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In Kerala, Israel supporters are not limited to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or far‑right Christian groups. A growing bloc belongs to a community that calls itself ‘rationalists,’ many of whom are connected to esSENSE Global, a group that claims to champion secularism and reason, but has drawn criticism for adopting a rhetoric aligned with right‑wing politics.
Critics have long accused esSENSE Global of veering dangerously close to far‑right talking points — particularly through its rhetoric that often echoes Hindutva narratives and relentless criticism of Islam, despite the group’s stated commitment to rational thought and secular humanism.
As Israel’s assault on Gaza has drawn condemnation worldwide, members and followers of esSENSE Global have not only defended Israel’s military actions but have mocked local solidarity efforts for Palestinians.
On September 16, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory released a landmark report concluding that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The report stated that there were “reasonable grounds to conclude that four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law” had been carried out since the war began in 2023.
C Ravichandran, founder of esSENSE Global, was among the first in Kerala’s rationalist circles to publicly dismiss the findings. In a video uploaded on YouTube, he took aim at Navi Pillai, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who chaired the commission. “She and two others wrote this report. They said there is genocide, child deaths, and hunger. But everyone is asking isn’t that what happens when there is war — poverty, hunger, death,” Ravichandran said.
Ravichandran, who focused on a single line from the report – that Israel had “imposed measures intended to prevent births within the group” – ridiculed the allegation. “When you read it we feel it’s very silly. The UN has turned into a Mahallu Committee. Along with Hamas, the UN is also responsible for what is happening [in Palestine]. Israel is a democratic country, much better than North Korea. This UN body has condemned Israel 100 times more than it did North Korea. That proves how biased they are to this Jewish country,” he lashed out.
For nearly 30 minutes in the video, Ravichandran spoke with a photograph of Navi Pillai on screen, rubbishing the report that confirmed genocide in Gaza. He repeatedly cited Palestine’s allegedly high birth rate to argue that no genocide was taking place. However, the UN News reported that 41% decline in Gaza’s birth rate over the past three years.
Ravichandran even went on to defend Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling Gaza a “wicked city”. “Netanyahu might have said those words in anger. How can that be a proof of genocide?” he added.
The rationalist group does not merely oppose the Palestinian cause and extend their support to Israel — they also take aim at every local expression of solidarity with Palestinians. Even small protests or humanitarian gestures in Kerala are often met with derision on their social media pages.
Recently, a young woman named Sreereshmi Udayakumar from Kochi made headlines for coordinating a 4,000-litre water delivery for about 250 Palestinian families displaced in Gaza. Instead of appreciation, she was subjected to a wave of insults, and the news was greeted with mockery by right-wing social media handles.
Riju Calicut, one of the followers of esSENSE Global, posted a long, sarcastic note on Facebook about her effort. “Isn’t that a good thing? All this time, weren’t the people in Gaza drinking water? We never once heard the claim that there was no water — not even alongside the claims of starvation! If they were drinking, then who was providing the water?”
In another post, Riju went further, defending Israel and claiming it was the true benefactor of Palestine. “It was Israel that had been supplying water to Palestine all this time. It is Israel that provides electricity as well. It was Israel that, after Egypt occupied Gaza and Jordan seized the West Bank, fought bloody wars, reclaimed those territories, and eventually created the entity that is today called Palestine. In essence, the father of the land now called Palestine is Israel itself.”
Arif Hussain Theruvath, who identifies as an ex-Muslim and is closely associated with esSENSE Global, describes himself as a rationalist. Speaking to TNM, he said he stands firmly with Israel. “I stand with Israel because the moral asymmetry is real. Hamas openly targets civilians and glorifies it. Israel, despite the horror of this war, does not. Israel protects its own civilians by design, and it sought to protect Gazan civilians through information, evacuations, and corridors, even if practice fell short in a chaotic battlespace,” he said.
