To whomsoever it may concern,

We, the people of India, are writing to you, to call on you to represent our voices in the ongoing winter session of Parliament, and speak up for the inalienable right to existence of the Palestinian people.
We are collectively witnessing since the past two months, the large-scale intentional destruction of the Palestinian people, their forced displacement and the complete destruction of their homes and livelihoods by the Israeli state. As the world’s biggest democracy, we have a responsibility to lend our unconditional solidarity with the Palestinian people and call for accountability of the Israeli government for committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against them.

India has historically stood firmly with Palestine, in their struggle for a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine, living within secure and recognised borders. However, the Prime Minister tweeted on October 10, 2023 saying, “India stands firmly with Israel.” After this, the Indian state has not only stayed silent, but has actively stifled voices of solidarity and pursued criminal action against those who protest against the genocide being carried out by the Israeli government.

In the UN General Assembly Special Session, a resolution called for an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities. 121 countries voted in favour, 14 countries voted against and 44 countries abstained from voting. India, to our complete dismay, abstained from voting - in complete violation of our constitutional mandate.

Human rights are universal, and every person of the world has the right to live with dignity. Belize, Chile, Columbia, Honduras, Bolivia, South Africa, Chad, Turkey, Jordan and Bahrain have already taken steps to pass resolutions in their Parliament calling for a ceasefire, withdraw their ambassadors from Israel or suspend diplomatic ties with Israel. If we are to be a leader of the global South, our Parliamentarians must speak up against the series of gross violations of human rights in Palestine, the war crimes being committed by the Israeli government with the political and other forms of support from the US and other major Western countries.

When we Indians won the struggle against the British imperialists, in the same year, the Palestinian people faced the onslaught of Israeli colonisers. The oppression of people anywhere is a rallying call for justice everywhere. As a founding member of the Bandung Conference, and Non-Aligned Movement, India emerged as a moral force in the 1950-60s, championing the cause of national liberation worldwide.

The current Indian government may have forgotten the moral foundations of this country’s formative positions, but we, the people of India, are writing to remind you, our elected representatives, of your responsibilities. We are children and grand-children of those formerly colonised, and therefore, our allegiance lies strongly with the values of freedom, dignity, sovereignty and justice.

We note with dismay and shame that our country is Israel’s largest buyer of defence weapons and collaborates closely with Israel for surveillance technology, which it in turn uses to snoop on its own citizens. The Indian Government’s continuing economic, military and diplomatic relationship with Israel is nothing short of complicity in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. Additionally, across many states in India, police have taken unconstitutional actions to stifle public protests against the Israeli government and any public expressions of solidarity.

We, the people of India, elect the Indian government every 5 years, thereby trusting your offices to accurately represent our voices at both national as well as global platforms. It is therefore your responsibility to abide by the Directive Principles of State Policy which under Article 51(c) oblige India to:

The positions taken by India in the UN, and the silence of the Indian government when it comes to the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people are constitutionally irresponsible. When the government is silent on genocide which international law characterizes as the ‘crime of crimes’, it indicates a foreign policy out of tune with our Constitution. A resolution for the protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations is at the heart of India’s constitutional vision and to abstain does injustice to that constitutional mandate.

The Indian Government, today, has a choice to make. Its tepid decision to abstain from voting for a humanitarian truce at the UN General Assembly, is a betrayal of the foundations of our own country. We, the people of India, would like to remind our elected representatives that our solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation is rooted in the history of our own struggle for independence from the British colonial powers.

Long History of Occupation, Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide

With the support of the US government, the State of Israel has indiscriminately bombed and killed thousands of innocent civilians and children at hospitals, refugee camps, schools and residential areas in Gaza.

We are also bearing witness to the escalating violence by settlers and IDF soldiers in the West Bank including the shootings of unarmed farmers, adolescents, and the brutalisation of young Palestinian men, videos of which have been shared with much jubilation and impunity by Israeli aggressors themselves. Hundreds of innocent young civilians are being illegally detained too.

