Demonstrations were held by the so-called “The Solidarity Movement” (TSM) in at least eleven cities to display “solidarity with Palestine” in view of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. OpIndia exposed the group which came into existence on Instagram only last month perhaps after Israel declared war on Hamas following the 7th October terrorist attack by Hamas Jihadis on unsuspecting Israeli citizens, killing over 1,400 and injuring several thousand.
The organiser of TSM has used anti-Hindu and anti-Israel language in her posts, is a declared leftist and has justified Hamas in her stories and posts on Instagram. The pattern displayed by TSM, its founder Pooja Pradeep and those promoting the demonstrations that happened on 14th November extensively were similar to that of the left-liberal Islamists we have seen in several of these protests which demonise Hindus and whitewash the crimes by Islamists.
That the agenda behind their demonstrations was clearly anti-India, anti-Hindu and anti-Israel was proven from some of the messages displayed. One of the many messages on a placard from the demonstration in Kochi reads, “From Kashmir to Palestine end to occupation”. Another placard from one of the demonstrations read, “From Kashmir to the Western Sahara, to Palestine, our fight is one, and our freedom is inevitable.”
Essentially, when the Kerala group says that “our fight is one”, they are alluding to the “fight of all Muslims” and the Ummah. Ummah states that all Muslims across the world essentially form one nation and a common brotherhood.
One of the participants from Ernakulam named Ashfaque took to Instagram to share an image of a placard in Malayalam in his story. The text he wrote on the same goes as follows, “People’s resistance till Zionism drown in Red Sea and Hindutva drown in Arabian Sea.” Part of his story further calls for resistance saying that there are different ways of resistance. “Ultimate aim is Azadi, by any means necessary,” the story on Ashfaque’s Instagram reads.
While these narratives were predicted by OpIndia, a bizarre statement was released by TSM on Instagram about the outcome of the demonstrations. TSM held India responsible and accountable for the situation in Gaza. “Despite the people of the country showing their unwavering solidarity with the Palestinians, India abstained from voting for the ceasefire in the UN. However, in a later UN resolution, India voted to recognise Israel’s occupation there,” the statement read.
TSM used the Indian Constitution to say “any support for the indiscriminate massacre of civilians (which includes the bombing of hospitals, ambulances, Red Cross aid trucks carrying medical supplies, churches, mosques, journalists, UN schools, refugee camps, bakeries, and formally declared “safe zones”), is a violation of international law, as well as India’s constitutional responsibility under Article 51 to “promote international peace and security” and to “foster respect for international law”.
Hilariously, citing the Directive Principles of State Policy, TSM claims that it demands “immediate attention of the government of India, and swift, impactful measures”.
While India has supported Israel’s right to self defence after ghastly terror attacks against it by Hamas and condemned all forms of terrorism, India has also unequivocally supported the two-nation solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and peaceful resolution of conflict. India also condemned the loss of civilian lives in the process of Israel’s retaliation against Hamas. These steps taken by India is consonance with the Directive Principles of State Policy. In fact, Article 51 acts as a guiding principle of India’s foreign policy and does not require it to get directly involved in international wars, which TSM seems to want India to do.
Days before the 14th November demonstration, TSM shared the details of the event explaining point by point the process that is to be followed. This included reading a communal prayer along with the names of the deceased in Gaza, a list that was released by the Gaza Health Ministry, which is run largely by Hamas.
