POLARIZED ON PALESTINE: HINDUTVA-ZIONISM AGAINST THIRD WORLD SOLIDARITY IN MODI’S INDIA
Dipsita Dhar
While Modi departs from India’s past anti-colonial solidarities to ally with Israel — which has asked for 100,000 workers to replace Palestinians — India’s working-class and student movements reaffirm their support for Palestine
As you read this article, the dead body of 21 year old Manoj (name changed) has reached his village in Bihar, a small and underdeveloped state in India. A migrant worker, Manoj was among those killed in a stampede at Surat railway station in Gujarat. The shortage of trains, fluctuating train ticket prices, and widespread rail track privatization have collectively led to a scenario where the demand for long-distance travel surpasses the available seating capacity. During festival seasons especially, railway stations like Surat resemble battlefields, engulfed in panic, chaos, and desperation, often resulting in unfortunate incidents. Metropolitan cities like Surat serve as the primary destination for working classes migrating from rural areas — some arrive seasonally, while others seek livelihoods for more extended periods. They also disproportionately occupy the informal sector, engaging in work like construction, rickshaw pulling and, as is the case for many women, domestic labour. Their labour fuels global capital — cheap, easily replaceable, and subject to caste profiling. Sadly, their lives are often undervalued: they can fall victim to stampedes, hunger, or even be sent to conflict zones without eliciting much repercussion or outrage.
“Both the Indian and Israeli elites view racialized and caste labour as a ‘less human’ or ‘animal-like’ mass that can be replaced, displaced, and exploited.”
It comes as no surprise then that the Indian government has not refused the vice-president of the Israel Builders’ Association’s request for 100,000 Indian labourers as a “substitute” for the expelled Palestinian workers. Both the Indian and Israeli elites view racialized and caste labour as a “less human” or “animal-like” mass that can be replaced, displaced, and exploited. Under the Modi regime, India has even amended existing labour codes, stripping crucial elements like social security, maternity leave, and minimum wage guarantees from workers. Although the Indian Ministry of External Affairs denies that Israel made any request for workers after the siege of Gaza, they do acknowledge earlier promises made to the Israeli government. On May 9th of this year, an agreement, called the “Framework Agreement on Facilitating Temporary Employment of Workers in Specific Labour Market Sectors in Israel,” was signed between India and Israel, intending to dispatch 34,000 workers to the construction sector and an additional 8,000 for caregiving roles.
As India evacuates its top bureaucrats and vacationing celebrities from Tel Aviv, the question arises: why won’t they condemn the idea of sending thousands of workers, also their own citizens, into a war zone? Following the appeal of four major Palestinian trade unions to their Indian counterparts to reject any such agreement, India’s central trade unions swiftly issued a joint statement, urging not only the government but also the workers to resist being complicit in ongoing Israeli atrocities. The Construction Workers’ Federation of India (CITU) passed a resolution to “frontally oppose any such move to dispatch Indian workers to Israel at this crucial time.” Additionally, the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), in collaboration with six central trade union confederations of India, held a protest at Jantar-Mantar, the heart of the national capital in Delhi, on October 14th. As highlighted in their pamphlet, their demonstration aimed at “condemning the most barbaric and inhuman occupation of the Israeli state and extending unwavering solidarity with the people of Palestine in general, and the people of Gaza in particular.”
The Hindutva-Zionist Alliance in Post-Truth India
The Indian right successfully got a lot of attention on social media amid the genocide in Palestine. On X (formerly twitter), #IndiawithIsrael started trending, with trolls abusing those remotely supportive of Palestine while extending their unapologetic solidarity with the Zionist government. From fake videos on the Israeli hostages to morphed photos and old news, India became a hub of disinformation that, in essence, sought to establish Israel as the real victim. In a few Indian cities, marches were even held where demonstrators chanted “Israel Zindabad” (Long Live Israel) alongside Hindutva slogans like “Jai Shri Ram” (Glory to Lord Rama) and nationalist ones like “Jai Hind” (Victory to Hindustan). The right-wing corporate media, often referred to as “Godi Media” in India, also seized this opportunity to propagate increasing amounts of Islamophobic content, linking Muslims to jihad, Hamas, and terrorism.
