Right-wing social media in India uses Israel-Palestine conflict to criticize Muslims and Pakistan

The right-wing environment has used the attack on Israel as justification to criticize "Islamist Jihadi terrorism", Kashmiri terrorists, and Pakistan. They have also demanded that India send missiles to Tel Aviv so they may be used against Hamas.

The "terrorist attacks" had been denounced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday in a statement of "solidarity" with Israel.

On different social media sites during the course of Saturday and Sunday, hashtags including #IStandWithIsrael, #IndiaWithIsrael, and #BharatWithIsrael gained popularity, with well-known pro-BJP accounts predominating the debates.

The official X handle of the BJP attempted to use the West Asian crisis for domestic political gain by claiming that India had endured hardships similar to those Israel was currently experiencing under the UPA.

India experienced the same problems as Israel did between 2004 and 2014. Never forget, never forgive, read a Sunday pinned post on the BJP X account.

The tweet included a movie containing excerpts from numerous terror acts that occurred in India.

However, the BJP handle ignored the assaults the nation had endured when the party was in power. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee administration presided over the 1999 invasion of Kargil, the hijacking of the IC-814 Air India flight, and the 2001 attack on the British Parliament.

The devastating attack on a military camp in Uri (2016) and the Pulwama attack (2019), which claimed the lives of about 40 CRPF members, both occurred in India during Modi's rule. Despite the government's "all is well" stance since the relaxation of Article 370 in August 2019, terrorist assaults continue in Kashmir.

However, there haven't been many posts of support for the people of Manipur on right-wing social media, a state that has been plagued by sectarian violence for more than five months. The indication appears to have come from the top, since Modi has continued to keep a stone-still silence over the state of the northeast.

Right-wing social media users made the allegation that Hamas, the Lashkar-e-Toiba, the Hizbul Mujahideen, and the Jaish-e-Mohammed are "different faces of the same Islamist Jihadi terrorism" on Saturday and Sunday in response to the Israeli attacks, with some users including Pakistan in the same category. Many criticized Indian "liberals" for purportedly backing "Jihadis slaughtering Jews" and called them "racists."

Major Gaurav Arya (ret. ), an X user, urged India to attack Hamas with rockets and "stand with the Israeli brothers" by doing so.

Israel has truly been India's buddy. It supported us when no one else did... Israel is being harassed. It is time to dispatch Pinaka and Brahmos to Tel Aviv. The 'thundering of fire' must be felt by Hamas. Join me in supporting my Israeli brethren. Arya, who is renowned for taking extreme nationalist stances on military issues, posted on Saturday.

Arya criticized Pakistan on Sunday, saying it was celebrating the Hamas attack on Jews. The same Pakistanis who are currently playing the victim card will still be doing it in 48 hours. Watch for protests against Islam, he warned.

Right-wing opponents retaliated by bringing up a Modi post from 2018 on X (then Twitter), in which he referred to Palestine as a longtime buddy.

"The friendship between Palestine and India has endured the test of time. In the face of numerous difficulties, the people of Palestine have demonstrated incredible bravery. During his visit to Palestine in 2018, Modi had written on social media that India would always back Palestine's efforts to grow.