at
approximately 10 pm on March 9. Nair was not home, but the group
ransacked the house and reportedly "manhandled" Nair's wife, who
suffered minor injuries. She stated that the attackers held a knife
to her throat during the rampage and demanded to know where her
husband was (he was reportedly in Kerala). She claimed that there
were six attackers, but the police have discovered at least 10 sets
of unidentified fingerprints at the scene.

Whodunnit, and why?
--------------


3. (SBU) Assaults by CPM cadres on RSS-associated workers in the
neighboring state of Kerala several days earlier were likely the
proximate cause of the Bangalore attack. (CPM versus RSS violence
also took place in Delhi a few hours earlier on March 9, see ref A.)
Nair's wife reportedly told the police that the attackers spoke a
Malayalam dialect common in the northern part of neighboring Kerala.
Our police contacts in Bangalore speculate, however, that the
attackers may have come to the city from Karnataka's Kodagu district
to participate in the planning of a series of BJP-organized rallies,
the "Raj Bhavan Chalo" (roughly "let's go to the governor's palace"
in Hindi). The BJP expects this series of marches to be "huge," and
Gujarat's Chief Minister and the BJP's national General Secretary,
Narendra Modi, spoke to large crowds in Bangalore on March 16 and
Hubli on March 17 as part of the "Chalo." A Karnataka BJP official
told us that their state party's leadership recruited him
specifically to generate as much enthusiasm as possible among the
party's cadres.


4. (U) The BJP is organizing these events to pressure the state's
governor to call for new elections. (Note: Karnataka has been
administered by an appointed governor since November, when the
state's elected representatives proved unable to form a viable
government coalition. New elections need to be held by the end of
May, unless the national government decides to extend "President's
Rule" for another six months, see ref B. Leaders from all three of
the state's main parties -- Congress, BJP, and JD(S) -- have told us
in recent weeks that they expect their parties to receive enough
votes to lead the state's next government. End note.)

Police nervous about reprisals, but no arrests yet
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5. (SBU) The attack has caused unease among police in Bangalore.
One senior police official told us that political violence is a new
phenomenon for the city and that he feared a round of tit-for-tat
attacks. Another senior police official said he feared that a
retaliatory attack on a Bangalore-based BJP leader could spark
serious rioting. He pointed out, however, that the communists in
Karnataka tend to be strongest in the city of Bangalore, where there
are large numbers of public sector employees. In contrast, he
explained, the RSS and its affiliates (including the BJP) tend to
have more support in the state's more rural districts.


6. (SBU) There have been no reports of arrests related to the
attack, much to the consternation of CPM officials. The media has
speculated that police officials are likely hesitant to pursue
vigorously the alleged RSS-associated assailants in this case.
These sources note that any police official who pushes too hard to
find the perpetrators may well incur the wrath of a BJP-led
government, should one come to power in elections anticipated to
occur within months. Some media outlets even allege that the police
are refusing to pursue the suspects because they are aligning
themselves with RSS-affiliated groups.

Comment
--------------


7. (SBU) While political violence is not unknown in Karnataka, it
generally takes place between relatively unorganized ethnic or
religious groups. An organized attack by a mainstream political
group with ties to people in power is a new phenomenon in the state,
and the police seem unsure how to respond. Although some police
officers probably have sympathy for RSS ideology, there is no
evidence yet suggesting that such elements are in charge. If police
officials are showing hesitancy about pursuing the alleged RSS
perpetrators, it may well be because they sense the direction the
political wind is blowing in the state and believe that the BJP may
prevail in the upcoming elections.