Killed by Hamas, Savaged by Secularists

 

Soumya Santhosh, the Kerala nurse who was killed in a Hamas terror strike in Israel, will soon be awarded honorary citizenship by Israel. The top authorities of Israel have spoken to the family and assured them of all support. Rony Yedidia, the deputy envoy at the Embassy of Israel in New Delhi, said, “Israeli people believe that she is an honorary citizen, they see her as one of their own”. She also added that her family will be receiving compensation from the national insurance institute of Israel and her 9-year-old will be taken care of.

 

But what baffled Israeli authorities and many others in India is that why the Kerala Government has left Soumya’s family in the cold. The response of the State Government and some senior ‘secular’ politicians has been very stark. According to a commentator, the State Government “did not even depute a peon” to receive Soumya’s body who was killed in Israeli city of Ashkelon on May 11. The family also complained about the insensitive attitude of the State Government which had not even sent a representative to receive the body or attend the funeral. “The State Government did not display sensitivity which Israelis have shown in abundance. It’s very sad,” said a relative of Soumya.

 

 

BJP President K Surendran alleged that Pinarayi Vijayan had not shown the courage to even condole the death of Soumya. “Are they silent because Hamas is their ally,” he asked. He said Pinarayi was trying to appease Islamists in the State. Kerala Congress leader PC George came down heavily on the Pinarayi Government for not showing “sensitivity towards Soumya” and succumbing to Islamist pressure. According to him, Kerala is going in a dangerous direction. “This is nothing but dishonor to the deceased. The Government had surrendered before the Islamists. If it were a Muslim victim, the outpouring of sorrow from politicians would have been different,” writes Thomas Sebastian in a Facebook post.

 

Local Left politicians also stayed away from Soumya’s funeral which was held at Nithya Sahaya Matha Church in Keerithodu of Idukki district. However, Jonathan Zadka, consul general of Israel to South India, turned up at Soumya’s home at Keerithodu to pay his respects and extend condolences to her family. The Consulate General of Israel to Bengaluru also extended its condolences to the family at loss in a tweet.

 

The Government did not show any sympathies to the family fearing backlash from Islamists and Hamas supporters on whose support Pinarayi Vijayan had romped home at the hustings. Both Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy edited their Facebook posts to look as if Soumya had died due to some accident and not because of Hamas terror strike. Their first posts had mentioned that she was killed in a Hamas terror strike. Following the suit, other leaders of Congress and Kerala Congress toned down their posts.

 

 

Besides, several Marxist leaders condemned Israel for the current turmoil in West Asia and expressed solidarity with Palestine. In a Press release, CPI(M) stated: “Israel is moving towards the complete occupation of East Jerusalem by attacking Palestinians who were protesting its attempt to forcefully expel residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood to make way for Jewish settlements. Netanyahu, who had repeatedly failed to win a majority in the Israel elections, launched these attacks for petty political gains.”

 

Marxist leader M A Baby who sought to normalise Soumya’s killing said her death was an accident caused during resistance put up by Palestinians in the face of Israeli onslaught. “Accidents happen during such conflicts,” he wrote in his Facebook. He wanted India to strongly condemn “devilish attacks” of Netanyahu. Not to be left behind in competitive appeasement politics, Congress leaders were seen posting photographs showing Indira Gandhi and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat together. However, many Islamists questioned the Congress for establishing diplomatic relations with Israel during PV Narasimha Rao’s regime. Veena Nair, a Congress leader, took down a post and apologised to Islamists for mentioning Hamas as terrorists. Moreover, Rahul Gandhi did not even care to condole Soumya’s death.

 

Kerala’s vociferous bleeding heart ‘cultural leaders’ who come out with statements and creative outputs over everything happening in North India were conspicuous by their silence. “If the victim was a Muslim or a Palestinian for that matter, all these vain glorious people would have either rolled out poems or made a pilgrimage to the victim’s house,” said Shajan Scaria, a journalist. It is worth mentioning here that Pinarayi Vijayan had gone all the way to Haryana to give a cheque worth Rs 10 lakh to the family of a Muslim boy who was killed in a quarrel over a seat during a train journey.

 

 

 

Even more shocking was the attitude of the media. Major media outlets in Kerala, which are abound with sob stories of Palestinian suffering, did not give much importance to the incident. Netizens pointed out how Mathrubhumi’s digital outlet gave glowing tributes to a Palestinian woman killed in conflict while in Soumya’s case it carried a bland report. Even other media outlets too did not blame Hamas for the murderous onslaught on Israel.

 

Social media responses of Islamists of all hues strengthen the general belief that Kerala is emerging as the nursery of Islamic terrorism. Many supporters of Islamic outfits openly celebrated the killing, as it is the inevitable punishment for supporting Israel. Social media platforms were full of vulgar expressions of denouement at the death of the poor nurse. Several Islamists even attacked the Christian women for working in Israel as nurses.

 

Soumya’s body which was brought in a charted flight was received in Delhi by Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan. Shri Muraleedharan also visited the family of the slain nurse in Idukki.