While we express our deepest sympathy for the lives lost on October 7, 2023, we strongly condemn the blood lust and violent response of Israel since then and long before. The attacks on October 7, 2023 did not take place ‘in isolation’ as the UN Secretary General aptly pointed out. The horrors unfolding in Palestinian lands today have a 75 year long history of brutal violence and illegal occupation. The history of this violence is stained with systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the Nakba of 1948, forced expulsions, abductions and illegal detentions, torture and a 17 year blockade of Gaza, which made it the world’s largest open air prison. Increasing number of raids, murders and violence in the West Bank has also been a daily reality of Palestinians.

It is also pertinent to note that all peaceful modes of resistance attempted by the Palestinian people have been shut down by Israel. Israeli officials and cabinet ministers have openly called for the annihilation of Palestinians. The government has also emboldened violent groups amongst Israeli settlers to own and use guns and other weapons with impunity against defenceless Palestinian civilians.

As we all know, the Israeli government was made to agree to a temporary truce between November 24, 2023 and November 30, 2023. Out of 240 people taken hostage on October 7, 2023 by Hamas (an armed resistance movement in Gaza, for Palestinian liberation) they released 81 during the truce, and published videos to show they were unharmed and were treated with dignity. On the other hand, the Israeli state released women and youth, who shared their stories of abductions and illegal arrests, spending several years in forced detention and experiencing custodial torture and abuse. In this so-called truce, Israel continued to bomb northern Gaza and escalate violence, maim, torture, abduct and forcefully evict Palestinians in the West Bank.

Immediately after the truce ended, the Israeli state has been indiscriminately bombing all parts of Gaza. The visuals of targetted airstrikes, bombings of residential areas and educational institutions and videos of killed people and their bodies of innocent civilians burnt to a crisp, have begun to flood our screens yet again.

Palestinian officials have reported that more than 15,000 people have been murdered, out of which 6,000 of them are children. Authorities have also added that it is difficult to estimate the number of killed people whose bodies are crushed under the rubble of bombed buildings. Furthermore, the Israeli State has systematically denied access to water, electricity, fuel and adequate humanitarian aid. 1.8 million Palestinians are now displaced, homeless and are forced to seek refuge outside Gaza.

It is High Time India Speaks Up

Only 76 years ago, India fought for her independence from imperial and colonial powers, and vowed to stand by the values of democracy, justice, freedom and dignity for all people everywhere. The State of Israel is one such colonial power that has violently and forcefully occupied Palestine, through systematic denials of basic human rights and the use of their military force.

As a people from a land that fought against brutal colonisation, our memory of the struggles of our forefathers run deep. It is with these values of humanity, and the strong belief that people everywhere have a right to self-determination and dignity, that India has consistently expressed solidarity with the Palestinian cause of liberation.

We, the people of India, would like to reiterate to our elected representatives, that we must express our staunch opposition to Israel's genocidal war and occupation of historic Palestine. We also offer our unqualified and unflinching support to the people of Palestine in their just and rightful fight for liberation and sovereignty.

When genocide is being incited or being attempted, all countries have the responsibility to prevent it as per Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948. This, read with Article 51(a) and (c) of the Indian Constitution obliges India to act at the international level to work to prevent genocide. This email is to make clear that the people of India are not its government. We not only stand firmly in favour of a ceasefire, but also stand staunchly in opposition to any relationship between our Government and Israel. We demand that our Members of Parliament reflect this position accurately.

We call on all Members of Parliament to:

1. 1. Urgently pass a resolution in the Parliament stating that India calls for an immediate durable and permanent ceasefire in all Palestinian territories.

2. 2. Pass a resolution affirming that the State of Israel must be held accountable for the relentless number of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed.

3. 3. Urgently pass a resolution reiterating that India’s solidarity lies with the Palestinian people in their struggle for a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine, living within secure and recognised borders. This resolution must state that India unequivocally stands against the Israeli occupation.

4. 4. Urgently end all diplomatic and trade ties with Israel.

5. 5. Immediately provide humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza including food, water, medical supplies and fuel.

   
   

With urgency and in solidarity with Palestine,
The People of India