How India helps Israel suppress pro-Palestinian voices
Indian supreme Court upholds abrogation of Article 370.
As the war on Palestinians in Gaza intensifies, the Israeli PR machine continues to work with its allies, like India, to both suppress the truth as well as intimidate and suffocate those who challenge its lies.
So, let’s talk about India.
The Indian government has made it clear from the get-go that it is behind the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza.
Not only was New Delhi among the first to condemn Hamas for October 7th, it took more than two months and close to 20,000 murdered Palestinians to get behind a global call for a ceasefire.
Narendra Modi’s ringing endorsement of Israel’s devastating bombing campaign in Gaza (under the rubric of “fighting terror”) has activated an entire ecosystem of disinformation, hate and intimidation both online and off, forcing many Indians to maintain a distance from publicly calling out Israel.
And much of this has revolved around three tactics:
First, Suppressing public support for Palestine.
To be clear - the Indian government has not explicitly banned protests - but activists in India say it has done just enough to discourage it.
Those who have tried to hold rallies in the capital New Delhi - were assaulted by police - placed on buses - and dumped outside the city.
Others who have protested were booked by authorities for “disturbing communal harmony”.
In Mumbai, the commercial center - more than a dozen Muslims were arrested for simply taking part in a vigil - that commemorated the fallen in Gaza.
Then there have been refusals by the police to grant permits to stage protests in Kolkata, Bengaluru and New Delhi (thought protests have taken place in Kolkata & Delhi).
So again - not banned - but Indian “democracy” doesn’t allow it either.
But note that in places like Indian-occupied Kashmir, also known as the world's most militarized zone, where Kashmiris have long demonstrated support for Palestinians and where India has is now replicating Israeli tactics in the region - protests have been explicitly banned.
The level of suppression has gotten so bad that Imams in different parts of the country including in occupied Kashmir aren’t allowed to raise Palestine in mosques.
Like other authoritarian regimes, the Indian government knows that allowing protests for Palestine could energize larger dissatisfaction and dissent against Modi’s rule.
In fact, the only place that has managed to hold large rallies has been the state of Kerala owing to the states history and it being run by a coalition of opposition parties.
The second tactic the Indian govt had exercised has been an attempt to control the narrative and police free speech especially at universities.
Of course universities are critical during times like these and authorities have implemented a massive crackdown on all activities related to Palestine.
Not only have public lectures been canceled - but in cases where events like film screenings about the Israeli occupation have gone ahead – organizers have been subsequently smeared as “terror sympathizers”.
And here, Israeli diplomats have personally interfered with free speech at the universities.
Following the lecture at OP Jindal University by an esteemed Indian intellectual Achin Vnaik - the Israeli ambassador to Delhi wrote to the vice chancellor to complain and ask for an apology for hosting the lecture.
As a result, Vnaik’s next lecture at a different university was canceled.
The Israeli ambassador has also attacked Frontline Magazine for its reportage on Gaza.
Several hundred Indian scholars have since written a letter calling for an end to Israeli interference in Indian academia.
And finally, the third tactic: Islamophobia.
Indian authorities have been using the Israeli war on Palestinians as a way to energize hate against Muslims around the country.
Hindu nationalists have long claimed that India is fighting the same war against so called Islamic fundamentalists.
So when Hamas fighters launched their attack on October 7 from besieged Gaza, Hindu nationalists described the war against the Palestinians as their war, too.
This explains why hundreds of Indians asked to sign up to fight for Israel.
It explains why the mainstream media and the establishment have not pushed its government to take a tougher stance on Israel.
Again, Hindu nationalists and mind you, many Indian liberals, too, admire Israel, and they look upon Zionism as a model to replicate - be it in containing Kashmir self determination or subjugating Indian Muslims, or Dalits or Sikhs or Christians.
And with this war, they see the annihilation of Palestinians in Gaza, as taking them one step closer to achieving their own objectives back home.
In other news
Earlier this week, India’s Supreme Court upheld Narendra Modi’s government’s August 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370.
Even if Article 370 had suffered tremendous erosion over the decades, it had provided Jammu & Kashmir a semblance of autonomy.
More importantly, Article 35A - which was also revoked - helped protect Kashmir from the prospect of demographic change.
With the abrogation of Article 35A, residency and therefore land rights in Kashmir are now up for grab.
Hostile Homelands
Given India’s stance on the current crisis in Gaza, there has been a flurry of interest in Hostile Homelands and this new alliance between India and Israel.
Over the past month, I have conducted teach-ins and discussions with students from Frank & Marshall College, Columbia University, South Asian diaspora activists from California as well as student groups in India.
The book also got a brief mention in Aparna Gopalan’s “Israel’s Brutality Is Stoking the Imagination of India’s Far Right” in the The American Prospect.
In terms of events, I will be speaking on Wednesday at Al-Ikhlaas Academia Library and Resource Centre in Cape Town about the new alliance between India and Israel.
The event is hosted by Palestine Solidarity Committee, Cape Town.
If you are interested in hosting an event in early 2024, please do get in touch.
A reminder that all books at Pluto Press, including Hostile Homelands as well as other new titles like “How Long Can the Moon be Chained” by Suchitra Vijayan and Francesca Recchia, are currently 50% off until the end of today. A reminder that if you have read Hostile Homelands, please leave a review on Goodreads/Amazon, so that it may help others find it.
Finally, the death toll in Gaza is moving ever so close to 20,000. The scenes are becoming more horrific and desperate. The number of journalists and writers and poets who have been targeted and murdered are also increasing, pointing to the depravity of this Israeli regime. Last week, a friend of mine had to be dug out of the rubble after an airstrike leveled his home. He survived. But only just. And there is no where to seek medical assistance.
It’s hard to know what to do at this point. But if you are in a position to leverage any action towards pushing for an end to this madness, now is the time. Do not look away. And don’t stop talking about it.
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Note: A previous version noted that Indian police had refused to provide permits for protests in Kolkata. While this did happen, there were other protests in Kolkata for Palestine that managed to go ahead. Thanks to a reader for the correction.
You wrote, "Then there have been refusals by the police to grant permits to stage protests in Kolkata, Bengaluru and New Delhi." Not true for Kolkata. There were rallies. See 'Thousands Turn up at Kolkata Rally Condemning Israeli Attack on Palestine' (https://www.newsclick.in/thousands-turn-kolkata-rally-condemning-israeli-attack-palestine), 'Protesters in Kolkata march in support of Palestine' (https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/kolkata/story/protestors-in-kolkata-march-in-support-of-palestine-2448209-2023-10-12). As you may know, Kolkata is the capital city of West Bengal state, which is ruled by a centrist party.
Israel has the support of the establishment in too many countries but lost popular support because its supremacist grounding is so obvious now.