India betraying Palestinians? Modi carries forward Narasimha Rao's policy to establish full-fledged relations with Israel

By Sheshu Babu

After Independence, India adopted the policy of non-alignment under the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. While the prime motive was non-interference, India always supported the cause of Palestinians in UN and also in WHO till 2016. It voted in favour of Palestine in almost every resolution. The year 2017 was the first occasion when India abstained from voting on the Palestine issue clearly from the orders of New Delhi, given the Government's current growing strategic and economic relation with Israel.
India was among 20 countries, which abstained during a vote on 'draft decision' on May 23, proposing to support Palestinians in their endeavor to provide health services in the present conflict ridden situation. Discussion on the issue was part of the agenda in World Health Assembly, the WHO annual global level event in Geneva taking place this year (May 21 -26).
The draft decision titled 'Health conditions in the occupied Palestine Territory including east Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan' was proposed by Algeria, Bahrain, Cuba,Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, Venezuela (Bolivian Republic of) and Yemen, etc. (May 28, 2018, www.kracktivist.org).
Discussieons on the health conditions of Palestinians draft was put to vote. 90 countries voted in favour and 6 against (Australia, Canada, US, UK and Guatemala). Twenty nations abstained. At a time when Israelis massacred about 60 civilians in Gaza, India's abstaining is regrettable. Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, the Indian chapter of people's health movement, said that this is shocking (Down to Earth). This comes at a time when Israel is violating human rights consistently.
The seeds of relationship with Israel were laid during the rule of Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao. The visit of Arafat in 1992 had some indications of India abandoning its four decade policy of 'no relations' with Israel. According to PR Kumaraswamy (JNU) , the Rao-Arafat meet removed the last hurdle in normalisation of relations with Israel, and Arafat had no option but to agree that India had the right to decide its own foreign priorities ("Modi Redefines India's Palestine policy", May 18, 2017, https//idsa.in).
Modi, who admires Rao, has carried the policy forward and established full-fledged relations with Israel. Thus,the India right wing has 'backstabbed' the people of Palestinians. Their support to Israel has become an integral part of India's Middle-East policy. Palestine people have been left in the lurch.
People of India should vociferously protest this abstention and force the government to take proactive stance in support of the people of Palestine. The Zionist Israeli rule backed by US and its allies must be sternly opposed. Human rights activists should see that the traditional support to oppressed people like Palestine should not be deviated by the government. Mass mobilisation to protest the indifferent attitude should be stepped up. Indians should firmly denounce atrocities by Israel and its allies.

Comments

Whither space for the marginalised in Kerala's privately-driven townships after landslides?

By Ipshita Basu, Sudheesh R.C. In the early hours of July 30 2024, a landslide in the Wayanad district of Kerala state, India, killed 400 people. The Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Vellarimala and Chooralmala villages in the Western Ghats mountain range turned into a dystopian rubble of uprooted trees and debris.

Advocacy group decries 'hyper-centralization' as States’ share of health funds plummets

By A Representative In a major pre-budget mobilization, the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), India’s leading public health advocacy network, has issued a sharp critique of the Union government’s health spending and demanded a doubling of the health budget for the upcoming 2026-27 fiscal year.

Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar’s views on religion as Tagore’s saw them

By Harasankar Adhikari Religion has become a visible subject in India’s public discourse, particularly where it intersects with political debate. Recent events, including a mass Gita chanting programme in Kolkata and other incidents involving public expressions of faith, have drawn attention to how religion features in everyday life. These developments have raised questions about the relationship between modern technological progress and traditional religious practice.

Election bells ringing in Nepal: Can ousted premier Oli return to power?

By Nava Thakuria* Nepal is preparing for a national election necessitated by the collapse of KP Sharma Oli’s government at the height of a Gen Z rebellion (youth uprising) in September 2025. The polls are scheduled for 5 March. The Himalayan nation last conducted a general election in 2022, with the next polls originally due in 2027. However, following the dissolution of Nepal’s lower house of Parliament last year by President Ram Chandra Poudel, the electoral process began under the patronage of an interim government installed on 12 September under the leadership of retired Supreme Court judge Sushila Karki. The Hindu-majority nation of over 29 million people will witness more than 3,400 electoral candidates, including 390 women, representing 68 political parties as well as independents, vying for 165 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives.

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

With infant mortality rate of 5, better than US, guarantee to live is 'alive' in Kerala

By Nabil Abdul Majeed, Nitheesh Narayanan In 1945, two years prior to India's independence, the current Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, was born into a working-class family in northern Kerala. He was his mother’s fourteenth child; of the thirteen siblings born before him, only two survived. His mother was an agricultural labourer and his father a toddy tapper. They belonged to a downtrodden caste, deemed untouchable under the Indian caste system.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb: Akbar to Shivaji -- the cross-cultural alliances that built India

By Ram Puniyani What is Indian culture? Is it purely Hindu, or a blend of many influences? Today, Hindu right-wing advocates of Hindutva claim that Indian culture is synonymous with Hindu culture, which supposedly resisted "Muslim invaders" for centuries. This debate resurfaced recently in Kolkata at a seminar titled "The Need to Protect Hinduism from Hindutva."

Drowning or conspiracy? Singapore findings deepen questions over Zubeen Garg’s death

By Nava Thakuria* For millions of fans of Zubeen Garg, who died under unexplained circumstances in Singapore on 19 September last year, disturbing news has emerged from the island nation. Its police authorities have stated that the iconic Assamese singer died while intoxicated and swimming in the sea without a mandatory life jacket.

Search This Blog