He went on to justify the Israeli Defence Force’s (IDF) bombing in Gaza, saying Israel had warned the people of Gaza by dropping leaflets, publishing maps, and announcing humanitarian corridors. “These are standard mitigation steps under the law of armed conflict. UN situation reports tracked the evacuation orders and corridor announcements even while noting how fighting and chaos often made movement unsafe,” he said.
Arif added that he doesn't, however, believe the numbers put out by the IDF. He said that the IDF’s claim that half of those killed in Gaza were militants is wrong. “The IDF claims to have killed roughly 20,000 Palestinian fighters. Set that against the total deaths reported by humanitarian sources – in the high tens of thousands – and you see that one-third of the total deaths were militants, not half. Anyone saying 50% of those dead were militants is doing arithmetic with a blindfold on,” he said.
He also stressed what he described as the moral calculus of the conflict. “Hamas targeted civilians, including its own, and used their deaths as political fuel. Israel protected civilians by design but fought a war inside a civilian grid that produced mass death. Condemning Hamas does not excuse the body count. Acknowledging Israeli responsibility does not excuse Hamas,” he claimed.
Not so surprisingly, the rhetoric of far‑right Christian groups is also in line with the ideology of these rationalists. All of a sudden, certain YouTubers and social media pages have started raising concerns about “Christians being killed in Nigeria”. The far‑right Christian group, Christian Association and Alliance for Social Action (CASA), has been campaigning for months, extending its full support to Israel. They oppose anyone who speaks in solidarity with Gaza, including priests and political leaders. CASA even lashed out at Fr Thomas Tharayil, deputy general secretary of the Kerala Catholic Bishop Council, for taking part in a Palestine solidarity meet.
On October 8, around 20 people representing CASA gathered in Ernakulam for an Israel solidarity meet, holding Israel flags, saying they were doing so in memory of innocent Israelis killed by Hamas on October 7, 2023. CASA has a specific reason to support Israel and justify its actions, though they refuse to term it a genocide.
“Palestine is an ungrateful nation, they should never be supported. Israel has always been India’s steadfast friend. Even during difficult times – when global powers like the United States and Russia stood against us – Israel extended immense help to India, including during the Kargil War. Israel has consistently supplied India with military equipment, technology, and medicine over the years and continues to do so even today,” CASA said in a statement.
According to them, India has been helping Palestine for a long time but they were ungrateful. “Palestine, the enemy of Israel, has received hundreds of millions of dollars in aid from India multiple times over the past 25 years. India has helped Palestine with technological assistance for infrastructure development, materials, medical supplies, medicines, clothes, hospital equipment, beds, and even toys, on numerous occasions. Yet, this so‑called Islamic nation of Palestine has shown nothing but ingratitude toward India,” CASA alleged.
They allege that despite receiving aid from India worth more than what Pakistan gives them, Palestine’s loyalty has always been to Pakistan. “The Palestinian ambassador even shared a stage in Pakistan with Hafiz Saeed, the terrorist wanted by India, and declared that ‘Kashmir belongs to Pakistan’.”
They have also strongly attacked anyone showing support to Gaza. When writer M Leelavathy expressed concerns over children being killed as part of genocide in Gaza, CASA, along with far‑right Christian supporters, unleashed a cyber attack on her, even using abusive language to address her.
Liyakath Ali, who was part of an ex-Muslim association formed a few years ago, offered another perspective. He told TNM that the association no longer exists due to certain political ideological issues. He also described the pro-Israel ‘rationalists’ as right-wing supporters.
“There has always been a group of atheists who align themselves with the right-wing ideology. They might not agree that they are right-wing, just as Hamas or ISIS would deny being terrorists, but we all know the reality. All pro-Israel supporters here are also pro-right wing; that is evident, there is no doubt about it,” Liyakath said.
He added, “Atheism is not necessarily tied to a person’s political or social ideology. The [pro-Israel stance] is a matter of political belief, not faith. It is not necessary that a person’s political or social awareness will be correct simply because they do or not believe in a god. Some believe that leaving religion justifies endorsing assault on Muslims. But people can see through that.”