by B. R. GOWANI
Popular author Chetan Bhagat who has been a passionate supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi snaps a selfie with him. PHOTO/Caravan Daily
Ignorance of historical background about Israel’s creation, Israeli governments’ draconian control over and inhuman treatment of Palestinians, the United States’ shameful support of Israeli crimes, the Israel Lobby‘s hold over the US Congress and government, Indian government’s policy of “enemy’s enemy is our friend,” and the news media’s propaganda of portraying Israelis as the “victims” are bound to mislead people into believing that Palestinians are the real culprits. It does not mean, however, that all the other people who are aware of the realities, to whatever degree, are going to side with the Palestinians, the real victims.
One of those is an Indian author Chetan Bhagat. It is difficult to say how much historical knowledge he has about the Israeli/Palestinian problem but it’s easy to surmise that he can’t be unaware of Israel’s heinous acts which are an universal fact. Bhagat can’t resist displaying his love for the Israeli armed forces’ bombings and killings of Palestinians and so on 16 July 2014, he tweeted:
Upon realizing that his tweet is racist and is openly supportive of Israel’s crimes, he added two tweets: one advising Israeli government to stop bombing as it has made its point and the second one drawing attention to the wealthy Gulf countries’ apathy toward Gaza’s appalling condition.
In defense of Israel, Bhagat gave the following example:
“However, before you play virtuous, do imagine rockets tossed everyday on India for 10 years and what would you want your govt to do.”
The main problem with the above rubbish is that the history of both India and Israel is so totally different that the above example has no chance to stand its ground.
Israel disappeared from the world map at the beginning of the Common Era and it was only in the mid nineteenth century that the Zionist movement came into existence to demand a country for the persecuted Jews of Eastern Europe. Palestine, at that time, was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. With the end of the First World War, the Ottoman Empire came to an end and Britain was the new master. Britain decided in favor of creating a new state of Israel. In 1948, Israel came into existence on the land stolen from the Palestinians.
On the other hand, India’s history is totally different and has been on the world map for thousands of years.
Bhagat is good at such nonsense. In June 2013, he wrote a “Letter from an Indian Muslim Youth” in the Times of India. It was a patronizing letter in which the Muslim youth is complaining, besides other things, about politicians donning a Muslim cap to extract votes from the Muslim voters. But one cannot forget the day when his hero, Gujarat’s chief minister Narendra Modi (now India’s Prime Minister) had refused to wear a cap offered by a group of Muslims — not because of some ethical reason but out of pure hatred for Muslims.
The next time we see another selfie of Chetan Bhagat with some politician, it will probably be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com