CONGRESS CONSIDERING BANNING HINDU FUNDAMENTALIST BAJRANG

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000330

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC PINR KIRF SOCI IN
SUBJECT: CONGRESS CONSIDERING BANNING HINDU FUNDAMENTALIST BAJRANG
DAL

REF: A) CHENNAI 326 B) NEW DELHI 2513


1. (SBU) Summary: A prominent Catholic voice in the Congress party
came away from a recent meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi
and Indian National Security Advisor MK Narayanan feeling that India
will probably ban the militant Hindu group Bajrang Dal as a result
of the violence in Orissa and Karnataka. He believes the government
will also take unspecified actions against Pentecostal churches that
have allegedly engaged in forcible conversions and the distribution
of inflammatory anti-Hindu literature. The contact refused to blame
Karnataka's ruling BJP for the violence in that state and described
the central government's unpublicized efforts to protect Christians
in Orissa. End summary.


2. (SBU) In a September 25 meeting, K.V. Thomas discussed Congress
party thinking on the recent religious violence in Orissa and
Karnataka. Thomas, currently a member of the Kerala state
legislative assembly who previously served as a member of the Indian
parliament, is a prominent Catholic voice in the Congress party.
Thomas told post that he met with Congress party President Sonia
Gandhi and Indian National Security Advisor MK Narayanan during the
week of September 15 - September 19 to discuss events in Orissa and
Karnataka.

Government to ban Bajrang Dal?
--------------


3. (SBU) Thomas said that, based on his discussions with Gandhi and
Narayanan, he believes the Indian government will probably ban the
militant Hindu group Bajrang Dal, which admitted to attacking
churches in and around Mangalore on September 14 (ref B). He said a
Bajrang Dal ban could be based on the fact that the group is
"terrorist" and "anti-national." But he added that Narayanan told
him that "forced" conversions and anti-Hindu literature distributed
by Pentecostal churches "are a big problem" that help fuel
anti-Christian violence. Thomas said that the government will also
have to take some sort of action against Pentecostal churches if it
decides to ban Bajrang Dal. He acknowledged that it is not possible
to enact an outright ban on the Pentecostal churches, but said the
government will have to take some sort of action against them to
curb their provocative activities.

Don't politicize by blaming BJP
--------------


4. (SBU) Thomas resisted blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
for the recent violence in Karnataka. Echoing what we heard from
Mangalore Catholics (ref B),Thomas said that "forced" conversions
and distribution of inflammatory literature by the new Pentecostal
churches in India has harmed the Christian community's previously
harmonious relations with the Hindu majority. When asked whether
the BJP government bore any responsibility for anemic police
response to the church attacks, as well as for the violent quelling
of Catholic protests in Mangalore on September 15 (ref B),Thomas
said the police response was "understandable." "The police are 99%
Hindu and their feelings were hurt" by the Pentecostals, he said.
He said one should not "politicize the issue" by blaming BJP.

Under-the-radar efforts to protect Orissa Christians
--------------


5. (SBU) Thomas explained that with parliamentary elections close
at hand Congress had to carefully measure its response to the
outbreak of violence. Many of the government's efforts to protect
Christians are done in a deliberately low-profile manner according
to Thomas. For example, he said, the government quietly sent to
Orissa Central Reserve Police Force (CPRF) units from areas with a
substantial Christian population. Thomas said that these units have
a larger proportion of Christians serving in them, which would help
counterbalance Orissa's largely Hindu local police forces.

Situation under control, but expect continued problems
--------------


6. (SBU) Thomas told post that he believes the situations in Orissa
and Karnataka are both largely under control. He told us that Sonia
Gandhi and MK Narayanan asked him to help open a dialogue between
Christians and Hindus, which he said he has already begun to do.
Despite these efforts, he expects "low-level" problems to continue
until after the upcoming Indian elections because of the atmosphere
of heightened tension surrounding the elections.

Comment: Election year means cautious Congress; mainstream Indian
society suspicious of Pentecostals
--------------


CHENNAI 00000330 002 OF 002



7. (SBU) Comment: With an election around the corner, Congress is
balancing the need to preserve law and order and protect minorities
with its desire to avoid handing the BJP another opportunity to
claim that Congress coddles minorities at the expense of the Hindu
majority. Banning Bajrang Dal would signal that Congress is willing
to risk losing votes from the Hindu right in hopes of consolidating
minority Christian and Muslim votes. To ameliorate the impact on
the Hindu vote, the party may pair its possible ban on Bajrang Dal
with some sort of action against the Pentecostal churches. But
there is something beyond politics at play in MK Narayanan and K.V.
Thomas's easy acceptance of the argument that there is a moral
equivalence between the thuggish Bajrang Dal and the followers of
the New Life church. That an intelligence professional and a
Catholic politician both feel this way shows mainstream society's
deep-seated suspicions about the new Christian players -- especially
the Pentecostal churches -- on the Indian scene. End comment.

SIMKIN