‘India Funds, Gaza Burns’: Protests Erupt Across India

By Staff, Agencies

Thousands of protesters across several Indian cities have risked beatings, arrest and detention to demand that India sever ties with "Israel" as part of a global commemoration of two years of genocide in Gaza.

Protests on Sunday took place in New Delhi, Patna, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.

In Rohtak, in the state of Haryana, at least six protesters were detained and allegedly beaten by both vigilantes and the police.

By nightfall, female activists were released, but by Monday afternoon, male activists were still being held.

Since October 2023, India has become a key ally of "Israel," avoiding ceasefire votes, ignoring calls for an arms embargo, and refusing to back the International Court of Justice [ICJ] genocide case.

The Indian state has also sent combat drones, arms components and bombs to its ally over the past two years, while 20,000 Indians have made their way to "Israel" to ostensibly replace Palestinian workers in construction and the caregiving sector.

Although recent protests in India are smaller than those in Italy and Spain, activists say momentum is gradually building toward a mass movement against India's support for "Israel".

Observers say the protests in Delhi on Sunday was among the biggest yet.

In Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, hundreds gathered wearing keffiyehs and Palestinian colors, holding signs saying, "India funds, Gaza burns."

Demonstrators rallied for hours in the sweltering heat, chanting against India-"Israel" ties, singing solidarity songs, and sharing stories of Palestinian suffering.

In Hyderabad, hundreds of activists gathered at Dharna Chowk, a site known for protests and rallies, to express solidarity with Palestinians and call for a boycott of “Israeli” products.

Priyamvada Sharma, an organizer from Indian People in Solidarity with Palestine, told Middle East Eye protesters demand the Modi government cut ties with "Israel", push Indian companies to divest from "Israeli" firms, and drop all police cases against pro-Palestine activists.

Pro-Palestine activists in India have repeatedly faced beatings or arrest for expressing opposition to "Israel's" genocide in Gaza.

At the Delhi protest, demonstrators told MEE it was "absurd" that, two years on, the inhumanity of "Israel’s" aggression in Gaza still had to be spelled out.

"I should not have to explain in 2025 why people getting murdered or bombed, or not having menstrual pads, or not being able to give birth, or not being able to survive is a bad thing," Saniya Rehmani, 22, who works in climate advocacy, told MEE.

"It should just be obvious that people should have a right to exist."

The growing protest movement in India comes as more questions are being asked about India's complicity in the genocide.

In September, the Centre for Financial Accountability [CFA] reported that Indian companies and state enterprises support "Israel’s" war economy through investments in defense, surveillance, and agriculture.

The group said these business ties fuel "Israel’s" aggression in Gaza and its settlements in the West Bank and Golan Heights.

The report followed India’s hosting of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and a new bilateral investment pact aimed at boosting business ties.

Protesters said the ties between the far-right ideologies and governments of Modi and Netanyahu made perfect sense.

"Obviously, the Zionist propaganda and the Hindutva propaganda in India go hand in hand," said 21-year-old Himangi, who provided only her first name.

"What Hindutva has done to Kashmir and what Zionism is doing there, both are cases of occupation."

Likewise, Rahmani, a 22-year-old protester, said it was obvious that "fascists support fascists" and that she believed that the government's stance did not represent the people.

"Leaders don’t make the country, we do. So, we’re here to tell you that this does not matter and you don’t represent me. This government does not represent me," Rehmani said

"I will not be okay with my government, especially when we fought for 200 years to be free from colonization.

"I will not stand for my government being okay with somebody else’s colonization."