“The Zionist ideal of Eretz Israel (Greater Israel) was no different from the Hindu nationalists’ Akhand Bharat (Undivided India).”
Why this affinity between Hindutva and Zionism? Even though early Hindutva ideologues like M. S. Golwarkar admired the Nazis and their racial pride, they also saw Zionism as an aspirational model. The Zionist ideal of Eretz Israel (Greater Israel) was no different from the Hindu nationalists’ Akhand Bharat (Undivided India). Both projects believed in ethno-nationalism. Both also saw Muslims as invaders or outsiders: masses to be expelled. Ethnic cleansing was embedded in both Zionism and Hindutva. As is well-known, Hindutva ideology has been intertwined with Islamophobia. Events like the 1999 Kargil War, where the Indian government procured weapons from Israel (though it do so as far back as 1971), and the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition were significant moments that strengthened the portrayal of Muslims as a vilified and dehumanized “other.” Hindutva ideologues even draw parallels between Jerusalem and Ayodhya (the site of Babri Masjid and the supposed birthplace of Rama (Ram Janmabhoomi)), considering them as holy lands stolen and defiled by invading Muslims. The support Hindu nationalists express for Israel echoes their desire to replicate a similar genocide against Muslims in India.
The Hindu diaspora plays a significant role in amplifying the international agenda of Hindutva. In July 2003, the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC), and the Indian American Political Action Committee (USINAPAC) held their inaugural joint briefing. USINPAC and the Hindu American Foundation received substantial support and encouragement from AJC and/or AIPAC. That same year, India’s then National Security Advisor, Brajesh Mishra, stressed the need for “an unshakeable alliance of democracies,” including the US and Israel, to combat terrorism. In 2014, Alpesh Shah, a hedge fund manager and columnist for the UK’s pro-Modi Asian Voice newspaper, wrote an open letter to the newly-elected Modi, urging him to focus on the treatment of Hindus worldwide. He advocated for India to protect Hindus much like Israel protected Jews. And Modi’s Citizenship Amendment Act (2019), which offers Indian citizenship to non-Muslims in Muslim-majority countries, resembles Israel’s Law of Return, which offers Jews worldwide Israeli citizenship. Both discriminate along religious-ethnic lines, aiming to alter demographic proportions by favoring specific groups over others — non-Muslims over Muslims in one case, and Jews over Palestinians in the other.
While India began “soft diplomacy” with Israel following its 1990s economic liberalization, relations between the two countries didn’t become more openly friendly until the mid-2010s. During the 1990s when non-BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), more “secular” governments were in power, adopting an explicitly anti-Palestine position or aligning with anti-Muslim rhetoric was practically unfeasible. But with the 2014 election of the RSS-backed BJP government, that changed. The government was under less pressure to appease Muslim sentiment and was in fact openly hostile. With that, the government’s approach to Israel also shifted noticeably from a more balanced stance to openly expressing support in the name of “counter-terrorism,” even in situations where this support essentially condoned genocide. In 2017, Modi became the first Indian leader to visit Israel, reciprocated months later when Netanyahu traveled to Delhi. Modi was also among the first to extend solidarity with Israel following the Hamas attack in October. Moreover, India altered its longstanding position by abstaining from the October 27th UN General Assembly resolution that called for a humanitarian truce and ceasefire in Gaza.
But the connection between Hindutva and Zionism also has an economic rationale. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, India actively sought closer economic ties with Israel, aiming to align itself more closely with the US axis. The defense industry constitutes the backbone of the Israeli economy, and since the 1990s, India has emerged as one of its largest buyers of defense equipment. In 2000, the BJP-led Indian government signed a deal with Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) to purchase Barak 1 Missile Systems. India’s Central Investigation Bureau later investigated the deal for corruption, on allegations that then-Defense Minister Georg Fernandes and several other officials at the time had received kickbacks. Despite this, India proceeded with further deals with IAI. Israel has now become the third largest exporter of defense equipment to India, after Russia and France.
“the Indian government’s pivot towards Israel is not solely driven by animosity toward Muslims, but also influenced by capitalist logics.”
