A Modi Win Will Only Mean More Trouble for Indian Muslims

A Muslim woman is casting her vote in the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) at a polling station during the sixth phase of the Indian General Elections in New Delhi, India, on May 26, 2024. Kabir Jhangiani

—NurPhoto/Getty Images

TIME\IDEAS
BY ISMAT ARA
MAY 31, 2024 9:14 AM EDT
Ismat Ara is a New Delhi-based journalist. She covers politics, crime, gender, culture and environment.

More than two years have passed since a picture of me, picked up from my personal social media handles, was put up with a price tag for auction on the internet. It was part of a website called Bulli Bai, a religious slur used for Muslim women in India.

Why was I targeted? Likely because of my reporting. The perpetrators wanted to shame and humiliate a journalist who was determined to expose the failures of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party’s gender, caste, and religion-based violence. But more importantly, they wanted to shut up a Muslim woman who had dared to be vocal in Modi’s India.


When the photo was posted, I wondered how the main perpetrator, a 21-year-old student from Assam, who created Bulli Bai could be so consumed by his hatred that he felt compelled to auction Muslim women online for their outspoken criticism of the BJP—journalists, social workers, actors, and politicians. A recent meeting with my lawyer about my case against the Bulli Bai creators, who are still being investigated by the Delhi police, was a painful reminder of the targeted harassment faced by outspoken Muslim voices critical of the ruling BJP.

As the ongoing election in India is set to finish on June 1, it has once again offered deeper insight into how political dialogue is fueling this culture of hate.


Particularly, the political campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP has leaned into anti-Muslim sentiment, progressively making Islamophobia one of the defining features of this election.

It was most prominently on display when Modi, in a thinly veiled reference to Muslims, referred to the 200 million Indian Muslim population as “infiltrators” at a BJP campaign rally while addressing voters in the Western state of Rajasthan on April 21. The Prime Minister also accused the opposition Congress party of planning to distribute the country’s wealth to Muslims.


Modi, in his speech, asked, “Earlier, when his [ former Prime Minister and Congress Party member Manmohan Singh’s] government was in power, he had said that Muslims have the first right on the country’s property, which means who they will collect this property and distribute it to—those who have more children, will distribute it to the infiltrators. Will the money of your hard work be given to the infiltrators? Do you approve of this?”

Read More: How India’s Hindu Nationalists Are Weaponizing History Against Muslims

This 2006 statement by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh emphasizing that minorities, particularly Muslims, should have the first claim on resources to help uplift their socio-economic status, has been often quoted out of context in political rhetoric, distorting its original intent to uplift marginalized communities.

The reemergence of conspiracy theories like “Love Jihad,” alleging a covert agenda by Muslim men to ensnare and convert Hindu women, by Modi, has surged back into public attention, prominently surfacing at an election rally on May 28, days before the seventh and last phase of the ongoing elections, in the Eastern state of Jharkhand.

The alarming rhetoric about Muslim population growth too have dominated the election discourse, fueled by the BJP's top leader, Modi, who has been criticized for his Islamophobic remarks, evoking memories of Gujarat's 2002 riots. While he later denied singling out Muslims in an interview with an Indian news channel, his history of linking them to population growth fuels a Hindu-majoritarian conspiracy theory.


Following the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat during his tenure as chief minister, Modi faced scrutiny regarding his administration's lack of assistance to relief camps, predominantly established by non-profit organizations and Muslim communities. During a campaign rally, Modi then insinuated that these camps might transform into "baby factories," implying that Muslims could potentially have families as large as 25 children.

In his Jharkhand rally in May of this year, Modi spoke of "unseen enemies" working to divide society and claimed that the opposition parties were playing into the hands of “infiltrators”. He warned against "Zalim (cruel) love," alluding to Love Jihad.

As the elections progressed, Modi’s speeches transformed slowly from issues such as “development” to anti-Muslim rhetoric. Unlike previous elections, Modi's campaign strategy this time has shifted towards overt Hindu-Muslim politics, drawing attention to his past record and raising concerns among Indian Muslims, as evidenced by the Election Commission's intervention in a campaign video by the BJP inciting hatred against Muslims.

The video, shared by BJP Karnataka wing with a cautionary message in Kannada, depicted a cartoon version of Congress’s Rahul Gandhi placing an egg marked "Muslims" into a nest alongside smaller eggs labeled with categories such as "Scheduled Castes," "Scheduled Tribes," and "Other Backward Castes.” The narrative unfolds as the "Muslim" hatchling is shown being nourished with financial resources, eventually growing larger and displacing the other hatchlings from the nest—implying that a Congress government will give away all resources to Muslims.


This came days after another animated video shared by the BJP’s official Instagram handle was removed on May 1 after a large number of users of the platform reported the video for “false information” and “hate speech.” The video repeats the BJP’s rhetoric on the Congress party, who they allege are“empowering people who belong to the very same community [of] invaders, terrorists, robbers and thieves [who] used to loot all our treasures” while the voice-over says, “If Congress comes to power, it will snatch all the money and wealth from non-Muslims and distribute them among Muslims, their favorite community.”

Despite its controversial content, the video amassed over 100 thousand likes before being removed.

Both videos come after claims by Modi during his campaign speeches that Congress was planning to “steal” reservations in educational institutes and government jobs among other benefits from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Castes and redistribute them to Muslims.

Modi may be the foremost leader, but he's not alone in setting the tone; other top-tier BJP leaders are also walking in his footsteps. Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah's remarks linking voting for the Congress party to "jihad" in the South Indian state of Telangana have also stirred controversy.


Read More: The Modi-fication of India Is Almost Complete

The India Hate Lab, a Washington D.C.-based group that documents hate speech against India’s religious minorities, in its report of 2023 paints a grim picture of rising hate speech incidents against Muslims, totaling 668 documented cases.

