Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
18-09-2024
Bureau Report + Agencies
NEW DELHI/ TEHRAN: India has condemned comments made by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the treatment of Muslims in the South Asian nation, calling his remarks “misinformed and unacceptable”.
“We cannot consider ourselves to be Muslims if we are oblivious to the suffering that a Muslim is enduring in Myanmar, Gaza, India, or any other place,” Khamenei said in a social media post on Monday.
In response, India’s foreign ministry said it “strongly deplored” the comments.
“Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others,” the foreign ministry spokesperson said.
The two countries have typically shared a strong relationship, and signed a 10-year contract in May to develop and operate the Iranian port of Chabahar.
India has been developing the port in Chabahar on Iran’s south-eastern coast along the Gulf of Oman as a way to transport goods to Iran, Afghanistan and central Asian countries, bypassing the ports of Karachi and Gwadar in its rival Pakistan.
Khamenei, however, has been critical of India in the past over issues involving Indian Muslims and the troubled Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.
“The enemies of Islam have always tried to make us indifferent with regard to our shared identity as an Islamic Ummah. We cannot consider ourselves to be Muslims if we are oblivious to the suffering that a Muslim is enduring in Myanmar, Gaza, India, or any other place,” stated the X post.
A few hours later, Ministry of External Affairs’ spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal issued a statement criticizing the Iranian leader’s remarks.
“We strongly deplore the comments made regarding minorities in India by the Supreme Leader of Iran. These are misinformed and unacceptable. Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others,” he posted.
India has had close relations with Iran, with New Delhi even working with Tehran on the strategic port of Chabahar. The Indian vice President had attended the funeral of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in May this year. A senior Indian minister had also represented New Delhi at the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian in July.
Despite the strong ties, this is not the first time the Iranian Supreme Leader has commented on the situation of Muslims in India and the Kashmir dispute.
His most recent reference to Indian Muslims came in March 2020, during the Delhi riots. “The hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the massacre of Muslims in India. The Government of India should confront extremist Hindus & their parties & stop the massacre of Muslims in order to prevent India’s isolation from the world of Islam,” Ayatollah Khamenei’s official account had tweeted then.
After then Iranian foreign minister Javed Zarif had also expressed concern at the violent riots, the Iranian ambassador was summoned to the external affairs ministry?
The Ayatollah has been a more frequent commentator on Kashmir, having made statements about Kashmir which he had visited in early 1980s. His last comment on Kashmir was in August 2019, though for years before that he had regularly listed Kashmiri Muslims in the list of oppressed communities.
In November 2010, India had summoned the acting Iranian ambassador to lodge a protest over the critical statements of the Ayatollah on Kashmir.
