Kozhikode: Describing Israel as "one of the biggest terrorist countries", Kerala's communist Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has asked the BJP-led Union government to stop buying weapons from the West Asian country.
"India is the biggest consumer of Israel's weapons. Crores and crores of dollars from the Indian exchequer turned into gunpowder for Israel to kill Palestinians. Is this why the poor people of the country are giving taxes to the government," the Chief Minister said.
He was speaking at the Palestine Solidarity Rally organised by the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kozhikode on Saturday, a day that coincided with the 19th death anniversary of Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
"There should not be a situation where our money is used to kill children and women of Palestine. And for that, the Indian government should be ready to scrap all military agreements with Israel," he said.
According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Israel has exported weapons worth $ 3.2 billion to 35 countries between 2018 and 2022. Of that, India has bought weapons worth $1.2 billion, becoming Israel's biggest weapon importer.
Vijayan said the Union government shamed Indians and India before the world when it blew to wind the country's long-held policy on Palestine and abstained from voting on a UN resolution that called for a ceasefire in Gaza. "The resolution did not ask for much, just a ceasefire. India, which was once praised for its anti-imperialist stance, shamefully abstained from voting," he said.
The mass murder of the people of Palestine can pain anybody, and the call was it should stop. "That's the opinion of the world. That's the opinion that came up for voting in the UN. The resolution called for the release of hostages without condition, to ensure their safety and safe passage of life-saving medicines into Gaza. A country like ours should have backed it," the Chief Minister said.
The "Zionist bias" of those in the Union government should not surprise anyone, said the Kerala Chief Minister and member of the CPM's politburo.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the ruling BJP, adopted the Nazi policy of internal enemy that Hitler implemented in Germany, and it borrowed the organisational structure and training methods from Mussolini's Fascist party.
The Zionists, who strive for a Jewish state, can be seen as a group that "assimilated these virtues of Nazis and Fascists", said Vijayan. That is why the RSS can accept the Zionists, he said.
The Chief Minister also slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for staying mum on Manipur but expressing solidarity with Israel. "Those who were not ready to express solidarity with our own bleeding people of Manipur did not pause for a moment to announce that they are with Israel, which is accelerating on a brutal genocide," he said and added: "We were shamed again. We were shamed before the world again."
'Palestinian struggle similar to India's freedom movement'
In 1948, Israel captured 77% of Palestinian land and by 1967, after the six-day war in 1967, it captured almost all of Palestine, penning the Palestinians to a small strip, Vijayan said. "For years, Gaza has been under the blockade of Israel. The supply of water, food, fuel, and medicine is controlled by Israel. And they won't allow it," he said. The new violence is unleashed on such people who do not have money to buy food, he said.
Many groups and movements have come up in Palestine to evict Israelis and reestablish the Palestinian country or at least recapture the land earmarked by the UN for Palestine, he said.
"But the Western leaders and media portray those struggling for their land as terrorists," he said. During India's Freedom Movement, Gandhi, Nehru, and Bose were seen like that. But the people of India saw them as their leaders. "Like that, West Asians saw Yasser Arafat as their leader," he said.
In contrast, Israel has admitted to using missiles and bombs on Palestinians. But these media have never called their leaders from Ariel Sharon to Benjamin Netanyahu terrorists, Vijayan said.
'Congress changed stance on Israel'
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said India formed its policy on Palestine during its own Freedom Struggle through consensus. "We were with Palestine before Independence and after Independence. India's first Prime Minister Nehru initiated that policy and we held on to that for years," he said.
India stood with the oppressed such as the blacks of South Africa and the Palestinians. It had diplomatic relations only with Palestine and did not recognise Israel. "But slowly, we started diluting our policy. Narashima Rao completed it," he said. There was a time when Indian passports had seals telling Indians not to go to Rhodesia and Israel, Vijayan said.
To be sure, India recognised Israel in September 1950, and an immigration office was established in Mumbai back then. Embassies were opened in 1992 when full diplomatic relations were established.
Vijayan said India changed its policy towards Israel because of American pressure. "India has moved from financial cooperation to military ties and from there to political subservience," he said. That is why the political leadership of India does not have the eyes to see Palestinians being killed, and ears to hear the wailings of children burnt to death in Gaza. "No one should misunderstand that the government's love for Israel is Indians' love for Israel," he said.
People of India have a conscience and that is why they are organising such rallies and demonstrations to announce to the world their solidarity with Palestinians, the Chief Minister said in his 50-minute speech.