These incidents, often featuring calls for violence and spreading divisive theories, were predominantly concentrated in regions governed by the BJP, particularly during key election periods like in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh. Additionally, the report highlighted stark differences in hate speech content between BJP and non-BJP-governed areas, with BJP leaders more frequently involved in non-BJP territories as they strive to expand political footholds.

When leaders resort to fear-mongering, it legitimizes the dehumanization of minorities, creating a fertile ground for extremists. This often isn’t just about one app or incident. It’s about the pervasive atmosphere of intolerance that such rhetoric by the BJP leaders breeds. And those who oppose this type of hate speech want to ensure that no one—regardless of their faith, gender, or caste—has to live in fear of being targeted for who they are.

Modi’s statement received widespread criticism from the opposition, the intelligentsia community including authors, writers, scholars, academics, and the minority Muslim population of India. The Congress party even filed a complaint with the Election Commission, alleging that Modi's remarks violate electoral laws that prohibit appeals to religious sentiments. Despite public outcry and demands from activists and citizens for action, the Election Commission has so far taken no appropriate action.


Modi's Islamophobic statements, which have fueled fears over and over again among India's Muslim population, must be viewed within the broader context of his party's strategies—which often invoke religious and communal sentiments to galvanize their voter base. And this time, the aim is to break all previous records by securing 400 plus seats in the 543 seat parliament.

If the BJP is able to secure such a huge majority in the parliament, Hindu majoritarianism will remain unchecked. The hostility towards the minorities could escalate even more, and opposition parties may bear the brunt of state agencies and crackdowns if they ask questions.

During Modi’s previous terms, Muslims have seen an increased marginalization and discrimination fueled by Hindu nationalist agendas—ranging from difficulty in securing a rented accommodation in urban cities, erasure of Muslim names from roads, cities and railway stations, to the underrepresentation in government jobs and discrimination and vandalism of shops of small Muslim vendors.

Today, India, a country which once took pride in its ganga-jamuni tehzeeb—a term used to refer to the fusion of Hindu-Muslim cultures—has become a global epicenter of divisive politics. While elections will come and go, the impact of the irresponsible words of Modi and the BJP will stay with the 200 million plus Muslims in the country.


These words have real and dangerous implications for the safety and security of India's Muslim population. Muslims in India currently face increased social ostracism, economic boycotts, and even physical violence. And another victory with an overwhelming majority will only mean more trouble.

As Indian voting wraps up, reports of electoral irregularities mount

Opponents of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have accused its supporters of suppressing turnout and intimidating candidates. The BJP denies the allegations.


By Gerry Shih and Anant Gupta

WASHINGTON POST
May 31, 2024 


SURAT, India — As India wraps up a seven-week-long marathon election, reports of irregularities have reached a level not seen in decades. Across the country, supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have been accused by their opponents of working with local authorities to suppress turnout among voters or to remove opposition candidates from the ballot altogether.

In the ancient diamond trading hub of Surat, the election ended before it began. After all eight opposition candidates dropped out under questionable circumstances, local officials declared a winner by default: the candidate from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP.

Independent political analysts say there is no evidence to indicate systemic vote-rigging, and if Modi is declared the winner Tuesday as expected, his victory would be legitimate. But in the world’s largest democracy, the rash of irregularities at the local level — and the brazenness of several incidents publicized by BJP supporters themselves — have alarmed political observers who say India’s ruling party is increasingly wielding state power to tilt the democratic playing field in its favor.

During its previous decade in power, the Modi government has cracked down on critical media outlets, shut down nonprofits, and squeezed opposition politicians by targeting them for criminal investigations and imprisonment, “but the sanctity of elections itself has largely been protected,” said Maya Tudor, a political scientist at Oxford University.

Now, she said, “these are the first signs of the electoral moment itself being called into question.”

So far, election officials have ordered partial repolling in at least nine voting districts, including locations where party workers were caught on video casting multiple votes. But India’s Election Commission, led by a three-member panel nominated by the government, has been criticized for leaving many more allegations of irregularities unaddressed.

Some of these reports involved classic voter intimidation. In Uttar Pradesh state, for instance, baton-wielding police in recent weeks were filmed beating Muslim voters, who generally vote against the Hindu nationalist BJP, and driving them from polling stations. In the far northeast, voting has been marred by gun-toting militias who seized booths and roughed up party workers, according to eyewitnesses and news reports.

“There have been clear failures in election management,” said S.Y. Qureshi, India’s chief election commissioner from 2010 to 2012. Qureshi noted that Indian bureaucrats worked hard in the 1990s to curtail widespread violence that often took place on election day targeting voters from lower castes, but he feared similar abuses from decades ago were creeping back. “How can this happen?” he asked angrily. “What action will be taken?”

Gopal Krishna Agarwal, a BJP national spokesman, dismissed allegations as campaign rhetoric by the party’s opponents. He said the BJP has never tried to suppress turnout. “These things are for the Election Commission to decide,” Agarwal said. “We believe in our institutions. We believe in and respect the democratic values that have brought us where we are.”

At the same time, opposition parties and political analysts have alleged that local BJP officials have tried a new tactic during this election: removing challengers from races altogether.

In the central city of Indore, the sole candidate from a major opposition party dropped out hours before the withdrawal deadline and joined the BJP after a local judge brought fresh charges of attempted murder against him as part of a 17-year-old land dispute. In Khajuraho, another central city, the BJP candidate also ran without a major-party rival after election officials disqualified his opponent, citing incomplete paperwork.

In Gandhinagar, the seat of the powerful home minister Amit Shah in western India, opposition candidates released teary-eyed videos claiming they had received death threats warning them against running.

Adam Ziegfeld, an expert on Indian politics at Temple University, said the use of law enforcement or trumped-up cases came “out of the tool kit of electoral autocrats.”

“This is about who gets scared off from running,” Ziegfeld said. “If you look at who [Russian President Vladimir] Putin lets run against him, it’s no wonder he wins.”

No contest

In Surat, a BJP stronghold in Modi’s home state of Gujarat, opposition candidates began to fall by the wayside in April.

