NEW DELHI: India’s largest civil society organizations held a demonstration in New Delhi on Saturday demanding that the government take a firm stand against the latest Israeli onslaught on civilians in Gaza.
Scores of Palestinian civilians are being killed every day in Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the densely populated enclave following in the latest flare-up in the conflict with Palestine.
A week into the Israeli offensive, around 2,215 people, including 724 minors, have been killed by airstrikes, the Gaza Ministry of Health said. Over 6,000 bombs have been dropped, it added, with most targeting residential buildings, hospitals and places of worship.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi initially offered unequivocal support for Israel, but the government tweaked its official stance on Thursday, saying it had always supported talks towards establishing a independent, sovereign, and viable state of Palestine.
Despite pressure, however, it has not yet commented on the situation in Gaza.
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Arun Kumar, All India Peace and Solidarity Organization, secretary-general, which organized Saturday’s protest and is one of the oldest NGOs in the country, said that New Delhi’s approach went against its foreign policy and the nation’s own historical struggle for freedom. Kumar believes New Delhi must make a clear stand and use its position in the United Nations to exert influence on Israel.
India’s silence
He said that so far, India has been maintaining silence on the indiscriminate strikes. It has to say that this is wrong. The government should take an unequivocal stand against the attacks.
There were fifteen NGOs represented at the New Delhi protest, ranging from rights groups, student and youth associations, trade unions, to women’s organizations.
Maimoona Mollah, one of the most prominent members of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, the largest women’s group in India, said that her organization condemned narratives portraying Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation as “acts of terrorism” and demanded that New Delhi“stand with the people of Palestine, who have been oppressed for over 75 years.”
Mollah said that the protesters in New Delhi rallied against the oppression by Israeli troops, the Zionist apartheid.
