DELHI DIARY, FEB 29 - MARCH 7

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000724 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM PBTS PINR MCAP CH BT IN SUBJECT: DELHI DIARY, FEB 29 - MARCH 7 ¶1. (U) Below is a compilation of political highlights from Embassy New Delhi for February 29 - March 7, 2008 that did not feature in our other reporting: -- Congress's Muslim Problem -- Stalking Tiger, Encroaching Dragon -- Homecoming after 35 Years in a Pakistani Prison Cell Congress's Muslim Problem -------------- ¶1. (U) The recent declaration that terrorism is un-Islamic by the Darul Uloom madrassa in Deoband also questioned the secular nature of the current United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. While pledging their loyalty to "the dear motherland" the clerics also declared that there remains a "big question mark on the secular character of the government," because of the "biased and discriminatory attitudes of the government against the Muslim community." Historically, Muslims comprised one of the Congress Party's solid vote banks, but in recent years, the party has been losing Muslim voters to regional parties such as the Samajwadi party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The newspaper Daily News and Analysis reports that in a demonstrative effort to reach out to the Muslim community, the Congress Party is hoping to arrange a meeting between party president Sonia Gandhi and the leader of Deoband's political wing, Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind General Secretary Maulana Mahmood Madani. ¶2. (SBU) Comment: While post has no corroboration of the possible meeting, the Congress Party's eroding Muslim vote bank is no mystery. As the party gears up for the coming federal elections, the prospect of a tie-up with the SP or BSP looks all the more likely. Based on party make-up an alliance with the SP would seem more logical since the Congress and the BSP share similar Brahmin-Dalit-Muslim vote banks. On the flipside, an Embacsy contact who edits a news magazine, downplayed the idea of a Congress-SP coalition to Poloff and said he believes Congress and BSP Chief Mayawati have reached a tacit accommodation. Ironically it is the BSP, which has already played spoiler to Congress in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, that the Congress Party should fear the most. With elections roughly a year away, the political counting of Muslim votes will continue. End Comment Stalking Tiger, Encroaching Dragon -------------- ¶3. (SBU) In a public statement to Parliament on March 2, Indian Foreign Minister Mukherjee reminded the world that the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh indisputably remains Indian territory, despite Chinese claims to the contrary. This follows Mukherjee's February 27 written reply to questions from Parliament in which he observed that China illegally claims 90,000 square kilometers of Indian territory. During the February parliamentary session Defense Minister Antony confirmed that the Indian army has withdrawn 6,000 troops from Jammu and Kashmir and moved them to the Chinese border near the tri-junction with Bhutan. This troop movement reportedly took place between November 2007 and January 2008, according to analysts and news reports. In November 2007 Chinese forces reportedly entered Bhutan near the Indian border and demolished several unmanned Indian army outposts, a move which greatly alarmed the Indian public and forced the Indian government to issue a statement downplaying the incident. ¶4. (SBU) News media here breathlessly repeat that the Chinese government has invested significant manpower and resources to build roads and railway lines stretching up to and along its southern borders with India, Nepal and Bhutan throughout the past few years and has sent its military to patrol the narrow salient where its border touches those of Bhutan and India. India has responded by announcing NEW DELHI 00000724 002 OF 002 infrastructure development plans along the border, including a 608km road network along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), as well as the overall 7,603km Special Accelerate Road Development Program for the entire North East. Indian media reported February 7 that the GOI's Cabinet Committee on Security has authorized resources for the Indian Army to begin raising two new mountain divisions specifically for duty in the mountains of the North and North East. Alleged Chinese incursions into Bhutan are close to India's "chicken neck" - the vulnerable Siliguri Corridor, a thin sliver of land squeezed between Bangladesh and Bhutan, linking mainland India to its far northeastern states. (COMMENT: India's confirmed movement of more than a brigade of troops away from critically strategic Kashmir to the Chinese border demonstrates how serious Delhi is taking Chinese incursions near the LAC. Delhi has decided it needs to show some teeth to keep the Dragon at bay, and its actions reinforce how this is a hot-button issue for most Indians -- and Indian voters, END COMMENT. Homecoming after 35 Years in a Pakistani Prison Cell -------------- ¶5. (U) Indian citizen Kashmir Singh was released from a Pakistani prison on February 28, after having served 35 years in a Lahore prison following a death sentence for spying. He was arrested in Rawalpindi in 1973 and subsequently charged in a military court. A former policeman and a trader in electronic goods, Singh spent 23 hours a day in a condemned prisoner's cell for most of his incarceration. Singh's case was championed by Ansar Burney, the caretaker Human Rights Minister for the Government of Pakistan. He persuaded President Musharraf to revoke his death sentence and facilitated his release. ¶6. (U) On March 4, Singh crossed the Pakistani-Indian border at Wagah. Punjab government officials provided a high-profile welcome upon his arrival. After a brief questioning by intelligence officers, Singh was reunited with his family and returned to his home near Hoshiarpur, Punjab, where he was greeted warmly by large crowds from the surrounding villages. ¶7. (SBU) Comment: The conditions in which Singh lived have been described in the Indian media as "Hell on Earth". Kashmir Singh is only one of many prisoners held by either side on spying and other charges. Yet, it establishes a precedent for the two governments to begin reviewing these cases with a fresh eye. Pakistan Human Rights Minister Burney gave full credit for the humanitarian gesture to President Musharraf. Some commentators in India saw this as a signal of Pakistan's reaching out to India to improve the bilateral environment. One newspaper, however, could not resist a mischievous headline: "Pakistan returns Kashmir to India." End Comment. MULFORD