India has reacted strongly to a statement made by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the plight of Muslims in India. Now, Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar has also criticized Khamenei for his remarks against Muslims. Azar said that Muslims in India have freedoms that are not available in Iran.
“You are a murderer and a tyrant of your own people,” the Israeli ambassador wrote in a post on social media site X. “Muslims enjoy freedom in Israel, India and all democratic countries, but they do not in Iran. I hope the Iranian people will be free soon.”
Indeed, on the occasion of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday on Monday, Khamenei said Muslims were suffering in India, Myanmar and Gaza.
“Islam’s enemies have long sought to suppress our common identity,” he wrote on X. “We cannot consider ourselves Muslims if we do not understand the suffering Muslims face in Myanmar, Gaza, India or anywhere else.”
India reacts strongly to Khamenei’s statement
India reacted strongly to Khamenei’s remarks. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement rejecting Khamenei’s statement and calling it “unacceptable”. The ministry said the accusations were based on false information.
“We strongly condemn the remarks made by the Supreme Leader of Iran regarding minorities in India,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. “This is misinformation and is unacceptable.”
Holding a mirror to Iran, the ministry said countries making such comments on treatment of minorities in India should also check its human rights record before taking any decision.
“Countries that make comments about minority groups are advised to check their own records before making any comments about other countries,” the statement said.
What is the situation of Iran’s ethnic minorities?
In Iran, where Shia Muslims predominate, living conditions for minorities are very poor. Sunni Muslims make up 5% to 10% of Iran’s total population. Despite their large proportion in the population, Sunni Muslims do not receive the representation they deserve in politics.
According to a November 2022 report by the Fikra Forum, a Washington-based research institute and US think tank, only 6% of Iran’s elected parliamentarians (121 out of 1,996 members) have been Sunni since the founding of the Iranian parliament in 1980. . The victories of Sunni parliamentarians have only occurred in regions with a Sunni majority population, such as Sistan-Baluchistan and Kurdistan provinces.
Iran has responded with a massive crackdown on anti-hijab protests that have erupted following the suspicious death of 22-year-old Kurdish Sunni woman Mahsa Amini in police custody. More than 80 people were killed in police shootings during protests in Zahedan, the capital of the Sunni-dominated Sistan-Baluchistan province.
Baha’is have also been subjected to torture in Iran. Human rights group Amnesty International said in its 2023 report on the Baha’i community that the community has been denied access to higher education, their businesses have been forcibly closed, and their property has been confiscated. He has also been arbitrarily detained.
Amnesty International reported that “authorities prevented Baha’is from being buried in a cemetery in Tehran that had been used for decades and forcibly buried many deceased Baha’is in the nearby mass grave of Hafran. “Their families were not even informed of this, and their reburial violated Baha’i burial customs. The Tehran cemetery is believed to contain the remains of victims of the 1988 prison massacre, which was nearly destroyed.
Follow us On Social Media Google News and Twitter/X