4 The Islamic Prism
4. The Islamic Prism: The INC Versus the Muslim League
To understand India’s Israel policy, one has to recognize the cen-
trality of Islam and its infl uences. Overshadowed by generalities, euphe-
misms, po liti cal correctness, and secular rhetoric, this facet has rarely re-
ceived an informed treatment. Any discussion on the Islamic inputs into
India’s policy toward the Middle East has become anathema and is often
dismissed as an anti- Muslim conspiracy of the Hindu right wing. Numer-
ous writings on the subject have marginalized or ignored the Islamic di-
mension. Be that as it may, India has always perceived, understood, and
articulated its position toward Israel through an Islamic prism. In a sense,
this is not diff erent from the U.S. policies regarding the region. As with
the United States, for India, Israel is primarily an item on the domestic
and not foreign- policy agenda. This was true both before and after India’s
in de pen dence.
To appreciate the Islamic infl uence during the nationalist phase, we
must ask a number of questions. What drew the Congress Party toward
the Middle East? How were its interests in the region sustained? How did
Islam infl uence its understanding of the Zionist demand for a Jewish
national home? Was there a Hindu view regarding Palestinian develop-
ments? As the following narrative indicates, India’s interest and involve-
ment in the Middle East, and more particularly Jewish nationalist aspira-
The feeling of Muslim solidarity is greater in India than perhaps anywhere else in
the Islamic world, owing primarily to the fact that Islam is a minority in India. In
all matters on which Islam feels strongly, Hindu opinion will unconditionally back
it in the present po liti cal circumstances.
—Historian and diplomat K. M. Panikkar