Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, scion of India’s powerful Nehru-Gandhi family, has set off a political firestorm by carrying a bag to parliament expressing support for Palestine, drawing criticism from members of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who accuse her of trying to appease Muslims.
Gandhi’s bag had the word Palestine emblazoned on it and featured a watermelon, a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians. She previously made social media comments condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “horrific genocide”.
Authorities in Gaza reported that, as of Monday, more than 45,000 people have been killed by Israel’s attacks on the enclave in the last 14 months, most of whom were civilians.
Abed Elrazeg Abu Jazer, Charge D’Affaires at the Palestinian Embassy in India, recently met with Gandhi to congratulate her on her election win in Wayanad, southern India, which allowed her to make her parliamentary debut in the ongoing winter session.
Manoj Tewari, a member of parliament from the BJP, slammed Gandhi’s gesture as “appeasement” of Muslim minorities.
“They don’t do anything good for the Muslim community. They use different agendas to get votes. Now, the people of the country know this trick,” he was quoted as saying by local media.