On the 23rd of September, amid the intensification and extension of Israel’s genocidal-war to Lebanon, the shameless administration of ‘Institute of eminence’ Indian Institute of Science (IISc), was hosting an India-Israel Business Summit. This was happening while, there is no university left standing in Gaza and 80% of schools have been destroyed. Palestinian academics and intellectuals have been deliberately killed by Israeli forces. Israel is carrying out a ‘scholasticide’ – a systematic destruction and total annihilation of education. While students in IISc held a protest inside the campus in support of the Palestinian struggle, the Bangalore civil society consisting of progressive activists and students stood outside the campus for a press conference condemning the participation of representatives from reputed Universities in Bangalore such as IIIT-B, IIM, IISc and from the Government of Karnataka. The speakers at the press conference excoriated the Government of Karnataka for legitimising and white-washing Israel’s crime of genocide and terrorist activities against Lebanon and other countries in the Middle East. While address to the press was going on, the participants of the press meet were viciously attacked by the police for holding a Palestine flag, despite protest from the participants, and confiscated the same for the duration of the press conference. Later the activists came to know that in addition to the Israel-Business summit in the morning, another program in the name of ‘Haifa Memorial Lectures’ was hosted in the evening by Mysore Lancers at IISc which included guests such as DK Shivakumar (Deputy Chief Minister) and Dinesh Gundu Rao (Cabinet Minister for Health Government of Karnataka). In this event, Israel flag was hosted at the IISc premises. While Israel flags can fly high without any issues, under Congress’s regime in Karnataka, Palestinian flag is an eyesore!
On 5th of October, when a protest in solidarity with Palestine and Lebanon was organized in Freedom Park under the banner of Bangalore for Justice and Peace, the Bengaluru Police verbally strictly instructed the organizers not to raise any Palestinian flags, if done so, they were warned that the flags will be seized and cases can be slapped. However, a powerful solidarity protest was held, where hundreds gathered in solidarity and demanded the Karnataka and Indian government to discontinue all economic ties with Israel.
On one hand Congress Party gives lip service to the Palestinian cause to garner support of Muslim community and on the other hand multiple cases have been slapped on a number of Muslim youths in Chikkamagaluru, Koppal, Raichur, Chitradurga for raising Palestinien flag and chanting “Free Palestine” slogan or putting “Free Palestine” banners in Eid-e-Milad processions. Some of those boys have been accused of “offending the religious sentiments”! Whose sentiments are they hurting? Is it of the Zionists or of their Sanghi RSS friends?
The political affinity between Modi’s RSS-BJP regime in India and Netanyahu’s Likud regime in Israel is quite well understood, as both are based on fascist ideology. But, why is Congress regime in Karnataka so afraid of Palestinian flags? Are they afraid because Palestinian flags have become a symbol of resistance? They are afraid that people will learn to resist oppression from the Palestinian resistance. People will get inspired and learn how to fight for Freedom.
The Congress rule in Karnataka is acting like part and parcel of the fascist Hindutva regime in India. We have seen that Congress Government has failed to undo all anti-people policies like 12 hours work day, farm laws, protest restrictions passed during the rule of the BJP etc. Under rule of this Congress Party companies like Vignan Technologies Pvt Ltd in Bangalore which is a Joint venture of Adani and Israeli military technology company and defense contractor Elbit systems, is running and providing Intelligence and Surveillance capabilities to Israel and helping them in the current genocide. Another similar joint venture of Elbit system is Alpha Design Technology Ltd running in Bangalore. Perhaps, the Congress Party’s recent official position of “support for the rights of the Palestinian people to land, self-government and to live with dignity and respect” is a farce in Karnataka. With this hypocrisy, Siddaramaiah avare is very much complicit in the genocide going on in Gaza, now in Lebanon too, by allowing these joint ventures of Israeli “killing machine” production company Elbit systems to run in Karnataka. Karnataka also has multiple investments from Israel spanning critical sectors like technology, agriculture, and industrial research. By keeping the city sanitized of Palestinian flags, the Congress government clearly wants to avoid any irritation on the part of their imperialist masters.
Despite all of these, the Innovative International Film Festival (IIFF) supported by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) that was slated to happen in Bangalore from 4-6th October was forced to rescind their invitation to the Consulate General of Israel to South India as a guest of honour and choosing Israel as one of the Countries of Focus upon pressure by left student groups.
Currently, while the article is being written, Gaza is going though a humanitarian crisis with more than 50000 people killed. Israel, the watchdog of US imperialism, has triggered war with Lebanon by carrying out pager and the walkie-talkie blasts killing 32 and injuring thousands. Israel is carpet-bombing Lebanon and the death toll has grown to more than 2000. After assassinating Ismail Haniyeh, the erstwhile supreme leader of Hamas on 31st July, Israel killed Hezbollah’s supreme leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike in Beirut. As a part of retaliation, ahead of October 7th, Israel is under attack with missiles, rockets and other projectiles from multiple fronts. Along with Hamas from Gaza and Hezbollah from Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran have also got involved. The US and UK have jointly attacked Yemen in the name of protecting themselves from the Houthis. Meanwhile, China successfully test-fired intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) that can strike US cities, first time in decades, in an apparent show of strategic deterrence. Ukraine with NATO is already in war with Russia. World polity, which has now become multipolar with US and NATO countries at one side and the alliance of China-Russia-Iran on the other, is seeing intensified inter imperialist conflicts, increasing the chance of another global war. With escalating military conflicts across the world, it is very important for the progressive democratic forces of our country to hold our central and state governments accountable and not let them use the infrastructure built using taxpayers’ money to help the genocide carried out by Israel in Palestine and Lebanon. We should keep constant pressure on the state and central governments, which is supposed to represent the people of our country, so that, if they are in power, they are not allowed to continue to stand by the side of the unjust in this war.
