Nationwide protests in India demand stop to arms trade with Israel 

NEW DELHI: India’s largest civil society organizations staged protests in cities across the country on Monday demanding the Indian government stop arms exports to Israel, as they gathered to mark a year since the start of the war on Gaza.

Since the deadly onslaught on Gaza began on Oct. 7, Israeli forces have killed at least 41,870 Palestinians and wounded over 97,000 others, according to estimates from the enclave’s Health Ministry.

India’s leading civil society organizations, main trade unions and top lawyers have held rallies in solidarity with Palestine for the past year, demanding a ceasefire and more action from parties that have ties with Israel, including the government in Delhi.

“The main demand of the protest is that we want a complete arms embargo, we want the Indian government to stop sending arms to Israel because we know that it is resulting in the loss of life. It is only being used to bomb innocents,” Anjali, an activist with the India for Palestine collective, told Arab News.

“We want an immediate and permanent ceasefire. We want the Indian government to end all arms and trade deals with the Israeli government … This protest is important. We are fed up with being part of a country which is signing stronger ties with Israel.”

Indian arms sales to Israel came into the spotlight in May, following reports of two shipments loaded with weapons that originated from Chennai in southeast India, which was later prevented from docking in the Spanish port of Cartagena.

In June, Palestinian reporters released clips showing remains of a missile found after a deadly bombing with a label that read: “Made in India.”

Though support for Palestine was an important part of India’s foreign policy for decades, that support has visibly shifted toward Israel especially in the past year, which saw police stopping rallies held in solidarity with Gaza.

On Monday, activists took to the streets not only in the Indian capital, but also in the eastern city of Kolkata, the southern city of Bangalore and Lucknow, the capital of India’s largest state of Uttar Pradesh.

There were dozens of organizations represented at the New Delhi demonstration, including rights bodies, trade unions, student and youth associations, and women’s groups.

In a letter to mark one year since Israel’s war on Gaza, they called on the Indian government to cease all diplomatic ties with Israel. And to “vote against genocidal actions of the US-backed Israeli government,” while also urging a stop to all arms trade and labor ties with Tel Aviv.

“We are asking the Indian government to stop the military supply. It’s the same demand, which they are not listening to … therefore this is a tactic to put pressure on the Indian government,” Aban Raza, an artist who took part in the Delhi rally, told Arab News.

Prasenjit, a student leader in Delhi, said the Indian government should “take a position” and send the message to the world. “The barbaric attack on Palestine should stop,” he said.

In Kolkata, more than a thousand people showed up to participate in the Palestinian rally.

“This is not a war, but genocide, and the whole world is raising voice against this genocide. This attack on Palestine and Lebanon is being done with the help of the USA and NATO,” Nilasis Bose of the All India Students Association told Arab News.

“We demand that the genocide should stop, the UN should get proactive. We fear that the (Gaza) war will push the world into the third world war,” he said.

“We also want war criminals like Netanyahu to be tried and punished.”

Feroze Mithiborwala, an activist in Bangalore, was expecting over a thousand people to show up at the evening protest in the city.

“They are calling for the stoppage of weapon supply and trade deals with Israel and we are calling for the establishment of the Palestinian independent state. Israel needs to be tried for war crimes too,” he said.

“People can see the horror happening (that) Israel is committing. People are protesting to demand an end to the war. They are calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.”