One told reporters he was too depressed to campaign. Another cryptically cited “personal reasons” but posed for a photo shaking hands with a BJP leader. Two other candidates’ nomination papers were rejected by local officials. Finally, there was just one contender left challenging the BJP: Pyarelal Bharti, a veteran of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which represents low-caste voters across northern India

Behind the scenes, BJP officials were waging an intense campaign to bribe and pressure each of their rivals, including Bharti, to withdraw before the deadline on April 22, according to local media reports that were corroborated by interviews with opposition leaders.

But by April 21, BJP officials still could not locate Bharti. Opposition party leaders had conferred and agreed to whisk Bharti out of Surat to the nearby city of Vadodara, where he could hide beyond the reach of BJP party workers, said local leaders from the BSP and the Congress party. But pressure began to mount before midnight, recalled Satish Sonawane, the BSP party chief in Surat.

First, a friend of Sonawane who served in the Surat police called to say that a rich local businessman had offered to pay Sonawane in exchange for revealing Bharti’s whereabouts. “He said they were willing to pay as much as we like,” Sonawane said. “But I told him that I didn’t enter politics for such things.”

The next morning, homes in Vadodara belonging to the BSP state leader, Surender Singh Kaloria, were raided by police, who also surrounded the home of Bharti’s son-in-law where the BJP believed Bharti was hiding, said one of Bharti’s associates, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared retribution.

By midday, BJP supporters found Bharti and drove him back to Surat. He entered the government office through a back door and withdrew his candidacy shortly before the 3 p.m. deadline, according to BSP leaders, Bharti’s associate and one local journalist. That evening, Bharti left Surat and never came back; his phone has been switched off, and he could not be reached for comment.

Manishkumar Rathod, the police inspector who led the raid on Kaloria’s homes, said in a telephone call that Vadodara police had received an anonymous tip that Kaloria was illegally storing alcohol in his home. He denied that his unit tried to locate Bharti or interfere with the election.

“I’ve seen money being involved before,” Kaloria said, referring to the tactic of paying rival candidates to drop out. “This was the first time I’ve seen police involved.”

A step too far

On April 22, with no votes cast or opponents standing, local officials named the BJP candidate, a first-time candidate named Mukesh Dalal, to be the next member of Parliament from Surat. The BJP Gujarat party chief, C.R. Paatil, immediately celebrated on social media, boasting that the BJP had won its first seat even though results were supposed to be announced on June 4.

The episode stunned many in India. Even leaders within the BJP’s Delhi headquarters wondered whether the Gujarat party officials went too far, said a senior Gujarat political journalist who covered the saga closely.

Paatil, the BJP’s state chief, declined to speak to The Post about the race in Surat. But on the day of the scheduled election, his colleagues at the BJP office in town acknowledged that the incident backfired. The state party was under pressure to demonstrate its strength and deliver high voter turnout. Yet the opposite happened, they said: Many residents in districts neighboring Surat believed their elections were also canceled and didn’t bother to vote.

Outside, an uneasy quiet settled. In a working-class neighborhood near the famous diamond polishing center, Bhupendrabhai Brahmbhatt and his daughter-in-law Seema watched boys play cricket in an alley that, on any other election day, would have been teeming with party workers scrambling to mobilize voters.

Both said they were longtime BJP supporters but felt a line had been crossed. “How could we change our rulers if no one is competing?” Seema asked.

“Our politics have become such,” Bhupendrabhai sighed, “that those who rule by might take all of the gains.”


Karishma Mehrotra and Shams Irfan contributed to this report.

INDIA 

HINDUTVA IS FASCISM

Why Is the RSS Distancing Itself From the BJP?

BJP and RSS leaders are going to great lengths to send out the message that the RSS is a cultural organization and uninvolved in the BJP’s political activity.

By Sudha Ramachandran
May 31, 2024



Members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh participate in a “path sanchalan” or route march in Bhopal, India, October 23, 2016.Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Suyash Dwivedi


India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), have stepped up efforts to beef up the RSS’ image as a cultural organization and project themselves as distinct entities.

In a recent interview published in Indian Express, J. P. Nadda, national president of the BJP, went to great lengths to establish the RSS as an apolitical organization that is separate from the BJP. The “RSS is a cultural organization and we are a political organization,” Nadda said, adding that the RSS has “a century-long experience of working on socio-cultural issues.”

Distinguishing the work the BJP and RSS do, Nadda pointed out that their “areas of working [are] very clearly established”: “Woh ideologically apna kaam karte hain, hum apna” (They do their ideology-related work, we do ours). With the BJP capabilities having grown, it “runs itself,” Nadda said, stressing that “we are managing our own affairs in our own way.” In essence, the BJP chief was making the point that the RSS is not involved in the BJP’s political work.

A few days later Ram Madhav, an executive member of the RSS and a former spokesperson of the BJP, reiterated the RSS’ apolitical character in an article. The RSS is focused on “nation-building activities” and not politics, he wrote, pointing out that but for the 1977 and 2014 general elections when the RSS was convinced of the need to involve itself in canvassing for parties, it has “stayed away from active politics.”

What the two leaders said is nothing that the RSS and the BJP have not claimed before. The RSS has always maintained that it is a cultural organization and that it neither has political objectives nor engages in political activity. The RSS denies that it has anything to do with politics, decisions, or policymaking of the BJP, or with the BJP’s election efforts. However, RSS and BJP leaders seem to have initiated of late a concerted campaign to send out this message loud and clear.

During the ongoing campaign in the Indian general elections, BJP and RSS leaders have been “striving really hard to make people believe that the RSS is ‘an apolitical’ and ‘a cultural’ organization which has nothing to do with the BJP’s election efforts or its decision-making process,” Dhirendra K. Jha, author of “Shadow Armies: Fringe Organizations and Foot Soldiers of Hindutva,” told The Diplomat.

