In 2008, when Pakistani terrorists attacked the Jewish community centre known as Nariman House, it was seen as the first attack on the Jews in India in over a millennium. There were only about 4,000 Jews in Mumbai – a city then comprising 18.5 million people – and they were the target of Pakistani armed and trained terrorists.
For a brief period, Indian Jews were concerned for their safety in the subcontinent. But six years later, the centre re-opened and life returned to normal. If the terrorist’s intention was to dampen India-Israeli military ties, the outcome was only to strengthen them.
The Jewish community in India numbered over 30,000 in the 1940s. Today, between 3,500 and 6,000 remain. The vast majority emigrated to Israel, the only country in the world with a majority-Jewish population. But the Indian Jews – both in India and in Israel – bear a special connection with the subcontinent. It is the only home they have known in the world that has historically been absent of anti-semitism.
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