Clifton D’Rozario, a leading member of the Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist (Liberation) (CPIML) participated in the recent Ecosocialism 2024 conference in Boorloo/Perth.
Ahead of his visit and following India’s general elections, D’Rozario spoke to Green Left’s Isaac Nellist about the parallels between Zionism and the ideology of Hindutva (Hindu supremacy), as espoused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“It is quite curious if you look back in time around 100 years [to] when Theodore Herzl’s book The Jewish State was becoming popular. Of course it was written in the late 19th century, but it took a couple of decades to gain traction,” said D’Rozario.
“This was when the Balfour Declaration was signed in 1917, which basically said there was a need for a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.”
The right-wing, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was founded in 1925. D’Rozario explained that the term “Hindutva” was coined in the 1920s by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, “one of the most important ideologues of the RSS and the BJP”.
Zionism and Hindutva ideologies “are premised on notions of race supremacy, politicisation of religion and the notion that you can build a nation around one particular dominant identity,” said D’Rozario.
“If you go back to the writings of the RSS of that time, Savarkar said: ‘If the Zionist dreams are ever realised, that is, if Palestine becomes a Jewish state, it will gladden us almost as much as our Jewish friends.’
“He also said: ‘If tomorrow a war breaks out between Pakistan and Bharat (India), almost all Muslims will remain on the side of Pakistan in opposition to us, and their enemy Israel will be our only friend … therefore I must say that Bharat must give unequivocal recognition to Israel.’
“People have pointed out the irony of comparing Savarkar with Herzl, in that Savarkar was also a big admirer of [Adolf] Hitler and the kind of steps the Nazis actually took. In 1938 he said: ‘Surely, Hitler knows better than [then-Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal] Nehru what suits Germany best.’
“If you look at it from this point of view, it is not just an artificial parallel between Zionism and Hindutva, it has very deep roots in history.:
D’Rozario said Israel is not just a close ally of the ethno-nationalist BJP and RSS, but is “setting an example”.
“[RSS] have admitted as much. In 2016, the head of the RSS, Mohan Bhagwat, is on record having said that, ‘Despite Israel being a small nation, it has stood tall and won six wars in 30 years’.
“He goes on to say that the world ‘will not take note of wisdom if it is coming from a weak nation’ [and that] India has to emulate this kind of strength.
“This is the kind of symbiotic relationship between these two countries.”
D’Rozario said that looking at the BJP’s actions over the past 10 years “you will find a very direct parallel or inspiration from what Israel has done”.
“For example, Israel’s law of return, which allows Jews from anywhere in the world to settle in Israel, is the direct inspiration behind the CA Act [Citizenship Amendment Act], which allows persecuted minorities, except Muslims, from neighbouring Muslim-dominated states, to be given citizenship in India.
It economic relationship with Israel is also significant.
“India has always been a friend of Palestine post independence [and] we have been one of the biggest supporters of Palestine. It was only in 1992 that India began its diplomatic relationship with Israel and it was only in 2017 that an Indian Prime Minister visited Israel — and that was Modi.
Reportedly, on that trip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Modi visited the grave of Theodore Herzl together to pay their respects.
“This relationship materialises in the defence trade between India and Israel today. There has been a leap of almost 175% in defence trade deals over the past five years.
“[W]hat ties the relationship between Modi and Netanyahu … is that they are both drawn from ideologies — Hindutva and Zionism — that determine the policies of the states they are leading.
“This is why it is all the more necessary for us to understand that fascism in India has found an ideological and strategic role model in Israel.
“This means opposing the genocide and settler-colonialism taking place in Palestine is absolutely essential when we talk about fighting fascism in India.”