Founded in 1925 to “organize the entire Hindu society” through individual character building and instilling “discipline and social consciousness,” the RSS is the parent organization of the Sangh Parivar (literally the RSS’ Family), which is an umbrella grouping of organizations including the RSS, the BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), etc.

Although these organizations ostensibly have different stated primary functions — the BJP, for instance, was set up as a party to contest elections and gain political power, and the BMS and the ABVP to organize workers and students, respectively — they work in tandem to achieve objectives. Thus, activists from all Parivar constituents participated in the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, and in the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat in 2002.

Jha described the Parivar as “a multi-headed hydra-like organization in which one can make a distinction [between the different constituent organizations] only at the leadership level; the main body is the same.”

During elections, the entire Parivar, “including the RSS, turns itself into a gigantic election machine,” Jha said, with “the disciplined and extremely intolerant cadres of the RSS providing the sheet anchor for the BJP – from working at the booth level wherever they are present to kicking up polarizing issues for the electoral benefits of the BJP.” According to Jha, “a network of senior RSS men in the BJP act as the representatives of the parent organization, monitoring, directing, and guiding the party’s approach to any major issues.”

The RSS denies that it engages in political activity. While it does admit to participating in election campaigns, the aim is to “sensitize voters” on “cultural values and social problems that plague our society,” an RSS pracharak (propagandist) in Bengaluru told The Diplomat.

“We discuss ‘cultural’ issues, like the building of the Ram Temple,” he said, insisting that the demolition of the mosque and subsequent building of the temple at the site in Ayodhya are “cultural matters.” He categorically stated that RSS workers “do not solicit votes for any party, including the BJP.” At best, “we may speak of the importance of having a government that protects our cultural values,” he said.

Why does the RSS deny its involvement in political activity? Why is it anxious to maintain a cultural façade? The reasons can be traced back to events in 1948-1949.

Following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by an RSS functionary in January 1948, the RSS was banned by the central government. According to Jha, the RSS was “desperate to wriggle out of the ban,” and so pledged to function solely as a cultural organization and not engage in politics. The RSS constitution specifically mentions this; Article 4 states: “The Sangh, as such, has no politics and is devoted purely to cultural work.”

Expanding beyond “cultural work” would not only make the RSS seem like it is violating its own constitution but also, legally this would put the RSS in “a very weak spot,” Jha pointed out. It could even “attract government action, in case and whenever there is a change in the regime.”

According to Jha, traditionally, the RSS leadership has maintained “ambiguity in its relationship with the BJP,” which has helped it to project an “image of an apolitical, cultural body.”

However, over the past decade of BJP rule the ambiguity in this relationship, which previously had provided the RSS with “security cover,” has declined. With the “security cover” eroded, the RSS’ political core lies exposed, leaving the group vulnerable to opposition attacks and government action, Jha said.

The BJP is expected to win the general elections and return to power for a third consecutive time. However, the possibility of the opposition INDIA bloc coming to power cannot be completely ruled out. In his speeches, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has often equated the BJP with the RSS, and several INDIA bloc politicians do not seem opposed to banning the RSS should they come to power. The possibility of government action has unsettled the RSS.

According to Jha, “the whole exercise by Nadda and Madhav is, therefore, aimed at restoring the ‘security cover’ to the RSS by re-emphasizing the ambiguity in the RSS-BJP relationship.”

Some have interpreted Nadda’s remarks distinguishing the RSS from the BJP as a “virtual declaration of independence by the BJP from the RSS,” a public declaration that the BJP “doesn’t need any hand-holding by the patriarch anymore.” Such interpretations have triggered speculation over a rift between the RSS and the BJP.

Although the RSS and the BJP have differences and the relationship between Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagvat is strained, the Parivar is not staring at a split. Indeed, the manner in which BJP and RSS leaders have swung to action to provide “security cover” for the RSS suggests that this is still one family.

Sikh separatist contests India election from jail, a worry for government

A jailed Sikh separatist leader is running in India's general election from prison and receiving significant support, according to his campaign managers.

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
31 May, 2024

Amritpal Singh responding to questions during an interview at village Jallupur Khera on March 2, 2023 in Amritsar, India. 

(Photo by Sameer Sehgal/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

A jailed Sikh separatist leader is contesting India's general election from prison and drawing good support, his campaign managers said, in what could become a concern for New Delhi which has sought to stamp out any revival of Sikh militancy.

Amritpal Singh, 31, is detained in a high-security prison in Assam, nearly 3,000 km (1,865 miles) from his Khadoor Sahib constituency in Punjab state, where villages and towns are dotted with posters depicting him with swords and bullet-proof vests.

Singh was arrested last year and jailed under a tough security law after he and hundreds of his supporters stormed a police station with swords and firearms, demanding the release of one of his aides.

A win for him in an election to parliament could give Singh some legitimacy and spark concerns of a revival of a militancy that killed tens of thousands of people in the 1970s and 1980s.

"People will make their decision on June 1," Singh's father Tarsem, 61, said referring to the voting in the constituency on Saturday. "They will send an important message to those who have maligned his image, to those who are defaming our community and our Punjab."

Tarsem Singh spoke inside a Sikh temple set beside wheat fields and a river canal. Portraits of Sikhs who were killed during the militancy in Punjab, called "martyrs" by Singh's supporters, were pinned on the walls.

Sikhs are the majority community in Punjab but they constitute just 2% of India's 1.4 billion people. Sikh militants began agitating for an independent homeland in the 1970s but the insurgency was largely suppressed by the early 1990s with harsh crackdowns.

However, Sikh separatism has made global headlines in the last year as Canada and the United States have accused India of being involved in assassination plots against Sikhs in those countries, charges New Delhi has denied.

Singh said in a 2023 interview that he was seeking a separate homeland for Sikhs and the people of Punjab, where the religion was founded more than 500 years ago.

Singh's 'tsunami'

To be sure, Singh's campaign is focused on fighting Punjab's drug problem, freeing former Sikh militants from prison and protecting the Sikh identity in Hindu majority India. His father and aides are careful to avoid any mention of the idea of a Sikh homeland.

