Saturday, November 20, 2010

Ayatullah Khamenei urges Muslims to support the people of Kashmir


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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has appealed to the Muslim elite worldwide to back the "struggle" in Jammu and Kashmir, equating the northern Indian state with the "nations" of Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. " ," Khamenei said in a message to Haj pilgrims.
"Today the major duties of the elite of the Islamic Ummah is to provide help to the Palestinian nation and the besieged people of Gaza, to sympathize and provide assistance to the nations of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Kashmir, to engage in struggle and resistance against the aggressions of the United States and the Zionist regime,"
India summoned Iran envoy to protest remarks on Kashmir.The statement is, however, welcomed by Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Omer Farooque.
Recently, Iran has been quite vocal on the issue of Kashmir - few months back Iran's foriegn ministry condemned brute use of force by Indian Army to suppress protest all across Indian Occupied Kashmir. This is however the first time that such an explicit statement came from the highest authority in Iran.

Hope we see the resonance of Ayatullah's words in Shia media sources in Pakistan, hope Iran's clear stance on this issue is appreciated throughout Pakistan, especially at a time when Imam e Kaaba did not utter even a word about Kashmir in his Hajj sermon !
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