Iran supreme chief khamenei Criticizes India Over Islamic Unity Whereas Iran Neglects Afghan Refugees

Not too long ago, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Chief, known as upon the Islamic Ummah to undertake a story of victimhood for Muslims in India, drawing a parallel with the scenario in Gaza. He urged for solidarity amongst Muslims worldwide, highlighting their collective struggling in locations like Myanmar, Gaza, and India. Nonetheless, Khamenei’s attraction for unity starkly contrasts together with his personal therapy of Afghan refugees in Iran.

Khamenei’s remarks labeled India and different nations as “Enemies of Islam,” suggesting that these enemies search to dilute the Islamic Ummah’s unity. He argued that true Muslims can’t ignore the hardships confronted by fellow Muslims globally. But, whereas criticizing India—the place the Muslim inhabitants has grown considerably and enjoys quite a few freedoms and welfare advantages—Khamenei overlooks the plight of Afghan refugees in Iran, who’re being labeled as “unlawful foreigners.”

Not too long ago, Iranian authorities have introduced plans to deport over 2 million Afghan refugees, citing them as unlawful migrants. Ahmad-Reza Radan, the Iranian police chief, confirmed that actions are being taken towards these so-called unlawful foreigners. Regardless of these Afghans in search of refuge in Iran as fellow Muslims, they’re as a substitute being dismissed as burdens. Final Could, Iran’s Inside Ministry reported deporting greater than 1.3 million irregular migrants to Afghanistan prior to now 12 months. Afghan refugees, who’ve assimilated into Iranian society and supply low-cost labor, are considered a pressure on the native job market.

Activists and journalists who spotlight the dire circumstances confronted by Afghan refugees in Iran face important backlash. For instance, Jila Baniyaghoob, a girls’s rights activist, has acquired threats and hostility for talking out on behalf of Afghan migrants.

Cases of violence towards Afghan refugees have been reported, particularly after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. In accordance with the UNHCR, there are round 4.5 million Afghan refugees in Iran, although Iranian estimates counsel a better quantity. In July, Tehran noticed banners urging Afghan refugees to depart following violent incidents involving Afghan nationals. The Danish Refugee Council reviews that just about 485,000 Afghans had been deported from Iran in 2022, with projections for 2023 indicating an additional improve. The Worldwide Group for Migration has recorded near 400,000 Afghan returnees since January 2024, amid a narrowing of safety choices in Iran.

Khamenei’s concern for the Islamic Ummah seems disingenuous. Whereas he denounces perceived mistreatment of Muslims in India, his administration is constructing a 74-kilometer concrete wall topped with barbed wire to forestall Afghan refugees from coming into Iran.

The Indian International Ministry has rightly identified that nations criticizing others ought to first deal with their very own points. Iran ought to resolve its inner challenges and keep away from straining relations with India over unfounded accusations of mistreatment. Khamenei’s criticism of India, juxtaposed with Iran’s deportation of Afghan refugees—who fled Taliban rule for a supposed sanctuary in Iran—highlights a obtrusive inconsistency in his claims of Muslim unity.

Quite than providing a sanctuary, Iran’s therapy of Afghan refugees demonstrates a choice for nationalistic over non secular concerns. When India faces comparable points, Khamenei’s rhetoric casts it as an “enemy of Islam,” aimed toward stirring communal discord in a predominantly Hindu nation.

Traditionally, India and Iran have maintained robust ties, resembling by the Chabahar port partnership. Nonetheless, current tensions have emerged as Khamenei employs non secular rhetoric to say his management amongst Muslims globally whereas ignoring the struggles of Afghan Muslims inside Iran. India, with its substantial Muslim inhabitants, doesn’t require lectures from Iran—a rustic the place even Muslim girls face extreme restrictions and dissenting voices are sometimes repressed below the guise of ethical policing, as seen within the current anti-Hijab protests advocating for freedom and rights.