"There is a tsunami in the name of Amritpal Singh, anyone who stands against him will be swept off," said Imaan Singh Khara, 27, Singh's lawyer.

Community leaders pushed Singh to contest from Khadoor Sahib, a historical centre for Sikhs on the border with Pakistan, despite his initial hesitation, his aides said. Indian law allows undertrials to contest polls.

Singh is contesting as an independent and his main rivals - also all Sikhs - belong to the opposition Congress party, the Sikh-centric Shiromani Akali Dal, Punjab's ruling Aam Aadmi Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Amritpal Singh may have some support but not enough to win, said BJP candidate Manjit Singh Manna. "People have seen the militancy days, they don't want those days toreturn," Manna said.


Demand for a separate Sikh nation has more support abroad, but a rise in support for Singh risks giving new legs to extremist politics at a time when mainstream parties are wrapped in their own rivalries, analysts say.

"Once you weaken the moderates, people get articulation through these fringe radicals, which is a danger signal," said Pramod Kumar, chairperson of the Institute for Development and Communication, based in the city of Chandigarh.

"Amritpal may win, in a four-cornered contest he may win."

 

Is India supplying arms to Israel? ‘Third party vendors’ more likely at play

May 31, 2024 by Kofi Jane

However, experts said the likelihood that the explosives from India were meant to be used by Israel as weapons of war is highly unlikely.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive for a meeting in New Delhi in 2018. Photo: AP

“What is happening in Gaza is hand-to-hand fighting, a war of attrition, and targeted bombing, which is inhuman. But they don’t require Indian weapons or intelligence because it involves high-precision bombing,” said Pushpesh Pant, former dean of the School of International Studies at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.

“We tend to forget that explosives are not only used for conflict, but they are used for mining and other civilian purposes,” he added. He also noted that India lags far behind both Israel and the US in terms of modern explosive technologies.

Pant also cited the “long supply chain involved” as a reason to doubt that India is covertly supplying weapons to Israel, with shipments to Israel being tightly controlled by both land and sea blockades.

Right now, the notion that India was supplying arms to Israel was “only an allegation”, Pant said.

Israeli troops are currently pursuing Hamas militants in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite calls from the US, EU and other countries to curb the attacks to protect civilians in the area.

On Wednesday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesman, Randhir Jaiswal condemned the loss of civilian lives due to an Israeli strike in Rafah as “heartbreaking” and called for respecting international humanitarian law in the ongoing conflict.

“We have consistently called for protection of the civilian population and respect for international humanitarian law in the ongoing conflict,” he said.

Delhi’s condemnation came nearly three weeks after Israel began its offensive in Rafah, which has forced nearly a million Palestinians to flee the city. Many have been displaced multiple times since the eight-month-old war began in Gaza.

The situation in Gaza has deteriorated over the past few months due to a scarcity of food, fuel, and other supplies, leaving Palestinians to largely fend for themselves.

India-Israel ties

While India has shown solidarity with Palestinians in the past, that relationship has waned in recent years, a trend that has accelerated during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 10-year rule.

Analysts attribute the shift to the government’s focus on garnering support from the majority-Hindu population at the expense of its Muslim minority.

Israel is an important weapons supplier to India and the countries share military intelligence, leading to diminishing support for Palestinians among Indians. Nonetheless, Delhi has tried to balance its position on the conflict by sending humanitarian aid to Gaza.

In February, local media reported that Indian trade unions had declared they would not load or unload weapons for Israel on any ships carrying arms bound for the country. This followed reports that a private Indian firm in Hyderabad had supplied military drones to Israel.

Analysts did say there was a possibility that weapons or explosives could be making their way from India to Israel via third parties.

“The whole arms trade is a very murky thing. Nowadays, it is possible to set up firms outside the country which can export arms to other countries,” said a source, who did not want to be identified, adding that a quid pro quo between the two countries could not be ruled out.

Israeli police release Palestinian woman after arresting her for post about Rafah

Video circulating on social media shows police arresting beauty shop owner after she made post expressing sadness over attack on camp for displaced

 30/05/2024 Thursday
AA


Israeli police released a Palestinian beauty shop owner from the town of Majd al-Krum in northern Israel on Thursday following her arrest over a social media post expressing sadness and solidarity with Palestinians in Rafah after a weekend strike on a camp for displaced people.

On Tuesday, a video circulated on social media, allegedly filmed by a police officer, showing a policewoman tying Rasha Kareem's hands and blindfolding her while transferring her to an interrogation center.

“Rasha was interrogated due to a post on social media,” her lawyer, Hussein Manna, told local radio station Shams.

“We were surprised by the leaked video, which was leaked by police officers themselves, as it was filmed inside the police station by one of its officers who arrested Rasha for interrogation,” he added.

The lawyer said her arrest was “illegal and brutal. There is no justification for this humiliating method.”

Manna said “what is strange is that the video was not officially released but leaked secretly to spread fear and intimidation to everyone, suggesting that this is what awaits those who are summoned for interrogation.”

There has been no comment from the Israeli police on the arrest or the lawyer's statements.

Sunday's Israeli airstrike on the tent camp for displaced people in Rafah triggered a fire and killed 45 people.

The attack occurred near the logistics base of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Tal al-Sultan.


Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 36,240 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and over 81,777 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio

DEMOCRACY NOW!

“I Was Shocked”: Meet the State Dept. Official Who Quit After Report Denies Israel Blocking Gaza Aid

STORYMAY 31, 2024


GUESTS

Stacy Gilbert
former State Department official who resigned in protest over the Biden administration’s Gaza policies.

