US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO916

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000916 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, ASEC, KIRF, PTER, PHUM, CASC, CE, LTTE - Peace Process, Political Parties, Religious Freedom 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA:  STATUE STIRS STRIKE, VIOLENCE IN 
TRINCOMALEE 
 
REF: A. COLOMBO 870 
 
     B. COLOMBO 786 
     C. COLOMBO 472 
 
Classified By: DCM JAMES F. ENTWISTLE.  REASON:  1.4 (B,D). 
 
1.  (U) One person was killed and five injured in scattered 
grenade attacks in the eastern district of Trincomalee on May 
17 during a two-day strike, or "hartal," to protest the 
erection of a large Buddha statue on government-owned land. 
The Embassy has received no reports of U.S. citizens hurt or 
stranded in the strike.  The hartal, called by the 
Trincomalee District People's Forum--widely believed to be a 
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) front--closed down 
most shops, businesses and vehicular traffic in the 
ethnically diverse city May 17 and 18.  Some Sinhalese shop 
owners remained open in defiance of the strike; the lone 
fatality was a Sinhalese produce vendor, open for business, 
who was killed by a grenade.  A 6:00 p.m.- 6:00 a.m. curfew 
was in effect May 17-18.  As of late afternoon May 18, no 
decision had been announced whether the curfew would be 
extended for a second night. 
 
2.  (SBU)  The Buddha statue materialized "in the dead of the 
night," according to a local resident, on May 16 near the 
clock tower in the city center.  The Sinhalese nationalist 
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) told us on May 18 that a 
JVP-affiliated union of trishaw drivers (who congregate near 
the clock tower) was responsible for erecting the statue. 
Local Buddhist monks reportedly told police authorities, who 
were urging removal of the statue, that while they had not 
supported its erection, they would not take it down.  The 
case was referred to a local court, and on May 18--with 
uncharacteristic swiftness--the magistrate directed both 
sides to reach an amicable settlement and report back to him 
on May 26.  According to Deputy Inspector General of Police 
Neville Wijesinghe, the statue is remaining where it 
is--guarded by police--for the time being.  Wijesinghe added 
that a large crowd of Sinhalese and Buddhist monks had 
gathered near the clock tower earlier in the day May 18, 
anticipating the removal of the statue, but had since 
dispersed.  There were unconfirmed reports of several 
explosions following the announcement of the judgment. 
 
3.  (C) Comment:  Trincomalee has a long history of ethnic 
volatility (Reftels); throwing religion into the mix can only 
aggravate tensions.  Although the situation was relatively 
calmer at COB May 18 than the previous day, the May 19 
funeral of the Sinhalese victim of the grenade attack could 
prove another flashpoint for renewed violence.  With the JVP 
backing the statue placers and the LTTE inciting the statue 
protesters, this issue is about much more than religion.  JVP 
encroachments on government-owned land have touched off 
violent protests in Trincomalee before (Ref C).  Putting up a 
Buddha statue on public property in the middle of a city that 
is equal parts Tamil, Sinhalese and Muslim can only be 
interpreted as intentionally provocative.  The JVP's 
appropriation of Buddhist symbols is a recent phenomenon--JVP 
insurgents in the late 1980s did not espouse any religion and 
many Buddhist monks were victims of JVP violence--but one 
that suits the party's reinvention of itself as the guardians 
of Sinhalese nationalism.  The JVP's cynical manipulation of 
religious sympathies will do little to advance the peace 
process or embellish the image of Buddhism in this country, 
but neither the government nor the Buddhist leadership is 
likely to speak out on this sensitive and highly emotional 
issue.  Unfortunately, their silence only cedes the field to 
more extreme voices, thereby increasing the chances for 
continued confrontation. 
 
 
LUNSTEAD