Khamenei targets India over violence in Capital

CRITICISM Says Muslims grieving globally, external affairs ministry urges against ‘irresponsible’ comments

NEWDELHI:: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday that India must “confront extremist Hindus and their parties”, joining several foreign leaders and governments who have spoken on the recent communal violence in Delhi.

Though India did not specifically respond to Khamenei’s comment, earlier in the day it rejected such criticism of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the communal violence in New Delhi, saying international bodies and foreign leaders should not make “irresponsible comments” on these matters.

The remarks by Khamenei, posted as separate tweets in English, Urdu, Persian and Arabic, come days after India summoned Iran’s ambassador Ali Chegeni in New Delhi and lodged a strong protest over the comments by Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif.

“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,” Khamenei tweeted.

Over the past few weeks, the

Indian government has faced criticism from bodies such as the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on the citizenship law and the violence in Delhi that claimed over 47 lives. Leaders of countries such as Turkey, Iran and Malaysia too have reiterated their criticism of these issues even though India had described their past remarks on these matters as interference in the country’s internal matters.

“We have seen certain comments made on the recent incidents of violence in Delhi. At this stage, we would like to highlight that the situation is fast returning to normal,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told a news briefing in Delhi.

“At this sensitive time, we would urge people not to make any irresponsible comments and not to be influenced by selective and unsubstantiated narrative on the matter,” he added.

Khamenei’s remarks came after the briefing took place.

Kumar also said that law enforcement agencies were on the ground to restore confidence and ensure that law and order is maintained, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed for peace and brotherhood. “Senior

officials have visited the place of violence, peace committees have been formed and other steps have been taken in this direction,” he said.

Responding to a question on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent remarks describing the violence in the Indian capital as a “massacre”, Kumar said the comments “are factually inaccurate and are driven by his political agenda”. He added, “We do not expect such irresponsible statements from a head of state.”

India handed over a “strong demarche” or formal diplomatic representation on this issue to the Turkish envoy on Tuesday, he said. Ties between India and Iran have been hit since New Delhi stopped all imports of Iranian crude last June due to the impact of US secondary sanctions. Until then, Iran had been among India’s top three energy suppliers.

The two sides have continued to cooperate on the development of the strategic Chabahar port, which is key to India’s plans to access Afghanistan and Central Asian states while bypassing Pakistan.

However, the Iranian side has continued to call for work to develop Chabahar and an associated railway link to the Afghan border to be expedited.