ENGAGING WITH THE KARNATAKA GOVERNMENT ON RELIGIOUS

UNCLAS CHENNAI 000289

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF PINR IN
SUBJECT: ENGAGING WITH THE KARNATAKA GOVERNMENT ON RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM

REF: A) CHENNAI 213, B) CHENNAI 25, C) 08 CHENNAI 350


1. (SBU) The Consul General (CG) met with Karnataka's Chief Minister
and Governor separately on August 31. Chief Minister Yediyurappa
spent most of the meeting reiterating his state's plea for a U.S.
Consulate in Bangalore. He also sought the CG's support for an
"investor's summit" that will be held in Bangalore in December and
noted that Yediyurappa plans to lead a trade delegation to the
United States in October. In the wake of the July Muslim-Hindu
riots in Mysore (ref A) and other anti-minority episodes in the
state over the past 12 months (refs B, C),the CG took the
opportunity to remind Yediyurappa of the importance of ensuring
religious freedom for all faiths in Karnataka, noting that the
Consulate would be participating in an Iftaar event in Bangalore
later in September, as we had done last year, and that the USG seeks
to promote freedom of religious expression. The CG also noted that
incidents of violence in Karnataka late last year, followed by the
terror attacks in Mumbai, had made a deep impression in the minds of
potential foreign investors.


2. (SBU) Governor Hans Raj Bharadwaj, who took office in July, told
the CG that upholding the rights of minorities enshrined in the
Indian constitution was his "first responsibility." A former Union
Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, senior advocate in the
Indian Supreme Court, and a highly regarded legal expert, he also
told the CG that he was sent to Karnataka with a specific mandate to
pay close attention to the rights of minorities in Karnataka. He
said that he threatened privately to dismiss Yediyurappa's
government (the first BJP-led government in South India) if the
state government failed to uphold India's constitutional protections
for religious minorities. He also indicated that he had impressed
on civil servants the importance of carrying out their duties
properly (an apparent reference to instances of perceived police
bias against Christian and Muslim victims of violence).


3. (SBU) Only days after his meeting with the CG, local media
reported Bharadwaj as commenting critically in public on the
Government of Karnataka's record on protecting minorities. S.
Suresh Kumar, the state's Minister for Law and Parliamentary
Affairs, sharply criticized the Governor in a public letter,
disputing Bharadwaj's assertions and noting that, "except for a few
mischief-makers," there is no law-and-order problem in the state
that merited the Governor's public comments.


4. (SBU) Comment: State governors in India tend to do little more
than perform ceremonial functions and symbolic roles, generally
preferring to stay out of the political limelight as much as
possible. The previous governor of Karnataka gave the impression in
person of being afraid even to discuss religious freedom.
Bharadwaj, however, seems cut from entirely different cloth, and his
remarks about his commitment to work actively to protect minority
rights in Karnataka were forceful and unambiguous. He has multiple
other interests, including a legal training center in his home state
of Haryana, a family law firm in New Delhi, and deep involvement in
Alternative Dispute Resolution programs. It was clear from the
conversation that he was in the governor's job not for the
ceremonial glory or easy living, but because he was sent for a
specific purpose by the central government. His character and
background make him a credible counterweight to any temptation of
the state government to give free rein to religious extremists.

SIMKIN