Khamenei mourned only in his own country but remains unhonoured , unwept and unsung across the globe

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, March 2, 2026

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (1939-2026) , the third president of the regressive Islamic republic of Iran post-1979 Islamic rightist counter-revolution , had been the third president and then since 1989 the ‘Vilayati Faquih’ (supreme spiritual leader) till his assassination on February 28. A man who had presided over genocide of thousands of his countrymen including close to one thousand women in 2022 and at least twenty thousand protesters last year had been bombed to death along with his family and close cohorts. He had done all this in complete defiance of the rising tide of opinion against his barbaric and obscurantist regime to perpetuate his hated regime’s misrule.

His death however sparked mixed reaction as , while many of his countrymen including fellow-Shia Muslims in parts of India mourned his deserved end by shedding tears and thumping chest, a large section of Iranians , specially women practically celebrated his death by dancing on roads and even by smoking cigarettes. This was perhaps expected in view of the long shadow of terror and persecution he had cast on his countrymen.

At the global level it was only Russian president Vladimir Putin who termed Khamenei’s assassination as a ‘cynical murder’ while the ever-cautious Chinese avidly eyeing the annexation of Taiwan by military power merely described the death as ‘unacceptable’ and a few other homilies. None of the G-& democracies has spared a word on condolences and the Australian , Argenitian governments as well as the European Union also termed the assassination in uncharitable terms . However, US president Donald Trump, true to his style , described Ali Khamenei as ‘ one of the most evil people in the history of the world’.

In our Indian homeland the government reaction was confined merely to expressing ‘grave concern’ over the developing situation in the Middle East which is of immediate concern to India . There was no word of condolence in the statement issued by the ministry of external affairs (MEA) and it is amply justified by Ali Khamenei’s attempted dabbling in Indian affairs through statements. Khamenei tried to interfere in India’s affairs through uncalled for statements at least on four occasions between 2017 and 2024to the ire of the government of India.

As per government sources, Khamenei's record with India was fraught. In 2017, he rallied Muslims for "oppressed" Kashmiris, echoing Pakistan. Post-Article 370 revocation in 2019, he demanded a "just policy." During 2020 Delhi riots, he tweeted of a "massacre of Muslims" by "extremist Hindus," using IndianMuslims in danger, ignoring Hindu victims and mirroring Pakistani narratives. Iran's parliament slammed the Citizenship Amendment Act as anti-Muslim. In September 2024, he equated India with Gaza and Myanmar in a tweet to 2.7 million followers, deemed "misinformed" by the MEA. So what followed his death in the form of reaction in India and abroad is quite natural and on expected lines.

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