Amid the Israel-Hamas war, a video of controversial Canadian activist and author Harsha Walia from a 9th October pro-Palestinian protest rally has gone viral on social media, where she interestingly compared Khalistanis to Hamas. Walia, who is a ‘feminist’ and known for her anti-Hindu rants, sparked controversy with her statement, where she drew parallels between the Palestinian cause and the Khalistani movement.
Bigoted Hindu hater and vicious anti-India activist Harsha Walia shills for Hamas terrorists and justifies their hideous terrorism.@JustinTrudeau protects and nurtures such toxic terror enablers. He is as much a threat to rule of law as his pet vipers.pic.twitter.com/VeNryp70Bl
— Kanchan Gupta 🇮🇳 (@KanchanGupta) October 24, 2023
In her statement at the Vancouver Art Gallery, she said, “I am here today as a Sikh feminist in solidarity with Palestine and Palestinian people. We all recently heard about the Indian transnational political assassination of Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar. We know that India and Israel share military weapons, intelligence and counter-insurgency tactics.” She then added that the “struggles” of Palestinians and Khalistanis are connected. In the background, someone kept saying, “F*ck Modi… F*ck Hinduvad”.
A longer version of the statement can be checked below, where she drew parallels between the so-called “occupation of land” by Israel of Palestinian land and Canadian colonisation. She tried to justify the terrorist attack by Hamas on 7th October by bringing the past conflicts between Palestinians and Israel from the past. Accusing Israel of war crimes, she completely skipped condemning the Hamas terrorist attack that killed over 1,300 Israelis and foreign nationals, including children, women, elderly and soldiers.
.@HarshaWalia's speech made at the Vancouver Art Gallery at the October 9th Rally for Palestine.pic.twitter.com/hQ5G8fvyP5
— Bryton 🇵🇸 (@BrytonsThoughts) October 21, 2023
She added, “Shame on all the imperial powers like the US, Canada, the EU, India… Their support, their money, and their weapons to further oppress the Palestinian people. But we, the people, stand with Palestine. We stand on the right side of history. Freedom for Palestine. Freedom for Kashmir. Freedom for all colonised people everywhere.” She claimed that condemning Israel for counter-attacking Hamas was not “anti-Semitism”.
Ultimately, she chanted, “Palestine will be free, from the river to the sea”. This phrase is an anti-Jewish slogan that basically calls for eradicating Israel from the map and establishing Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. It is not limited to Gaza but covers the whole land, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Parallel between Hamas and Khalistani terrorists is justifiable
If we look at the history of atrocities by Palestinian terrorist organisations Hamas and Khalistani terrorist organisations during the insurgency in Punjab, it would not be an exaggeration to say that there are similarities between the two. Palestinian terrorist groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Khalistani terrorist groups like Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) and others were formed to establish a separate nationhood. In the case of Hamas and PIJ, it was for Palestine, while in the case of BKI and KCF, it was for Khalistan.
These organisations indulged in terror attacks and killed innocent civilians. The recent terrorist attack in Israel by Hamas, of which PIJ was part, claimed the lives of 1,300+ Israelis and foreigners. Khalistani terrorist attacks took away the lives of hundreds of thousands of Hindus during the insurgency in Punjab, including the lives of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, then Chief-Minister Beant Singh in 1995, retired Army Chief AS Vaidya in 1986 and other high-profile individuals.
Interestingly, several pro-Palestinians are justifying Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel, though they may never participate directly in a terrorist attack. At the same time, hundreds of pro-Khalistanis live in countries like Canada, Australia, the United States and other countries that justify anti-India activities of terrorist organisations like Sikhs For Justice (SFJ). Many of these pro-Khalistanis have been voting in the so-called referendum organised by SFJ in several cities across different nations. Many of these pro-Khalistanis may avoid getting directly involved in terror activity, but that does not stop them from making anti-India statements, burning Indian flags and calling for the assassination of Indian diplomats.
Harsha Walia has a history of making Hinduphobic and anti-India statements
Harsha Walia has a long history of making Hinduphobic and anti-India statements. In a recent op-ed in Toronto Star, she claims that Hindutva rose in Canada with an aim to “shut down justifiable criticism of Indian state policies and Hindutva forces” by introducing “Hinduphobia”. She categorically denied that Hinduphobia exists and even cited dubious US-based organisation Equality Labs, which is famous for its anti-Hindu stand.
She wrote, “”Hinduphobia” is a manufactured reverse-racism-type narrative, deployed to delegitimise the fight against casteism and the oppression of minorities in and by India. This dog-whistle campaign does not serve racial justice, it actually weakens it by maintaining Hindu nationalism and caste supremacy.”
In September this year, she called the Saffron Flag, a religious symbol of Hindus, an “RSS Hindutva symbol of violence and hate”.
In September 2019, she called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “dangerous genocidal Hindutva fascist” and called for backlash against him.
Harsha Walia’s rhetoric is divisive and polarizing. It exemplifies a narrow-minded and incendiary approach to complex issues. Her apparent animosity towards Hinduism and India is not only intellectually bankrupt but also detrimental to the principles of reasoned discourse and respect for diverse perspectives.
