After Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was reported to have died in a precision strike by U.S. and Israeli forces, the state of Karnataka has been transformed into a battleground of polarized responses. As many Shia Muslim enclaves in the state have responded with mourning, the head of Sri Rama Sene, Pramod Muthalik, has denounced the performers of such protests, accusing them of being disloyal to India. Muthalik, speaking to media in Chikkamagaluru, used harsh terms, calling the deceased Iranian leader a "demon," a "cruel tyrant."
"A Foe of India and Humanity."
Khamenei was never a friend of India, Muthalik claimed, noting that he vocally opposed when the Indian government revoked Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
“This person was an enemy of our country. He was the one who was vehemently against nullifying Article 370. He was a tyrant who never allowed Muslim nations to live in peace and perpetrated terrible atrocities against women in his own country,” Muthalik said. “Why are the people who consume India’s salt in our country out on the streets grieving for such a monster?”
Slamming the Protests in Bengaluru and Shivamogga
Muthalik hit those recent protests, allegedly led by MLA N.A. Harris in Shantinagar, Bengaluru, specifically. He challenged the legality and location of the protest by claiming it did not respect designated spaces and instead displaced the public at large, like Freedom Park. He responded to the protests in Shivamogga reportedly comparing Khamenei to Mahatma Gandhi by some mourners.
“In Shivamogga, they dare to compare him with Gandhi,” said Muthalik indignantly. “Gandhi was a man of non-violence; Khamenei was a man of extreme violence. Do these Shia leaders have any shame or honour left?”
Questioning Selective Outrage
The leader of Sri Rama Sene also drew on past tragedies to underscore what he referred to as “selective mourning.” He invoked the 1990 Pahalgam massacre and examples of terror on Indian soil.
- Pahalgam & Kashmir: “Where did you go when 26 innocent people became corpses in Pahalgam? Were you sleeping then?" Muthalik asked.
- National Interest: He urged the protesters to express the same grieving for Indian soldiers or civilians who have been killed by extremists and to remember the killing of an Indian soldier or civilian, not mourning for a foreign leader who, it was alleged, is implicated in generating regional instability.
A State On High Alert
The remarks are coming as a number of districts in Karnataka, including the village of Alipur (known as 'Mini Iran'), declare three days of mourning for Khamenei. Despite the police being put on high alert to prevent communal flare-ups, Muthalik's verbal tirade has inflamed debate about whether the Indian diaspora's religious affiliations should overrule their national political stance.
Muthalik finished his address by saying that the death of Khamenei gave the world a “sense of peace” and India should continue to be cautious of people who are putting foreign religious leaders above its national agenda.
