Iranian Sunni Cleric Urges Support for Kashmir Muslims
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Sunni member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts condemned the recent killings of Muslims in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir and said Islamic nations have a duty to support Muslims in the restive region.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Molavi Ahmad Salami pointed to the systematic killing of Muslims at the hands of Indian troops in Kashmir, saying it is an old issue that resembles the issue of Palestine.
“Muslims have a shared responsibility and duty regarding Kashmir and other issues of the Muslim world,” he stated.
He further emphasized that while interference in other countries’ internal affairs is not correct, all countries, Islamic ones in particular, share a duty to politically support Kashmiri Muslims.
Clashes in the restive region erupted on July 9, when thousands of protesters thronged streets in towns across the Kashmir valley to condemn the death of a popular secessionist leader at the hands of Indian security forces.
The violence has been among the worst in the region in years. Indian forces have shot dead at least 45 people since July 9, while thousands of others have been injured.
Protesters have also attacked police vehicles, security posts and other government property.
Security forces have been accused of using disproportionate force against civilians, a charge the state government has vowed to investigate.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, and Indian-administered Kashmir has long been troubled, plagued by the aftershocks of an armed insurgency born in the late 1980s.