So Much In Common

Between Hindutva And Zionism, There Exist Some Core Similarities That Shape Their Worldview In Profound Ways.

- Jaideepa A. Prabhu

I WANT EVERY Indian child, girl and boy, to be so touched by the light of education. I want every Indian to dream of a better future and live that dream.” Those were the words of then PM Manmohan Singh in his address to the nation on 1 April 2010, the day the Right to Education Act became operational.

Hindutva and Zionism. Few words—ideas— have been as misunderstood or reviled as these two have been. Both are similar, scholars of nationalism will tell you, because they espouse ethnic nationalism—the notion of a national community based on religion, race, or blood. Notwithstanding the differences in the symbols they choose to venerate or vilify, the core dynamics of identity and emotion are identical.

However, there lies a deeper similarity between the two than merely rhetoric. Between Hindutva and Zionism, there exist three core similarities that shape their worldview in profound ways. It is not my contention that these concurrences are responsible for a subconscious affinity between India and Israel: in fact, it is an uncomfortable and unspoken verisimilitude that much of the sympathy and admiration for Israel in India probably comes from the perception of a common enemy. Despite Jewish presence in the subcontinent for two millennia, Indians are only now beginning to discover Jews—perhaps speaking to the seamless harmony in which Hindus and Jews existed.