US embassy cable - 05NEWDELHI6310

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 006310 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, KJUS, KIRF, IN, Human Rights 
SUBJECT: MANMOHAN SINGH A TRUE STATESMAN IN REACTING TO 
SIKH RIOT REPORT 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary: Doing what no Indian leader in 20 years 
has been willing to do, Manmohan Singh apologized to the 
nation for government inaction during the 1984 anti-Sikh 
riots.  The apology preempted BJP efforts to capitalize on 
the report, which named two high-profile Congress leaders as 
conspirators in the riots.  Congress forced resignation of a 
government minister implicated in the report blunted BJP and 
Left party criticism and raised the question of whether 
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will be forced to step 
down if he is indicted by a similar report investigating the 
Gujarat riots.  The belated acknowledgment of Government 
complicity in the 1984 riots has exposed raw nerves in the 
Sikh community, but will not lead to a return to separatist 
violence.  The PM's singular act of political courage stands 
in exquisite contrast to the opportunism and hatred directed 
by senior GOI officials against Sikhs in 1984.  The PM's act 
of statesmanship will raise his already strong reputation as 
a representative of the nation's highest Gandhian ideals. 
End Summary. 
 
PM Singh Does the Impossible: Apologizes 
---------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (U) "I have no hesitation in apologizing to the Sikh 
community.  I apologize not only to the Sikh community, but 
to the whole Indian nation because what took place in 1984 is 
the negation of the concept of nationhood enshrined in our 
Constitution."  With those words, PM Singh -- himself a Sikh 
-- did what no other Indian leader has been capable of: 
apologizing for the government's involvement in 1984 riots 
following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by one of her 
Sikh bodyguards, which left thousands of Sikhs dead due to 
pogroms directed by Congress party office bearers. 
 
The Nanavati Report Doles out Blame 
----------------------------------- 
 
3.  (U) The Nanavati Commission Report, commissioned by the 
BJP government in 2000, was released to the public on August 
8 and found the Congress government in power at the time of 
the riots responsible for not just allowing them to happen, 
but actively organizing the pogroms.  The report also faulted 
the police for inaction during the riots and a failure to 
register cases in the months following the carnage.  Minister 
for NRI Affairs Jagdish Tytler and Congress MP and Chairman 
of the Delhi Rural Development Board Sajjan Kumar, both MP's 
from Delhi at the time, were specifically identified as 
conspirators in the violence. 
 
PM's Contrition Deflates BJP 
---------------------------- 
 
4.  (U) The speed with which Congress forced two of the 
party's senior leaders to step down and released an apology 
to the nation preempted BJP and Left Party criticism, leaving 
the opposition with little ammunition with which to attack 
the UPA.  The Press quoted a senior BJP MP as saying, "The 
government has not only blunted the edge of our campaign, it 
has put a lid on it."  Our interlocutors affirmed that the 
widespread positive reaction to the PM's statement makes it 
unlikely the opposition could capitalize on the release of 
the report for political gain. 
 
Should Modi Be Worried? 
----------------------- 
 
5.  (U) The swift action of the Congress leadership in 
sacrificing Tytler and Sajjan Kumar has raised questions 
about the fate of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi if a 
similar commission investigating the 2002 Gujarat riots finds 
his government at fault.  A BJP MP expressed concern in the 
press that his own party's strict demand for Tytler's removal 
has left the BJP with little room to maneuver if the 
Nanavati-Shah Report finds Modi or his administration 
complicit in the riots.  The BJP is also worried how the PM's 
courageous act could play out in the upcoming elections in 
Bihar.  Laloo Prasad, a Congress ally and power broker in 
Bihar, could use Tytler's resignation to stress that, unlike 
Congress, the BJP is unprepared to touch its leaders who were 
involved in communal violence.  Nitish Kumar, who is running 
against Laloo for Chief Minister in Bihar on a ticket shared 
by the BJP, may be forced as a result to call for action 
against Modi.  Such intra-party controversies could be 
damaging to a BJP already in turmoil.  However, our 
interlocutors have argued that the BJP is in such disarray, 
that the central decision makers do not have the power to 
force Modi to step down, and therefore he will remain at the 
helm of Gujarat. (Note: The Nanavati-Shah Report was 
commissioned in 2003 and has yet to be released. End Note.) 
 
The Horror Returns in Nightmares 
-------------------------------- 
 
6.  (SBU) The August 8 release of the report dredged up old 
nightmares among Sikhs who have always accused the Congress 
of covering up party leaders' incitement to murder Sikhs. 
Sikh contacts who lived through the turmoil in New Delhi 
affirmed that the mobs who targeted Sikh houses within mixed 
neighborhoods were clearly guided by electoral rolls or other 
government-supplied lists.  One contact recounted to us his 
experience in Chandni Chowk district of Old Delhi, where the 
Sikh District Police Chief, who had effectively deployed his 
forces to suppress violence during the first day of rioting, 
was summarily relieved of command at 6:00 am the following 
morning.  District police forces were then told to stand 
down, and the district erupted in arson of Sikh homes. 
Despite the widespread conviction that senior Congress 
leaders (including some currently in government) participated 
in the riots, our interlocutors believe that the wounds, 
while deep, are too old to provoke a return to violence and 
that a majority of Sikhs would appreciate the belated apology 
from the party they see as responsible. 
 
Comment: Once Again a Statesman 
------------------------------- 
 
7.  (SBU) Prime Minister Singh has yet again shown that he is 
willing to place what is right for the country over political 
considerations.  Recently, he defied the left-leaning 
elements of the UPA government by concluding a sweeping 
US-India joint statement.  Now he has and apologized for one 
of the saddest and darkest moments in recent Indian history. 
In doing so, he opened himself to political attacks from all 
sides.  The PM apology and forced resignation of a minister 
with long ties to the Gandhi family has surprised Indians who 
only expected the worst of their politicians.  The PM's 
singular act of political courage will be long-remembered as 
a momentous -- almost Gandhian -- moment of moral clarity in 
India's long march to religious harmony. 
BLAKE