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On July 25, the Bombay high court dismissed a petition filed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) challenging the Mumbai police’s refusal to give permission for a rally on Gaza. In their remarks, the bench reportedly asked the petitioners to instead “be patriots” and to “concentrate on problems affecting India”. As we witness the starvation in Gaza reach catastrophic levels (48 Palestinians have died of starvation in July 2025 alone), these remarks demonstrate both a fundamental misunderstanding of genocide, and how civil society should operate in a healthy democracy. 

The last month has been a watershed moment in global opinion on Gaza. Organisations who have long maintained silence on Gaza, have since spoken out or platformed articles about how Israel’s actions constitute genocide. Over 100 humanitarian groups have come together to warn of mass starvation in Gaza. The BBC, AFP, AP and Reuters released a joint statement, highlighting how their own contributing journalists are now unable to feed themselves and their families. The AFP in a separate statement called on Israel to allow the evacuation of its journalists from Gaza. For the first time in the history of the news agency, AFP said, its journalists were at risk of dying of hunger. After months of ignoring Palestinian distress, the images of starvation from Gaza are once again global front page news. 

Diplomatic interventions have also reflected this shift. Staunch allies of Israel, including Germany and the UK have called for an immediate ceasefire to address the starvation crisis. India, which as late as last month abstained on a ceasefire resolution at the UNGA, has now, through its permanent representative to the UN, called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the safe, sustained and timely delivery of humanitarian aid.  

And yet, the Bombay high court’s strictures are not........

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