After working at the U.S. State Department for over 20 years, Stacy Gilbert quit the Biden administration this week after a report she contributed to concluded Israel was not obstructing humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Gilbert served as a senior civil military adviser in the State Department’s chief humanitarian office, which features heavily in internal policy discussions over Gaza. Despite “abundant evidence showing Israel is responsible for blocking aid,” the report concluded the opposite and was used by the Biden administration to justify continuing to send billions of dollars of weapons to Israel. Gilbert says she was “shocked” to find that the report concluded Israel was not not blocking humanitarian assistance: “That is not the view of subject matter experts at the State Department, at USAID, nor among the humanitarian community. And that was known. That was absolutely known to the administration for a very long time.” Gilbert says there is a clear pattern by Israel “of arbitrarily limiting, restricting or just outright blocking assistance going in that has caused the very grave situation in Gaza

 

Exclusive: USAID Contractor Resigns After Presentation on Maternal & Child Mortality in Gaza Canceled

STORY  MAY 31, 2024

GUESTS

Alex Smith former contractor for USAID who was forced to resign over the Biden administration’s support for the war on Gaza.

In a broadcast exclusive, Democracy Now! speaks with Alex Smith, a former contractor with the U.S. Agency for International Development who resigned in protest over the Biden’s administration’s support for the war on Gaza. Smith worked as a senior adviser on gender, maternal health, child health and nutrition at USAID until last week, when he was set to deliver a presentation on maternal and child mortality among Palestinians. One day before he was scheduled to present, the USAID leadership canceled his presentation. Smith says he was then given a choice between resignation and dismissal. “I would like them to stop gaslighting and speak truthfully about what is happening,” says Smith, who says USAID must do more than acknowledge famine is happening in Gaza. “We need to take the next step of saying it is illegal and who is doing the starvation intentionally.” Smith condemns the Biden administration for silencing U.S. experts while supporting Israel, which claims there is no famine in Gaza. “It’s shameful that that misinformation can go around the world to millions, while we at USAID can’t even whisper about it in a conference on gender and human rights and health outcomes.”

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Over 16,000 people are living in 1 school in central Gaza: UN refugee agency

More than 32,000 people have also fled Rafah in the past two days, says UNRWA

 30/05/2024 Thursday
AA


The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNWRA) said Thursday that more than 16,000 displaced Palestinians are living in dire conditions in one of its schools in Deir al-Balah city in central Gaza.

The agency shared an image of the school on X.

“Families are living in classrooms, hallways and makeshift shelters built with plastic,” it said.

The agency described living conditions in the school as dire with scarce resources, insufficient sanitation facilities and very limited supplies.

UNRWA also revealed that in the past two days, more than 32,000 people have fled the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.

“Families look for safety, but damage and destruction are their only horizon in the Gaza Strip,” it added.

“No place is safe from endless bombardment,” UNRWA said, highlighting the pervasive danger faced by civilians.

“People forced to leave everything behind; their lives at risk every day,” it added.

The Israeli army began its ground offensive on Rafah on May 6. Around 1.5 million displaced Palestinians had sought refuge there, with UNRWA saying that more than 800,000 have fled the city since the start of the attack.

Rafah's vital border crossing with Egypt has been closed since Israel seized the Gazan side when it began its Rafah invasion.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.


More than 36,240 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and over 81,777 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its operation in Rafah.

Returning to find a city filled with rubble

Ruwaida Amer The Electronic Intifada 31 May 2024

Fetching water is an arduous task in Khan Younis. Naaman OmarAPA images

Massive destruction has been inflicted on Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The city’s residents were forced to flee en masse when Israeli troops invaded in December. The ground offensive lasted several months.

When people returned, they were shocked to see what remained. Many areas of the city were almost unrecognizable.

People either had to set up tents where they used to live or try to reclaim part of homes that had been damaged – often badly – and move back in.

Khaled al-Sir, 50, had to evacuate his home in the center of Khan Younis during January. He went to the outskirts of the city and sought basic shelter in a tent.

It offered no real protection from the elements.

“I kept on getting sick during the winter months,” he said. “When temperatures began to rise, it was as hot as hell inside the tent.”

After he heard that Israeli troops had withdrawn from Khan Younis, Khaled returned to inspect his house.

It had been struck by shells and largely destroyed. Yet Khaled said he decided to move back in “without hesitation.”

Despite being told that Israel had laid waste to the city’s infrastructure, Khaled felt “it would be better to spend all day searching for water than to return to the tent.”

“I was happy to see neighbors and friends again,” he added. “I felt that my soul had been given back to me.”
Bulldozed

Marwa al-Louh, 40, lived behind Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.

“The Israeli army completely bulldozed my home,” she said. “There is no trace of it.”

Marwa had evacuated Khan Younis and gone to an area near Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city. When Israel invaded Rafah a few weeks ago, she came back to Khan Younis.

“I cried a lot when I found that my home was a pile of rubble,” she said. “But I did not despair and set up a tent where my house used to be.”

Her daily routine now includes joining a long queue for water.

Although she takes some comfort in being reunited with neighbors, she said that “it is difficult to live in a city filled only with rubble.”

“The situation here is very depressing,” she added.

Salem Daqqa, 28, had been displaced from Abasan, east of Khan Younis. When he returned a few weeks ago, he encountered total destruction.

It is impossible for farmers in the area to work as it is close to the boundary with Israel. The Israeli military has a tendency to open fire at anyone approaching the boundary.

Even though Israel has removed ground troops from the area, its airstrikes against Abasan are continuing. Several members of one family were killed in one such airstrike recently.

“We are tired of being displaced,” Salem said. “We have decided to return home, even though there is still a big danger.”

Salem previously worked selling vegetables – grown by local farmers – on Jalal street in Khan Younis. He had a stall near the Bank of Palestine.

“When we went back to the city, I was shocked by what I saw on the street,” he said.

“The shops and the banks were completely destroyed – as if there had been an earthquake in the area or a nuclear bomb was dropped on the street.”

Ruwaida Amer is a journalist based in Gaza.

Gaza's Jabalia camp left in ruins after Israeli army withdrawal

Israeli forces withdrew from northern Gaza on Friday, leaving behind large-scale destruction of homes and infrastructure.