And the economic ties extend beyond defense. This year, Gautam Adani, the Indian billionaire businessman known to be close to Modi, paid $1.2 billion to acquire the Israeli port of Haifa. India has also increased its petroleum exports to Israel. As journalist Shuja Asrar notes:
In 2022-23, India’s exports of petroleum products to Israel jumped 3.5 times to $5.5 billion, against $1.6 billion in the previous year. This increased India’s exports by 77% compared to the previous year, and the total trade between the two countries by 37%.
These and other instances show that the Indian government’s pivot towards Israel is not solely driven by animosity toward Muslims, but also influenced by capitalist logics.
The Global Anti-Colonialism of India’s Working Class
The Indian government was not always close to Israel. As Hannah Ellis-Petersen of The Guardian recently reminded us:
India was the first non-Arab country to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) as the legitimate representative of Palestine in the 1970s, giving the group full diplomatic status in the 1980s and inviting PLO’s long-serving leader Yasser Arafat to visit several times, and consistently maintained a pro-Palestine position at the UN. It was only after the PLO began a dialogue with Israel, and as US pressure began to build, that India finally established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992.
“While acknowledging Jews had been ‘cruelly wronged in the world,’ [Gandhi] also added…that ‘they have erred grievously in seeking to impose themselves on Palestine with the aid of America and Britain and now with the aid of naked terrorism.’”
During the Non-Alignment Movement, India consistently expressed public support for Palestine. Gandhi himself, by no means a radical, saw the Israeli occupation and expulsion of native Palestinians as a “crime against humanity.” While acknowledging Jews had been “cruelly wronged in the world,” he also added in a 1946 remark that “they have erred grievously in seeking to impose themselves on Palestine with the aid of America and Britain and now with the aid of naked terrorism.” Gandhi’s support for Palestine stemmed from viewing Israel as a settler colony and the liberation of Palestine as an anti-colonial struggle akin to what the Indian subcontinent had experienced. Both Palestine and India shared a common adversary in colonialism, fostering a deeply organic solidarity.
But it was India’s working classes and working-class movements that better showcased translational solidarities. The Indian working class not only played a heroic role in its own liberation struggles — from the 1946 Naval Mutiny to the Tebhaga peasant revolt and the communist-led Telangana rebellion — but also ardently supported liberation movements worldwide. With the support of India’s left and communist parties, they upheld anti-colonial and internationalist principles simultaneously. Their solidarity extended from apartheid South Africa to occupied Palestine and Vietnam.
When the Vietnam War erupted, students and youth affiliated with leftist organizations took to the streets chanting powerful slogans like “Amar naam, Tomar naam, Vietnam, Vietnam” (My name and your name, Vietnam, Vietnam). In 1968, during a visit by Robert S. McNamara, President of the IMF, to Kolkata, massive protests by student youth prevented his landing in the city. McNamara was forced to depart after a helicopter tour due to vehement protests highlighting the IMF’s alleged involvement in the deaths of thousands of Vietnamese and the use of notorious biological weapons. Subsequently, after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) came to power in West Bengal, they symbolically renamed Harrington Street, where the US consulate’s office was located, to Ho Chi Minh Sarani (street). This action exemplified the Indian Left’s unwavering commitment to holding US imperialism accountable.
“Over ten thousand people, spanning various ages and backgrounds, eagerly welcomed the leader synonymous with the courage and resilience of the Palestinian people.”
Kolkata, the city that barred McNamara’s entry, warmly embraced the President of the PLO, Yasser Arafat, with open arms. On March 28, 1990, during his visit to India, Arafat arrived in Kolkata, drawing an immense crowd to the Netaji Indoor Stadium. Over ten thousand people, spanning various ages and backgrounds, eagerly welcomed the leader synonymous with the courage and resilience of the Palestinian people. Alongside other members of his party, the CPM Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu, welcomed Palestinian leaders. An iconic photograph captured the moment when Yasser Arafat, dressed in his keffiyeh and khaki attire, clasped Jyoti Basu’s hand, raising it to the sky amid chants of “free Palestine” and “inquilab zindabad” (long live the revolution) from the impassioned crowd. This image stands as a living testament to what genuine anti-colonial, internationalist solidarity looks like.
