“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 post on X on Monday (Sept 16).
The Narendra Modi-led Indian government on Monday (Sept 16) reacted to Iranian Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei’s remarks that Indian Muslims were suffering.
In a series of posts on X amid the Islamic Unity week, Khamenei said, “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,” Khamenei said.
“Ill-wishers have been fuelling religious differences in the Islamic world for a long time now, especially in Iran,” he added.
‘Misinformed, unacceptable’
Posting a statement on X, the Indian Foreign Ministry said that it strongly deplored the comments made by Khamenei. “These are misinformed and unacceptable,” the ministry said.
“Countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others,” the ministry added.
What more did Khamenei say?
In subsequent posts, Khamenei said that using ideological, propagational, media and economic factors, ill-wishers were working to separate Shia from Sunni in Iran and across the world.
“They exacerbate divisions by encouraging people on both sides to insult & offend the other side. The solution is focusing on unity,” he said.
“Achieving the important goal of upholding the Islamic Ummah’s honour can only be realized through unity. Today, it is definitely our duty to support the oppressed people of Gaza and Palestine. Anyone who neglects this duty will surely be questioned by God,” Khamenei added.
“Despite numerous conspiracies aimed at undermining Shia-Sunni unity, Iran’s Sunni community has countered these hostile moves as evidenced by the 15,000 Sunni martyrs of the Sacred Defense & the martyrdom of many Sunni scholars on the path of truth & the Revolution,” the Iranian supreme leader further said.
There was no official reaction from Myanmar, or the governing authorities in the Gaza Strip, where Israel and Hamas have been fighting a war since early October last year.
The reactions
Khamenei was widely criticised for his remarks. A user on X highlighted an earlier social media post by Khamenei where the supreme leader said that the real enemy of the Shiites was Sunnis.
“India has more Muslims than many of your Islamic countries combined. They get all kinds of minority benefits. Spare them the horror of your radicalism and let them be happy,” X user Shining Star said on Monday.
“The irony indeed is rich : the ill-informed head of an inherently regressive theocratic state that hanged 229 people for anti-hijab protests is lecturing the most vibrant constitutional democracy in the world !” X user from India, Utkarsh Shahi, said.
Specific reference to Indian Muslims in 2020
This is not the first time that Khamenei has talked about the apparent plight of Muslims in India. In 2020, he shared a post on X (then known as Twitter), where he said, “The hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the massacre of Muslims in India.”
“The govt 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,” he added and used the hashtag “Indian Muslims in Danger.
Peoplesmind
Source: WION
