BetweenTheLines

Sameer Arshad Khatlani Follow  on Facebook A  large number of Indians appear to have found something to cheer about in the middle of the devastation Covid-19 has caused in India—the Israeli dispossession of Palestinians. Unqualified expression of support for Israel has trended on social media in India as Israelis continued bombing the Palestinian enclave of Gaza and killed at least 119 Palestinians, including 31 children. The axiom that e nemy of my enemy is my friend  is clearly at work here and highlights the extent to which society has been dumbed down through sustained demonisation of Muslims over the last decade. The vilification is an important source of sustenance to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime, which looks up to Israel and has sought to emulate its policies particularly in Muslim majority Kashmir. It has been taken to such levels that many Indians mechanically side with Israel even with zero understanding of the issue, forgetting India’s deep and h

Sameer Arshad Khatlani Follow  on Facebook I got my fingers burnt very early after my arrival in Delhi in 2004 to understand that pouring one’s heart on issues such as Kashmir was a bad idea. Anything that did not fit into the national narrative and tried to shed light on the 99.99% sufferers of the conflict in Kashmir, essentially triggered by the denial of share in power and resources to them, had consequences. From cold vibes to isolation and even physical harm, the potential and real costs taught me the virtues of nuance. I tried to give a nuanced view of Kashmir to anyone who seemed interested until I stopped talking about it altogether in 2010, which was a turning point in my life and offered me a reality check of the world around me. At least 120 people, including teenagers and kids, were shot dead in a matter of few months in firings on protest marches that year. The protests were triggered after a tear gas canister hit a 17-year-old aspiring doctor’s skull and killed him inst