New Delhi, Sep 17 (IANS): Several leading Islamic scholars, diplomats and politicians have severely condemned the remarks made by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the "suffering" of Muslims in Gaza, Myanmar, and India.
India had strongly deplored the comments made by the Supreme Leader of Iran while addressing a gathering of clerics in Tehran on Monday, calling them "misinformed and unacceptable".
Hours after Khamenei's remarks, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had stated that "countries commenting on minorities are advised to look at their own record before making any observations about others".
Israel also reacted strongly on Monday with Reuven Azar, the Ambassador of Israel to India, calling Iranian leaders a "killer and oppressor" of his own people.
"Muslims in Israel, India and all democracies enjoy freedom, which is denied in Iran. I wish the people of Iran will be free soon," Azar posted on X.
Several analysts instead accused Tehran of spreading terror in the region, and beyond.
"What do countries like Iran and Pakistan have to do with Muslims in India being happy or sad? Iran has tried to destroy the peace of the entire world. Iran is funding Hezbollah in Lebanon and is creating chaos in Syria and Iraq. Iran is funding all the major terror organisations of the world right now. Indian Muslims were happy earlier and are happy even today. They decided to stay in India after Independence as per their own wish after rejecting Pakistan," leading Islamic scholar Mufti Wajahat Qasmi told IANS on Monday.
"India has crores of Muslims who remain secular and are staying happily. So, Iran should not try to gain cheap publicity with such useless talk. They should instead look within as, wherever there is any major terror incident, Iran has had a hand in it," he added.
Another Islamic scholar urged Tehran to first know the ground realities before making any such absurd statement in future.
"The comments made by the Iranian leader regarding Indian Muslims are completely baseless. The Indian government fulfills the democratic and constitutional rights of all Muslims in the country. We all stay together, as it should happen in a democratic country. I strongly condemn this statement and urge the Iranian government to know the situation on ground before making any such statement in future," said Mufti Shamoon Qasmi, Chairman of the Uttarakhand Madarsa Education Board.
However, Congress Leader Rashid Alvi is of the opinion that the situation could have been avoided had the BJP reined in its leaders.
"See, when the news spreads that mosques are being demolished, houses of Muslims are being bulldozed, and some Chief Ministers saying that they will raze their properties to the ground, then the impact of such things will be felt sooner or later. This is the reason why a big leader of Iran gave such a statement. Although they have no right to interfere in our affairs, the Prime Minister of India should consider why such a situation has arisen that Ayatollah Khamenei had to give a statement that Muslims are not safe in India. This tarnishes the image of India in the whole world," Alvi told IANS.
Alvi rejected claims being made by some leaders that the situation has arisen following the comments made by Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, during his foreign trips.
"Rahul Gandhi did not even mention the name of a Muslim when he went abroad, then how will it (image) be affected? This is the effect of the Chief Minister of UP, this is the effect of whatever the Chief Minister of Assam says, whatever Giriraj Singh says... The BJP should analyse within the impact of statements being made by its own leaders, the reason why Ayatollah Khamenei has given such a statement," he stated.