The Gulf should lead boycott against India
IT is so unfortunate that despite having a history of fighting against colonial rule, India today is again back in the arms of other colonial masters while doing the ‘white’ man’s bidding because it is the most important base for Israel to work against Pakistan. While Indian prime ministers in the past masked their hatred towards Pakistan, Narendra Modi, the incumbent, does not believe in doing anything of the sort.
If one takes a cursory glance at what has been happening in India, one will notice stark similarities between the tactics being used by Israel and India. There have been several incidents in India in the recent and the not-so-recent past that should be enough for anyone to recognise the existence of such a nexus.
As the chief minister of Gujarat, Modi established relationship with apartheid regime in Israel. The animosity of the two countries towards the Muslims in their respective spheres is what binds them, and India is learning fast.
This is evident from the recent incidents in which homes of Muslims were bulldozed in India just like Israelis have been doing for a long time against the Palestinians in the occupied lands. Israel attacks mosques and churches, and so does Modi in India.
The only reason why the West invests in India despite Modi’s extremist acts, such as attacks on churches, is that it wants to use it as a counterweight to China.
The most unfortunate part of ongoing brutality is the manner in which most Muslim countries have been behaving towards India. Instead of punishing it in diplomatic and economic terms, they have been continuing to invest in India.
There is a lot that the countries in the Gulf region can do to teach India a lesson. They can use their employment opportunities that the Indians make use of.
There are millions of Indians working in the Gulf countries, and just a single act of sending them back will have a devastating impact on the Indian economy.
Besides, all planned investments in India should be stopped by the Gulf countries, travel sanctions should be imposed on all Indians, and Bollywood movies should be boycotted.
There is nothing India offers that cannot be found in the Muslim countries. Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Maldives, Bangladesh and Arab countries are enormously blessed and it is time we developed a strong economic bond. Culturally, we are the same. We should prove to the world that we are united when it comes to defending Muslims at large.
Angabeen Ahmad
Karachi
Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2022