The New Arab Staff
31 May, 2024

Jabalia camp has been under intense bombardment since 8 October [Getty]


The Israeli army withdrew from Gaza's Jabalia camp on Friday after a 20-day bombardment that destroyed homes and infrastructure.

Jabalia is Gaza’s largest refugee camp, once home to over 100,000 people.

Several bodies have been recovered from the camp and the nearby Beit Lahia area, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

The organisation says its teams are facing difficulties extracting bodies from under the rubble due to a lack of the necessary equipment, and the delayed recovery poses a risk of diseases and epidemics in north Gaza.

Palestinians have been forced to search through the rubble, trying to find their belongings and loved ones.

The Israeli army said on Friday its troops had "completed" its mission in eastern Jabalia and is preparing for new incursions.

The military claimed it had killed hundreds of fighters, recovered the bodies of seven Israeli captives and destroyed 10km of underground tunnels.

Palestinians in Rafah struggle to figure out where to go

The Israeli army started the operation on 12 May, stating they were on a mission to locate Hamas cells. The attacks forced thousands to flee towards the west of Gaza City.

Over 70 percent of the camp has been destroyed, including public facilities, hospitals and schools.

Al Jazeera reported over 1,0000 homes have been destroyed, while residential buildings were also burned down.

In southern Gaza, Israeli forces continued their bombardment of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced Palestinians are sheltering, with no other area to flee to.

World leaders expressed outrage over an Israeli strike on 26 May which targeted a displacement camp, killing 45 civilians, despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering an "immediate halt" to the invasion.

Since 7 October, over 36,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, while at least 81,800 have been wounded. At least 10,000 more are either missing or under the rubble.

Israel keeps changing storyline on Rafah massacre as global fury mounts

Israel's fluctuating narrative regarding the bombing of Tal al Sultan camp for internally displaced Palestinians on May 26 — killing at least 45 people and wounding more than 250 — finds few takers and is fuelling skepticism worldwide.



AA

Palestinians say Israeli aircraft dropped seven 900kg (2,000-pound) bombs on tents of displaced Palestinians near United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees warehouses of Rafah, Gaza, on May 26, 2024. / Photo: AA

Israel continues to alter its account of the Rafah massacre with inconsistent narratives amid escalating global outrage over Tel Aviv's bombing of displaced Palestinian tents on May 26, that left at least 45 people dead and wounded 250 others.

The pictures and videos of dismembered and charred bodies, some of them belonging to babies and minors, have raised an international outcry as tens of thousands of people took to streets in global cities to protest.

Asked to investigate itself by its allies US and Germany, Israel has presented various interpretations of its carnage.

The Israeli occupation forces initially claimed to have conducted "precision strikes" using "precision munitions" based on "accurate intelligence" to target two Hamas members in the area, where displaced Palestinians were seeking refuge.

"The attack was carried out in the Tal al Sultan area in the northwest of Rafah and based on accurate intelligence," Israeli military claimed.

After it turned out that the Israeli bombs burned Palestinian civilians alive and slashed many children into pieces, sparking global outrage, hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began to twist the Israeli version of the story, saying the bombing was a "tragic mistake."

"Despite our best efforts not to harm those not involved, unfortunately, a tragic error happened last night. We are investigating the case," he stated.

Israel's top military prosecutor, Major General Yifat Tomer, subsequently described the attack on Palestinian civilians as "very grave," adding that the "details of the incident are still under investigation."

On the third day of the massacre, Israel's new narrative emerged. This version sought to shift blame onto Palestinians for their own deaths at the location that Israel had designated as a "humanitarian area."

Tel Aviv now claims the civilian casualties in makeshift shelters resulted from secondary explosion caused by its strike on Hamas operatives.

Israel's army spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, said: "[We used] the smallest munition we can put on our planes. Our munition alone would not have ignited a fire of this size. Something else ignited the fire."

'We pulled out children who were in pieces'

Palestinian authorities have stood by their account. They say Israel dropped seven bombs, as well as missiles, on the displacement camp, days after the UN's top court, the International Court of Justice, ordered Netanyahu's regime to halt its attacks on Gaza.

Witnesses told TRT World and other media outlets that when the US-made bombs exploded in the congested tent city, it was inevitable for the plastic canopies to escape fire, which spread quickly, burning alive many trapped Palestinians.

Emergency doctors on the ground also described the carnage — in which babies sleeping in their beds were torn apart, with mangled torsos left in their wake — as one of the most horrific massacres witnessed in Gaza.

Mohammed Abuassa, who rushed to the scene, said rescuers "pulled out people who were in an unbearable state."

"We pulled out children who were in pieces. We pulled out young and elderly people. The fire in the camp was unreal," he said.

Gaza officials said the victims included at least 12 women, eight children and three older adults, with another three bodies burned beyond recognition.

Boeing-made bombs used to kill Palestinians?

Israel has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians — 72 percent of them babies, children, and women — and wounded over 81,000 in its 235-day war on Gaza. Around 10,000 people are feared buried under the debris of bombed buildings.

Rafah, the southernmost Gaza city on the border with Egypt, had housed more than a million people — about half of Gaza's population — displaced from other parts of the territory.

Most have fled once again since Israel launched its invasion earlier this month. Hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps in and around the city.

While the Israeli military has pledged to investigate into its own actions, it has found little or no takers with many considering the attempts nothing but a brazen attempt to obscure the truth in the face of growing global outrage.

The munition in question appears to carry a lethal impact, as indicated by media reports.

Al Jazeera’s Sanad Verification Agency managed to obtain images of fragments believed to be from the weaponry used in the attack.

The photos show the tail of a GBU-39/B bomb, manufactured by Boeing. The GBU-39/B includes a jet engine from the M26 unguided missile, the agency said.

According to international laws of armed conflict, any military action posing a significant risk to civilian life must be heavily justified.

The Netanyahu regime's stance — that Rafah is Hamas' last remaining base of operations — appears to many as a pretext to continue the war in Gaza for political gains.

