Indian school principal faces axe for 'liking' a pro-Palestine tweet

A Muslim principal of a school in Mumbai was asked to resign after she was scandalously targeted by a Hindu right-wing propaganda news website because she had ‘liked’ social media posts that supported Palestine.

Parveen Shaikh, who had worked for The Somaiya School in Mumbai’s Vidyavihar for 12 years, was asked by the school management to step down after OpIndia published an article attacking her on April 24.

OpIndia is India’s most-visited right-wing news website.

Shaikh is the latest victim of the online harassment led by Hindu nationalists linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

India has become Israel’s key arms-trade partner and the two sides cooperate on surveillance technology. Tens of thousands of Indian workers are expected to work in Israel, replacing Palestinians who have been barred entry by Tel Aviv since October.

Shaikh has refused to resign and several parents have come out in her support.

A Hindutva website

Parveen Shaikh only became aware of OpIndia's coverage when the school management brought it to her attention.

During a meeting held a day after the article's publication, the management acknowledged her dedication and contributions to shaping prestigious Somaiya School. However, they expressed that “they were under immense pressure to take action against her,” Shaikh said in an interview with Hindustan Times.

The OpIndia article has taken dozens of Shaikh’s innocuous X posts and twisted them around.

The tweets Shaikh liked include one that asks, "Who stands with Palestine? Raise your hand," and another that lists the countries that voted in favour of Palestine's admission into the United Nations.

“My social media interactions, including tweets, likes and comments align with our nation’s constitutional principles of secularism and free speech, and they reflect India’s long standing support for the Palestinian cause,” Shaikh said in an interview.

However, India's stance on the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian cause has significantly shifted since Modi came to power in 2014.

Shift in policy

While Narendra Modi was among the first world leaders to express solidarity with Israel after the October 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, labelling the group as "terrorists," his stance differs from the country’s diplomatic policy, which does not designate Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

At the same time, India also chose to abstain from backing a UN resolution on October 27, 2023, which called for a "humanitarian truce" in Gaza.

India's historical ties with both Israel and Palestine paint a contrasting picture than what Modi government’s policy.

In 1947, India voted against the partition of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly and it was the first non-Arab state to recognise the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1974.

As the Asian country acknowledged the establishment of Israel two years after its inception, in 1950, it did not establish formal diplomatic ties until 1992.

Previous Indian administrations before Modi also largely maintained discreet dealings with Israel. In 2017, Modi made history by becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel.

The reasons behind this shift include the rapid rise of Hindu nationalism in the country, the Modi government's emphasis on maintaining robust relations with the United States, and of course, economic and military benefits.

Today, India buys about $2 billion worth of arms annually from Israel, constituting over 30 percent of Israel's total arms exports.

Fake news by Indian media

Modi's discourse on the matter appears to resonate with the Indian media and public, to a remarkable extent.

An AI study analysed 4,316 tweets from the Indian timeline, with 2,200 mentioning the Israel-Palestine conflict. Of these, over 1,250 expressed support for Israel, while around 250 favoured Palestine, showing a five-to-one ratio in favour of Israel.

It was also reported that right-wing accounts originating from India are significant purveyors of anti-Palestinian misinformation and fake news regarding the Gaza war across various social media platforms.

The Indian media was found to have played a significant role in disseminating false information about 40 beheaded babies, a claim that was subsequently proven to be false and repeated in the OpIndia article on Parveen Shaikh.

Not only Indian media but also its streets have seen a consistent presence of pro-Israel rallies since the outset of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, while public expressions of solidarity with Palestine have reportedly faced continuous suppression, often resulting in government targeting of demonstrators.

India's current policy advocates for a two-state solution involving Israel and Palestine.