THE embattled prime minister of Israel has sworn to strip the citizenship of two Jewish filmmakers whose celebrated documentary has exposed the targeted genocide of Palestinian civilians carried out with impunity by the IDF. Journalists Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor have won standing ovations in the West for their film NAZA. The rule, Benjamin Netanyahu said, would apply to anyone who insults Israel’s military.

Meanwhile, the fascism-hugging president of the US is busy doing what he can to try to strip those of citizenship and voting rights who are least likely to vote for his party. If he doesn’t win the midterms, he could be impeached. India’s ruling party, struggling to mask its old inspiration from the Nazis, has devised its own methods of stripping the citizenship rights of millions. According to a slew of reports, the BJP government is leaning on its chosen three-member election commission to deregister millions with a view to contriving state victories for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party. Bertolt Brecht’s satirical call to elect another people since the people had lost the confidence of the government has become ominously and palpably real.

Coordinated moves by the three countries are linked by a quirk of fate in a post-Cold War bond. The rogue measures are not going unchallenged. A groundswell of protests primarily by students and unemployed youth is spreading across India against what reports have identified as the plundering of democracy in the country.

New York’s Zohran Mamdani, Israel’s filmmakers and India’s Cockroach Janta Party are leading the pushback. The Indian protesters are directly accusing........

© Dawn