As the global outcry intensifies, pressure is mounting on Israel to provide a credible explanation of the Rafah massacre. So far Israel has put forth numerous accounts of its carnage — all in layers of ambiguity.

SOURCE: TRT WORLD

CONTINUE READING

MIDDLE EAST 27 May 2024

World leaders condemn Israel over latest deadly attack on Rafah tent camp

Understanding US version of ‘red line’ in backdrop of Israel’s war on Gaza

Successive US presidents have invoked red lines to further America’s foreign policy goals.

GREG SIMONS


rafah

Over the years, in the sphere of international relations where the US has played an active role, one of the tools of its foreign policy rhetoric and practice, has been the invocation of red lines as a form of deterrence and an implied threat against its enemies. It’s a form of coercive diplomacy.

But what are red lines exactly, a frequently used term and concept that has been invoked in the 21st century international relations?

A definition that sets the tone of the word ‘red lines’ is as follows. Paris-based researcher Bruno Tertrais describes as “the manipulation of an adversary’s intent through (mostly public) statements for deterrence purposes, referring to the deliberate crossing of a certain threshold by an adversary, and relevant counteraction if this threshold is crossed.”

Of course, the value and effectiveness of red lines depends on whether the adversary deems the threat to be credible in terms of its enforcement and fallout, and whether the action they are being sanctioned for is worth it.

It is a cognitive act of weighing costs versus benefits of being sanctioned and weighing the value of the act against the costs imposed by the red lines (political, economic, etc.).

Red lines are a highly popular means of political symbolism. They convey to the targeted audiences the seriousness of the issue as well as give an appearance that something is being done in foreign policy terms.

Good red line Vs bad one

While the logic may appear to be sound, there’s a clear gap in the consistency of red lines. It basically comes down to ‘Us’ Vs ‘them’. Let me explain.

Washington has for decades preached to the world about the importance of a rules-based order, which helps stop transgression on the part of rogue actors.

But when it comes to red lines, the US has one rule for its enemies and another for its allies and clients.

It’s important to point out that the US is a relatively declining hegemonic power. It is seeking to create a system of informal rules and codes, as a substitute to the formal system of international law, to bend foreign relations in its favour.

A rules-based order is not about international law and quite often violates the core principles it stands for.

Within this geopolitical context, of a declining hegemon seeking to retain its ever-weakening grip on global power and influence, red lines are a tool in the US foreign policy arsenal that carries relatively low costs when they are invoked and involve lesser risks of a significant blowback.

The US is often heard invoking or attempting to impose red lines in international relations, sometimes those obeyed and other times ignored. There is also the aspect of a lack of consistency when it comes to enforcing red lines.

One of the most infamous historical examples of red lines and their enforcement was seen in the lead up to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq on the alleged basis that Baghdad was in possession of weapons of mass destruction.

Another example of red lines came with former US President Barack Obama’s warning to the Assad regime against use of chemical weapons in Syria.

These represent two ‘enemy’ states of the US, but with different outcomes. In the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, after considerable procrastination and delay, US President Joe Biden’s administration spoke about red lines against Israeli military action, which rights see as a “plausible genocide”.

This red line rhetoric made the rounds even as the US continued to give Israel weapons and political and financial support.

Not all red lines are equal, in an Animal Farm kind of way, there are different rules for different countries and separate sets of circumstances to enforce them.

The Red Line bleeding Rafah

On March 10, President Biden in his usual state of cognitive confusion, stated that if Israel continued its war crimes, breaches of international law and the targeting of civilians in Gaza, then there would be consequences for the Jewish state.

He stated categorically that the Israeli invasion of Rafah, a central part of Gaza, would be a red line for the US.

Yet, at the same time he reiterated his absolute and unconditional support for Israel. Furthermore, he also stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was hurting Israel more than helping it with his approach to the war on Gaza.

This shows a clear contradiction in Biden’s word-salad of promise to uphold human decency and dignity on the one hand, and pledge absolute undying loyalty and support to the source of the human suffering on the other.

Biden’s invocation of the red line threat against Israel was not the first time that a US president has used this strategy to try and restrain Tel Aviv.

This begs the question, why issue the threat of red lines to Israel in the first place, and was there any sincerity when it comes to its enforcement?

To answer the first part of the question, the US felt obliged to engage in political symbolism on the global stage, considering its credibility, reputation and image were at stake as the Rules Based Order appears more like a hogwash to many countries in the Global South.

Those virtuous concepts – democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights – that the US preaches to the rest of the world are being ignored and violated on a massive scale and daily basis by Israel.

Israel by virtue of their brutal and disproportionate actions in Gaza is dragging the US down with it.

What’s more bizarre is the fact that Netanyahu dented President Biden’s credibility when he openly threatened to defy the red line in Rafah.

Biden looked weak and politically impotent, given his lack of response or resolve in actually enforcing the red line.

Needless to say, Israel was true to its word in ignoring Biden’s feeble and non-credible red line warning as it launched a major military operation on Rafah.

Israel has violated numerous rules of war and international law, not to mention violating even the most basic aspects of human decency in a heavily disproportionate and indiscriminate attack on Palestinian civilians.

Equally non-credible and lacking any moral or ethical substance was the White House’s dismissal of the assault as not constituting a breach of Biden’s red line.

There was no intention on the part of the US to enforce the red line. Washington was betting on a vague hope that Israel would decide on its own not to attack Rafah.

But given the utter lack of consequences for Israeli actions so far, it was a long shot.

Furthermore, Biden by not living up to his promise by continuing the supply of munitions and weapons, not only encourages the continuation of Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, but is fully complicit in enabling it.

This is a presidential election year in the US and who gets to raise the most funds will play a crucial role in who gets elected.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is a significant campaign contributor.

The only consistency in the red line narrative is the refusal and inability of the Biden administration to impose a red line on Israel, regardless of its actions.

SOURCE: TRT WORLD

Greg Simons is an independent scholar and researcher in Sweden.
@GregSimons12