That same year, Nelson Mandela visited Kolkata and received an overwhelming reception at the Eden Gardens. Thousands of people greeted him as if he were one of their own. This champion of the Third World joined hands with the West Bengal Chief Minister and was welcomed with the resounding song “My Buyaa Africa” (I love my Africa), sung in unison by the gathered crowd. Soon after, Mandela himself joined the chorus and encouraged the crowd to sing along, creating a momentous atmosphere. As the uproar of “My Buyaa Africa” echoed, Mandela danced along with the people.
To move to the more recent past: on December 30, 2006, the communist-led state of Kerala observed a three-hour shutdown or hartal in protest against the execution of Saddam Hussein by the West in their proxy war against terrorism. Thousands of individuals gathered to protest at Kerala’s Kozhikode beach. Even the fishermen, who had ventured to sea, returned so they could join the demonstration. Last week, Kerala’s CPM Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, inaugurated a pro-Palestine rally that drew a crowd of over 50,000 people, transcending political affiliations, who gathered again in Kozhikode again. Their anti-colonialism reflects the influence of non-BJP parties in Kerala, and is consistent with their wider opposition to Modi’s (pro-Israel) Hindutva regime.
“A concrete example of this embodied solidarity is P V Muhammed Marakkar, a resident of Calicut. He named his eldest son after Yasser Arafat and christened his home ‘Palestine.’”
For the people of Kerala, who have one of the largest diasporas across West Asia, solidarity with Palestine resonates deeply within their everyday lives. Many in Kerala are migrant labourers, or pravasis in Malayalam, and have been instrumental in transforming Gulf countries into capitalist empires. These countries’ monumental growth owes much to the sweat and toil of millions of Malayalis and other South Asian labourers, who turned deserts into dirhams. A concrete example of this embodied solidarity is P V Muhammed Marakkar, a resident of Calicut. He named his eldest son after Yasser Arafat and christened his home “Palestine.” As a member of the Kerala Transport Employees Union (KTEU), Muhammad embodied the spirit of creating a haven for those in exile. He also named his second son Azad (free) to honor all those fighting for freedom.
From the River to the Sea…
The people of the Indian subcontinent, having witnessed one of the largest mass displacements during partition, intimately understand the anguish of losing one’s homeland. Like Palestinians, marginalized communities in India also grapple daily with a regime that seeks their demise. In this stark asymmetry between those with power and privilege and those without, ordinary Indians stand in solidarity with every Palestinian.
“Despite the challenges posed by an authoritarian government, students and working classes in India are connecting issues of capitalist exploitation and minority persecution within the country to anti-colonial struggles abroad, embodying a genuine spirit of internationalism.”
Apart from the mass solidarity rallies of left parties and trade unions, small scale acts of protest are happening all over the country. And these are occurring despite threats and intimidation from the Indian state. Members of the Students’ Federation of India were detained for protesting in front of the Israeli embassy in Delhi. Two students from Aligarh Muslim University were charged for organizing a pro-Palestine gathering. The Kolkata Police detained two young Muslim boys for waving the Palestinian flag during a cricket World Cup match. And interesting overlaps exist: those supporting Palestine also opposed the BJP’s neoliberal Farm Bills, contributing to their defeat. The same students who participated in the Citizenship Amendment Act protests are now chanting for the children of Palestine. Despite the challenges posed by an authoritarian government, students and working classes in India are connecting issues of capitalist exploitation and minority persecution within the country to anti-colonial struggles abroad, embodying a genuine spirit of internationalism.
Recently, a video went viral showing a Palestinian mother dragging her two children in strollers as they fled their homes. It echoes a similar image from India during the pandemic, where a migrant worker trying to return home transformed her luggage into a makeshift stroller, pulling her sleeping child along the road. These mothers, displaced and embarking on uncertain journeys, reveal a world built on exploitation and animosity. Yet, their weary but resolute steps also signify hope. Another viral video, this time of a Palestinian child wrapping her pet cat in a torn sweater, confirms this — the unwavering spirit of those with nothing to lose but their chains. These bonds link the people of Palestine and India, and together, one day, they’ll break free. The fight against imperialism, capitalist exploitation, and ethno-religious chauvinism must be unceasing. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
Dipsita Dhar is the Joint Secretary of the Students’ Federation of India. She contested the 2021 Assembly Election in West Bengal, on behalf of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).