The Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO), a student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, held a march in Kerala calling for a boycott of Tata for Eid. The extremists marched towards Tata’s clothing chain, ‘Zudio’ in Kozhikode district.
The SIO has urged Muslims to boycott Tata’s brands, alleging the group’s support for Israel. The organisation has also launched a social media campaign asking Muslims to avoid brands such as Zara, Tata Zudio, and Westside while shopping for Eid and other celebrations. SIO’s recent march in Kozhikode featured the flag of Palestinian terrorism. SIO has extended its boycott call to several international brands allegedly linked to Israel, including Adidas, H&M, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Victoria’s Secret, Tom Ford, Skechers, Prada, Dior, and Chanel.
Jamaat-e-Islami is urging a boycott of India’s most prestigious global brand on behalf of Hamas terrorists in Gaza. The same group remained silent when 26 Indians were killed in Pahalgam, choosing not to protest against Pakistan or boycott Turkey, a known supporter of Pakistan.
The real target behind raising the Palestine issue is not Tata, but India itself. The underlying objective is to weaken India economically. A planned effort has now been initiated to expand the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, originally led by the Muslim Brotherhood and Turkey, into India. The visible beginning of this campaign is emerging in Kerala, a long-used testing ground for Jamaat activities.
What is the BDS Movement?
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is a global strategy deployed by Islamic forces in the context of the Palestinian issue to target Israel. It was spearheaded by groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Jama’at and other Islamic terrorist organisations with the aim of boycotting Israeli products, withdrawing investments, and enforcing economic and political sanctions.
Key players in the movement included organisations such as ‘American Muslims for Palestine’, ‘Center for East and Global Affairs’, ‘Jewish Voice for Peace’, and ‘Friends of the Jewish People of North America’. Since 2005, around 120 Muslim organisations, ranging from political parties and trade unions to refugee and women’s networks, student wings, have been active in this campaign.
The movement was founded by Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian activist born in Qatar and raised in Egypt. In 2009, the movement established the Russell Tribunal on Palestine in Brussels to construct a global anti-Israel narrative, with sessions held in various cities worldwide.
Terrorist groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, such as ‘Al-Haqq’ and the ‘Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’ (PFLP), were also involved. George Soros’ Open Society Foundations provided financial support, giving Al-Haqq $200,000 in 2009 and an additional $2 million between 2016 and 2020.
BDS Against India – A sample in Kerala
This coalition of organisations has now turned its focus on India, using Kashmir as the central issue. In 2021, a network comprising the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar, Al-Jazeera, Turkey, and Pakistan launched a BDS-style campaign against India, headquartered in Bosnia.
This led to the creation of the ‘Russell Tribunal for Kashmir’, mirroring the structure used against Israel. Its first session was held from December 17–19, 2021, in Sarajevo and Herzegovina, Bosnia. The tribunal was organised by the Kashmir Civitas Tribunal in collaboration with the World Kashmir Awareness Forum, the Permanent People’s Tribunal of Bologna (Italy), and the Nahla (Center for Education and Research) Jabir Balkans.
Kashmir Civitas, an anti-India Islamist organisation headquartered in Qatar with offices in London, Beijing, Rome, Istanbul, and Toronto, is chaired by Farhan Mujahid Chak, an associate professor at Qatar University.
Three months after launching the BDS campaign against India, Kashmir Civitas released a 32-page toolkit on March 22, 2022. This document laid out a strategy that included: boycotting Indian sports, cultural, and academic institutions; pressuring companies to withdraw investments from India; pushing for sanctions on India; banning trade with Indian firms; ending military agreements globally; and revoking India’s membership in international bodies.
On August 7, 2019, the ‘American Muslims for Palestine’ (AMP) issued a statement opposing the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. AMP’s founder, Hatem Bazian, was later appointed as a judge for the ‘Russell Tribunal for Kashmir’. AMP’s efforts on Kashmir were supported by Pakistani-backed organisations such as ‘Stand with Kashmir’ and the U.S.-based ‘Sound Vision’, affiliated with Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami.
In short, the coordinated Islamic movement that has been targeting Israel since 2005 has now set its sights on India, using Kashmir and Palestine as a pretext. The boycott calls in Kozhikode by Jamaat’s student wing is a part of this larger campaign. Both the Kerala and central governments must act swiftly to stop this agenda at its inception
