By Ananya Ray
In the wake of the recent resurgence of Israeli atrocities in occupied Palestine, one is reminded of the situation closer home, in India, where according to experts violent and calculated genocide of Muslims could be underway. India, especially after the 2014 election of the BJP government to power and with the rise of hindutva ideology, has been gradually striving towards a Hindu Rashtra where there is no place for other marginalised communities, especially Muslims. In this project of hate, India finds a mentor and ally in Israel.
The Israeli occupation of Palestine has led to the violent dispossession of Palestinians and has facilitated ruthless attacks, destroying 531 Palestinian towns and villages during the Nakba of 1948, itself. During that time, Israeli forces carried out more than 70 massacres, killing 15,000 Palestinians.
Apart from the blatant and explicit armed attack on Palestinians, Israel has also been orchestrating a covert and sly project of cultural erasure by destroying Palestinian cultural symbols like the city of Yafo which was destroyed to build the Charles Clore Park in Tel Aviv over it or appropriating parts of Palestinian culture like Palestinian culinary cultures without any dues to them.
The Hindu right in India has also been embroiled in a similar project of direct attacks on the Muslim minority in the country which includes lynching of Muslims, bulldozing their homes and destroying religious monuments like the Babri Masjid as well as subtler attempts to destroy what they deem to be “Islamic culture,” in India.
From renaming cities and banning hijab to the promotion of “pure” vegetarianism while decrying Mughlai culinary culture, India has been embroiled in a mission to wipe out all traces of the Indian-Muslim culture that was unique to our nation, which was once a melting pot of cultures.
This story was originally published in feminisminindia.com. Read the full story here .