On Sunday, Indian right wing commentator Anand Ranganathan called for an Israel-like solution in Kashmir.
The comments were made during The Samosa Caucus Podcast hosted by Smita Prakash. Other co-panelists included co-panelists Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, Sushant and Tahseen.
“You need an Israel like solution to Kashmir. The fact that Israel has not been able to “solve it”, is not because Israel [is] not acting to solve it, or Israel not doing things that should be done.
”If, for example, seven lakh (700,000) Israelis were driven out of their homes, and Israel had not acted, you would have said “Yes, they didn’t solve it”.”
“(But) Israel has catered for its people who were hard done by, we haven't! It's as simple as that. Despite that, yes, there may never be a solution because of the ideology of the people who hate Israelis, and the ideology of the people who hate Hindus. That's irrespective. What I'm saying is, have we taken the right decisions; we haven't,” Ranganathan added.
It’s not the first time right-wing Hindu nationalists have invoked the “Israeli-model” as the go-to solution to Indian-occupied Kashmir.
In 2019, the former Indian envoy to NYC said at a private gathering that India should follow the Israeli settler model in Kashmir.
Who is Anand Ranganathan?
Anand Ranganathan is an Indian scientist and political commentator who is known for crass Islamophobic remarks. He is the Consulting Editor of the Hindu nationalist publication, Swarajya. He has more than a million followers on X. He is one of those new atheist types who love to hate Muslims.
His remarks on the podcast follow dehumanizing commentary about Kashmir’s “fertility rates” by Abhijit Iyer-Mitra.
“The fertility rates [in Kashmir] cannot support an insurgency,” Iyer-Mitra says casually.
The concern over “Muslim fertility” is a deeply ingrained Zionist and Hindu nationalist talking point. In their imagination, Muslims are not human beings, but “terrorists” or “demographic threats”.
It’s no coincidence that the discussion moves from “fertility” to the adoption of Israeli genocidal tactics in Kashmir.
You can watch the entire discussion in full here:
Narendra Modi became Prime Minister for a third time after a mammoth election process in India.
Though the BJP lost a majority, and there have been some celebrations among sections of the Indian liberal and left, there is little to no indication that the results will change anything for Muslims, Christians, Dalits, or for Kashmiris, who have been living nightmarish lives under Modi.
One way to understand the election is to think of the BJP as the Republican Party and the INDIA Alliance as the Democratic Party in the US.
When Donald Trump lost the elections in 2020, liberal Americans felt less embarrassed about their country.
But Joe Biden’s presidency hasn’t been any better.
We are literally living thought a US-backed Israeli genocide of Palestinians under a Biden presidency.
Likewise, it seems liberal upper caste Hindus just appear relieved they can talk about a healthy opposition at dinner parties.
They know that nothing is about to change; in fact, it is likely Modi and co. will double down.
Some of the best commentary on the India’s elections has come from Professor Irfan Ahmed.
"Since 2014, this electoral circus has passionately been staging Muslims as a threat and against which people are asked to vote. While BJP stages this threat openly, non-BJP parties do implicitly, by remaining silent,” Ahmed wrote.
”The so-called Indian secularism is a myth. The word “secular” was inserted into the Constitution long after the death of Nehru, first Prime Minister of India. Nehru too worked with the assumption of Indian being essentially a Hindu country, which is also manifest in law.
“With Nehru in full command of power, the 1950 Presidential Ordinance denied reservation benefits to the Scheduled Castes if they converted to Christianity or Islam. This order amply shows that Nehru was no admirer of religious freedom. Nehru also took India primarily as Hindu,” Ahmed added.
One of the stand out pieces on the elections also came via Al Jazeera’s Saif Khalid who showed how Muslims have been erased by India’s ‘secular’ parties, which gives us a sign of things to come.
India-Israel alliance
Last week, I joined Suchitra Vijayan, Raja Abdulhaq and Aparna Gopalan for a discussion on burgeoning India and Israel ties.
The event titled: “Ballots, bulldozers, and bombs - The India–Israel alliance”, was co-hosted by Jewish Currents and Middle East Eye.
The discussion came as news broke about the possible use of Indian-made explosives in Gaza.
A viral video from Gaza made its rounds over the past week showing material that carried a sign “Made in India”.
It has been since claimed that it was the remains of a missile used by the Israeli military.
Though it is very likely that Indian weapons have been used in Gaza, there is still no confirmation that the fragments found in Gaza were Indian-made weaponry.
One arms expert told me the video being shared on social media does not resemble ordnance or military material.
The Indian and Israeli governments haven’t made any public statement on the matter.
You can watch Jewish Currents/Middle East Eye discussion here:
Kashmir requires mass Ghar Wapsi.