Protesters in Delhi demanded Israel be declared an apartheid state and the Indian government break all diplomatic ties with it in solidarity with Palestinians.
by Abdul Rahman
March 21, 2025
Progressive groups in India held a national day of protest against Israel’s grave violations of the ceasefire in Gaza. The protestors also demanded the Indian government take a more assertive stand on the issue and stop indirectly aiding Israel’s criminal activities. The day of action was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Organization, a platform with participation from most of the left parties as well as student, women, and trade union organizations.
The central protest was organized in New Delhi where participants carried posters and banners denouncing Israel’s continued genocide in Gaza. They raised slogans against the Israeli occupation, its massacre of innocent Palestinian citizens, as well as US support for Israel’s criminal actions. They criticized the Indian government for its continued diplomatic ties with the apartheid state of Israel. Many also criticized the recent crackdown on immigrants’ participation in the movement for Palestine in the US which has targeted two Indian students as well as Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil.
Protesters demanded:
- the immediate end of the Israeli genocide
- the arrest of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for crimes against humanity as per the arrest warrants of the International Criminal Court (ICC)
- an end to India’s diplomatic relations with Israel
- the creation of an independent Palestinian state
Several leaders of the left movements spoke at the meeting including Subhashini Ali, polit bureau member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist); Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation; Mariyam Dhawle, Secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA); Aishe Ghosh, former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union (JNUSU) and a leader of the Student Federation of India (SFI); along with several other student leaders.
Israel’s criminal acts in Gaza
Most of the speakers condemned the Israeli violation of the Gaza ceasefire earlier this week calling it a criminal act for which Israel must be held accountable by the international community.
After bombing and invading Gaza for almost 15 months and killing over 47,000 Palestinians, Israel finally agreed to a ceasefire in January this year. However, in an arbitrary move, it blocked the flow of humanitarian aid to the territory earlier this month starving millions of Palestinians.
On Tuesday, Israeli warplanes carried out indiscriminate bombings at various locations in Gaza killing over 400 people in a single day. Despite widespread condemnation, Israel has carried out several rounds of bombing in the besieged Palestinian territory. The total number of Palestinians killed since Tuesday is now at over 600, including over 200 children.
The Indian government enables the genocide of Palestinians, groups claim
Questioning the Indian government’s reluctance to clearly condemn Israel’s fresh ceasefire violations in Gaza, several speakers accused the Narendra Modi government of complicity in the Israeli genocide of Palestinians.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said on Wednesday that it is “concerned about the situation in Gaza.” Though it demanded the release of the remaining hostages and an end to the blockade on humanitarian aid to Gaza it failed to mention the Israeli violations of the ceasefire or the killing of Palestinian citizens.
Going against India’s long term support for the Palestinian cause, the Modi government has also tried to block protests against Israel in the country earlier and punished expressions of solidarity with Palestinian people. It has maintained a very ambiguous stance on the Israeli war in Gaza in the UN too.
Noting how India’s failure to take a principled position on Israel’s criminal behavior is “shameful” and “unprecedented” Subhashini Ali also accused the Modi regime in the country of using its resources to negatively influence popular perceptions around the Palestinian question.
Read more at : Nationwide protests in India condemn Israel’s crimes and expose US hypocrisy on democracy : Peoples Dispatch
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Left parties in India protest arms exports to Israel
Left parties in India protested the export of weapons to Israel, accusing Narendra Modi’s government of complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza
by Abdul Rahman
October 24, 2024
Protest in front of Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems. Source: CPIM/X
On October 21, left-wing parties in India held a protest and sit-in outside the Adani-Elbit factory in Hyderabad, Telangana, demanding an immediate ban on all weapon supplies to Israel. The protesters, carrying flags and banners depicting Israel’s massacre of Palestinians, chanted slogans condemning Israel’s Zionist regime and its collaboration with India.
S. Veeraiah, a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Telangana, addressed the protesters, saying that while India has historically supported Palestine, the Narendra Modi government now stands by genocide. He urged opposition parties, including Congress, to unite against imperialist attacks.
Adani Defense and Aerospace (ADA), an Indian company, has allegedly been supplying large quantities of arms to Israel, violating international law and India’s stated position on Palestine. ADA’s joint venture with Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems, Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems India Limited, is a supplier of Hermes 900 drones, reportedly used in Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Critics claim India’s abstention from voting in favor of the UN Human Rights Commission resolution in April this year, calling for an immediate ceasefire and arms embargo, was due to its arms exports to Israel. Having supported a Gaza ceasefire at the UN General Assembly late last year, India’s position remains inconsistent.
Left parties and civil society groups oppose the Modi government’s policy shift on Israel-Palestine, including alleged arms deliveries which have helped to prolong the Israeli genocide in Palestine. They held a press conference in August, criticizing India’s growing ties with Israel and distancing itself from its historical support for Palestinian resistance. Nationwide protests were also organized by the left on the anniversary of the beginning of Israel’s genocide on October 7.
Modi government’s alignment with Zionist policies
Modi’s pro-Zionist stance has sparked government crackdowns on anti-Israel protests, with arrests and detentions of protesters and the criminalization of Palestinian resistance symbols.
India was one of the first countries to recognize the Palestinian state, supporting a two-state solution and viewing the Palestinian liberation movement as an anti-colonial struggle. However, since the rise of the Hindu-supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014, India has grown closer to the Zionist regime, developing defense and other partnerships.
Read more on: Left parties in India protest arms exports to Israel : Peoples Dispatch
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