DEADLY HINDU-MUSLIM RIOTS HIT MYSORE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000213

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF PINR IN
SUBJECT: DEADLY HINDU-MUSLIM RIOTS HIT MYSORE


1. (SBU) Summary: Clashes between Hindus and Muslims in the town of
Mysore (in the state of Karnataka, 150 km west of Bangalore) left
three dead on July 2. The immediate cause of the riots was the
discovery of two pig heads in a building housing a mosque and
madrassa (a type of Islamic school). The building, located in a
largely Hindu part of town and formerly a school, has been at the
center of a local land dispute for more than a year. The police
restored order fairly quickly, raiding homes of known Muslim and
Hindu extremists and seizing a hoard of bladed and blunt-edged
weapons. End Summary.

Pig heads in Muslim complex spark clashes
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2. (U) Clashes broke out between Muslims and Hindus in the
Gayathripuram area of Mysore (150 km west of Bangalore) on July 2
following the discovery of two pig heads in a building that houses a
mosque and a madrassa. Muslim rioters allegedly stabbed to death a
migrant Hindu construction worker on his way to work. Hindu rioters
then allegedly stabbed fatally two Muslims (one a 14-year-old boy)
in retaliation. The rioters damaged multiple buildings and places
of business, according to press reports.


3. (SBU) Some violence continued on July 3, which may or may not
have been directly related to the events on July 2. The head of the
Mysore district's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, a Hindu-oriented
national party) youth wing was beaten and stabbed outside of his
home, as was a Muslim acquaintence (both remain hospitalized). A
state-level police official involved in the response to the riots
told us, however, that the attack may have been the result of a
business or personal dispute, as the BJP leader was known to be
active in money-lending and organizing small-time gambling
operations. He also told us that police began raiding the homes of
known Hindu and Muslim extremists on July 3 to seize weapons and
head off further violence. He said that police seized "a half-ton"
of swords, daggers, iron rods, and other weapons in the raids. He
also told us that the local police managed the initial outbreak of
violence poorly, allowing things to escalate.


4. (SBU) A local reporter for one of India's main national dailies
told us that the police had withdrawn on June 30 a temporary police
station in the area set up in April to control possible violence in
the run-up to the national elections. (No violence was reported in
the area during that time, but the area is known for tensions
between the Muslim and Hindu communities.) The state police officer
told us that extremists from both communities purposefully took
advantage of the withdrawal to launch the rioting.

Whodunnit?
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5. (U) It is not yet clear who desecrated the mosque/madrassa, but
initial suspicions are falling on a local Hindu extremist group, the
Hindar Jagran Vedike (HJV),known for its provocations. Following
the attack on the BJP youth wing leader, the HJV called for a
general strike ("bandh") on July 4. Press reports of the strike
stated that it closed businesses and disrupted transportation in
commercial and residential areas throughout the city.

Land dispute, politics at the heart of the matter
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6. (U) The roots of the problem appear to extend back to the
December 2008 decision of an Islamic trust to convert the building
it owned in the mainly Hindu area from a general private school
(open to members of all faiths) into a mosque/madrassa complex,
according to a former editor of a local newspaper. A local
politician, recently defected from the Congress Party to the
Hindu-oriented Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),objected to this
decision and filed legal action to prevent it, obtaining a stay
order from a local court. The court eventually removed the stay
order in April 2009, at approximately the same time as the police
established the temporary police station in the area.


7. (U) A different journalist told us that elections for the Mysore
City Council set to occur in the next six months also played a role
in increasing local tensions, as the Congress Party and the BJP vie
for local supremacy. He explained that the BJP is trying to woo the
votes of Dalits (formerly known as "untouchables" in the Hindu
social order and hitherto part of Congress's vote base in the area)
by pitting them against Muslims, who generally share a similarly low

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economic status. The BJP, he said, is offering Dalits posts in
various party committees, and Hindu extremist groups are looking to
whip up anti-Muslim sentiment.

Comment
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8. (SBU) With local elections in the area on the horizon, many
observers are expecting more violence in the coming months. The
head of the Congress Party in Karnataka hails from Mysore, making it
a tempting target for the BJP to take, and raising the stakes for
Congress to keep the city in Congress's fold (it elected a Congress
Party candidate in the recent parliamentary elections, despite the
BJP winning the lion's share of seats in Karnataka). Congress will
have its hands full trying to keep its voting base together.

SIMKIN