Whenever a war happens, innocent people often find themselves on the list of casualties. The same thing is happening in the Israel-Palestine (Gaza) conflict. Killing of any innocent — whether an Israeli or a Palestinian or of any nationality — can never be justified. Unfortunately, due to political reasons, all innocent people who are killed as a result of hatred or violence aren’t seen as equals. The same is happening to the innocents who got killed in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
In India, the Left parties are most vocal about the Palestinian cause. They organise rallies and hold processions or dharnas in various parts of the country. Recently, the Left parties even organised a long procession in Kolkata to express solidarity for the Palestinian cause.
Interestingly, during the solidarity rallies for the Palestinians, the “secular” Leftists have remained silent on the atrocities carried out by the Islamic terrorist group Hamas. Disgustingly, some Leftists have even supported the Hamas terrorists, who mercilessly killed more than 1300 Israelis during the attack carried out on October 7, and have been hailed as freedom fighters. It is so shameful that these terrorists, who didn’t even spare babies, are being compared with freedom fighters of our country.
True that in the counterattack launched by Israel to finish off the Hamas terrorists, many Palestinians have lost their lives and as the war continues, they continue to lose their lives. It is not that the attacks launched by Israel are only killing the Palestinian people. A rocket launched by Hamas towards Israel failed and fell on the ground, causing an explosion in Gaza’s Ahli Arab hospital, killing hundreds. Initially, Israel was blamed but later, evidence showed that it was a rocket fired from within the Palestinian territory (obviously fired by Hamas terrorists). This shows how the lives of the common Palestinians have become pawns in this Israel-Hamas conflict.
Hamas, which claims to fight for the Palestinians, has never allowed any elections since 2007, when it came to power for the first time. Since then, there has been an authoritarian rule in Gaza. However, this aspect has been ignored by the Left parties, who otherwise do not get tired of raising slogans that democracy has been in danger in the country since the Narendra Modi-led BJP government came to power in 2014. Isn’t this an irony? The Left will not talk about democracy in Gaza, where it ceased to exist since Hamas came to power in 2007 but is concerned about the health of democracy in the country where, despite some drawbacks, democracy has been the norm with free and fair elections taking place regularly.
Actually, the Left parties are not worried about the common Palestinians. If they are so concerned about the humanitarian cause, then why haven’t they held such large-scale solidarity rallies or processions for the Ukrainians, who have been facing the attack of Russia since last year? Or is it because the victims of the Russia-Ukraine war have no resonance in the country’s electoral politics?
Whether the Left parties accept this bitter truth or not, their solidarity rallies for the Palestinians are less about humanity and more about reaping electoral benefits. Recently, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) of Kerala held a solidarity rally for Palestinians. The invitation for participation was also sent to the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a constituent of the Congress-led United Democratic Front, the rival bloc of LDF. The IUML leadership later had to decline the invitation.
It was very clear for what intentions this invitation was sent to the IUML by the CPM, the largest constituent of the LDF. No wonder that the main Opposition leader of the state, V D Satheesan, alleged that the CPM was politicising the Palestinian issue. Let’s not forget that the IUML is very influential among a significant section of Muslims, who account for 27 per cent of the state’s population. Currently, Kerala is the only bastion of the Left after losing West Bengal and Tripura and the beleaguered Left is using all tactics to save its last bastion by trying to woo the IUML.
In doing this, the CPM itself is diluting its own stand on communalism. In a response to a question posed by this writer six years ago in People’s Democracy, the national weekly mouthorgan of the CPM, the mouthpiece had called the IUML a Muslim fundamentalist party.
“Thirdly, the CPI(M) is opposed to all forms of communalism – whether it be Hindu communalism, or, Muslim communalism. In political terms, the CPI(M) is opposed to the BJP’s communal politics and of parties like the Indian Union Muslim League, the Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen and other communal organisations. The CPI(M) had stood firmly against the Khalistani extremists who were motivated by Sikh fundamentalism.” — People’s Democracy (Vol. XLI No. 15 April 09, 2017)
However, this IUML, once termed as a Muslim communal party by the Left, is currently wooed by the same Left. The CPM argues that since IUML is opposed to BJP and Sangh Parivar’s Hindutva agenda, there is nothing wrong with the Left to ally with the IUML. The truth is that the Left’s leadership, particularly CPM’s politburo, has turned into Dhritarashtra in its blind opposition against Hindutva. Isn’t it surprising that the Left parties, which can organise rallies or processions for the Palestinians, are not seen doing processions or rallies for the minority Hindus of neighbouring Pakistan or Bangladesh facing discrimination and even persecution at the hands of Islamist fundamentalists? Such dualistic stand of the Left on communalism has only reduced its strength on the ground, particularly among the majority of Hindus. The comrades are so disconnected from the ground reality that they are unable to realise this bitter truth that a section of Hindus, who are their largest vote bank, are abandoning the party.
In the last Lok Sabha polls, the CPM had won only 3 seats, the lowest seat tally in its history since it first contested the Lok Sabha polls in 1967. Of these, two seats came from Tamil Nadu as a result of its alliance with the DMK. It failed to open its account in both West Bengal and Tripura while it was able to win a seat in Kerala. The less said, the better about CPI, which has lost its significance in national politics. The only two seats it won in the last Lok Sabha polls were because of its alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu.
Kerala remains the last hope for the Left, particularly for the CPM, to increase its tally in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls — and for this, it is not hesitant to even ally with IUML, which was once called a Muslim fundamentalist party by the Left. In West Bengal, its old bastion, the Left itself doesn’t see much prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls but still, it sees hope in some seats and many of them fall within the Muslim-dominated districts of Murshidabad, Malda and Uttar Dinajpur.
The Israel-Palestine war came at the right time for the Left to utilise it to appease the Muslims in Kerala and also in its old bastion, West Bengal. By raising the Palestinian issue, the Left is trying to send a message to the Muslim community that the community can trust the Left. However, in the race to appease the Muslim votes through the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Left parties have only exposed themselves. The bitter truth is that the commitment of the Left towards secularism and democracy changes according to electoral calculations.
Sagarneel Sinha is a political commentator and tweets @SagarneelSinha. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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