SHIV SENA-BJP TRY TO STOKE COMMUNAL VIOLENCE AHEAD OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUMBAI 000369 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF IN SUBJECT: SHIV SENA-BJP TRY TO STOKE COMMUNAL VIOLENCE AHEAD OF MAHARASHTRA ELECTIONS REF: A. MUMBAI 170 ¶B. MUMBAI 130 ¶C. MUMBAI 364 ¶D. 2008 MUMBAI 234 MUMBAI 00000369 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The three major cities of Sangli, Miraj and Kolhapur in southern Maharashtra experienced Hindu Muslim communal violence for six days in early September during the final phases of the Hindu festival of Ganpati. Sangli and Miraj remained under curfew for most of these six days. Though the state Congress Party-led coalition government stepped in quickly to quell the violence, one person was killed on September 7. The politically motivated violence was stoked by opportunistic elements of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena opposition coalition who are trying to polarize voters before the upcoming state elections in October. End summary. ¶2. (U) Beginning on September 3, Hindu activists provoked a number of Hindu-Muslim clashes in several large cities in southern Maharashtra. The communal violence started in Miraj on September 3, Anant Chaturdashi day, which is the final day of the Hindu festival of Ganpati, when the Ganesha idols are immersed in water. During the idol procession, the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena political party raised an arch depicting the fabled murder of Mughal warrior Afzul Khan by Maharashtrian Hindu hero Chatrapati Shivaji along the route. This provocation led to a violent clash between Hindu and Muslim groups which continued over the weekend, resulting in the death of one person in Kolhapur on September 7. The electronic media did not show inflammatory video footage of the riots, as had been the case with past incidents. However, individuals posted YouTube videos of street battles between police and Hindu activists, and between Hindu and Muslim activists, helping the violence to spread to surrounding villages. Police imposed a curfew in the cities of Sangli, Miraj and Ichalkaranji from September 3 to the afternoon of September 8. There were reported incidents of stone-throwing and arson; the police arrested over 150 activists, and closed markets and public transportation. ¶3. (U) On September 7, on the orders of the Congress/Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) coalition government in Maharashtra, Mumbai police prevented Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists and the party's national vice president, Gopinath Munde, from boarding a flight to Kolhapur in the belief that his presence there would incite further violence. (Note: The Shiv Sena and the BJP are in a long-standing electoral alliance in the state. End note.) The police forcibly turned back BJP activists who were trying to enter the departure terminal, and confiscated Munde's boarding pass. Several BJP leaders tried to reach Sangli by road, but Maharashtra police successfully stopped them at Pune, 100 miles south of Mumbai. ¶4. (U) On September 9, after a meeting involving the heads of all the major political parties in Mumbai, the curfew was relaxed in Sangli-Miraj for a few hours. The Ganesha festival organizers agreed to immerse the idols that they had kept back to protest arrest of Hindu rioters, and the Government too relented by releasing most of the detainees. Most electronic media reported that there were no clashes on September 9. ¶5. (SBU) Sangli is the home district of three important regional Congress and NCP leaders. Current home minister Jayant Patil of the Congress, former home minister R.R. Patil of the NCP and chief minister aspirant Patangrao Kadam of the Congress all hail from the district. Jayant Patil, who was visiting his constituency for the Ganesha festival, remained on site for five days. The Maharashtra chief of police himself rushed down from Mumbai and ensured that a major communal conflagration did not erupt. Home minister Jayant Patil and Dalit leader Ramdas Athavale went on record to accuse local Hindu organizations of deliberately using a well-known incident from Shivaji's life to offend Muslims. Though Shivaji is a symbol used more by the Shiv Sena than the BJP, the BJP, as the weaker and hungrier coalition partner, was quicker off the mark in trying to make political capital. Strong action by Maharashtrian government prevented the violence from spreading. MUMBAI 00000369 002.2 OF 002 Comment: Enter Shivaji, the Dark Horse Candidate -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The Shiv Sena and the BJP are at the beginning of their campaign for the state assembly in Maharashtra, one that will likely be highly competitive. Shivaji, the 17th century Maharashtrian warrior king, is a rich symbolic figure across the political spectrum in the state: the BJP-Sena coalition invokes him for his supposed pro-Hindu leanings, the Congress-NCP for his Maratha caste identity. In recent years, all of Maharashtra's political parties have done their part to honor his legacy for electoral mileage - the BJP-Shiv Sena government named a major train station and Mumbai airport after him, and the current Congress-NCP government plans to build a 300 foot statue of him astride his horse off Mumbai's coast, at the cost of USD 70 million. ¶7. (SBU) Maharashtra has long seen minor Hindu-Muslim skirmishes surrounding the end of the 10 day Ganesha festival. With the latest violent events occurring in southern Maharashtra (traditionally a Congress-NCP bastion),it is clear that the Shiv Sena and BJP are trying to divide the Hindu and Muslim communities, thereby giving the Hindu nationalist parties a better chance during the upcoming state elections. If the Sena and BJP manage to polarize Hindu voters in these districts - comprising 30 of the 288 state parliament seats - they will likely improve their chances in this hotly-contested state election. End Comment. FOLMSBEE