Skip to main content

'Direct support to genocide': IISc's India-Israel business meet to track defence, cybersecurity cooperation

By A Representative 
An online petition endorsed by hundreds of scholars, activists and professionals across the world has asked Prof Govindan Rangarajan, director, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, to stop the India Israel Business Summit proposed to be held on 23rd September, "and not allow the use of the IISc as a platform to legitimise genocide and colonialism."
Expressing deep concern that the IISc, one of the topmost Indian institutes, is sponsoring and hosting the summit despite the fact that  Israel is currently engaged in "a brutal war" in which more than 41,000 Palestinians, most of whom are women and children", the petition quotes a Lancet report as suggesting that "the true casualties might be four times higher, which would amount to about 10% of Gaza's total population."
It asserts, "Israel has destroyed every University in Gaza. It has also destroyed healthcare facilities, leading to the resurgence of diseases such as polio. The World Food Agency estimates that 96% of Gazans are facing food insecurity."
"Alongside", it adds, "Israel has also launched brutal raids on the West Bank and just this last week, Israel engaged in terrorist attacks in Lebanon by remotely detonating electronic devices, many of which were in civilian areas."
The petition notes, "The International Court of Justice recently ruled that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories violated international law, and the UN General Assembly has recently passed a resolution with an overwhelming majority urging an end to this occupation".
It points out, "We also witness the world academic community and various universities divesting from Israel due to students and faculty members coming out in solidarity with Palestine."
"In this situation", the petition emphasises, "it is unconscionable for IISc to encourage collaborations between India and Israel", underlining, "We are especially concerned that one of the planned tracks of discussion is in defence and cybersecurity (photo). Such cooperation would amount to direct support for Israel's genocide in Palestine and its aggressive actions against its neighbours."

Comments

Post a Comment

NOTE: While there is no bar on viewpoint, comments containing hateful or abusive language will not be published and will be marked spam. -- Editor

TRENDING

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.
Post a Comment
»

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”
Post a Comment
»

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.
Post a Comment
»