‘Khamenei is not just for Iran’: Kashmir erupts in grief after Iran’s Supreme Leader’s death in joint US-Israeli strikes

The death of Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has plunged Kashmir into tense mourning and widespread protests. Thousands gathered across the Valley, condemning US and Israeli actions and expressing profound grief.

Srinagar: A geopolitical earthquake centred in Iran has sent seismic ripples through the Kashmir Valley. Following reports that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed during massive, joint military strikes by the United States and Israel, thousands of mourners and protesters flooded the streets across Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, plunging the region into a state of tense mourning.

The news, confirmed by Iranian state media, stated that the 86-year-old cleric, who led the Islamic Republic for over three decades,  was killed in the early hours of Saturday as Israeli and US forces targeted military and nuclear-linked sites across Iran.

“Here the Shia people have come from Kashmir, from here and wherever Shias are in the world, we will come for him”, one of the mourners told news agency IANS.

A sea of black flags and tears

As the report reached the valley, traditional mourning chants (Nauha) echoed through the streets of Srinagar, Budgam, Pattan, Sonawari, and Bandipora. For the region’s Shia Muslim community, Khamenei was not merely a head of state but a Marja-e-Taqlid, a supreme source of religious emulation.

“Khamenei is not just for Iran; he belonged to all of us,” cried one protester during a massive procession in the city center Lal Chowk. Visuals from the scene showed a sea of black flags, portraits of the fallen leader, and........

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