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Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Indian Left sees anti-imperial resistance in Khamenei. Iranian women are collateral damage

The relationship between the Left and Islamist movements resembles a toxic love story. We know how it ended in Iran.

Iran observed days of public mourning for former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, a man seen by many as the face of resistance against Western imperialism. Yet, he was also the leader of a regime that carried out brutal crackdowns on dissent, imprisoning and executing thousands. Like many powerful figures in history, his legacy will be debated for a long time.

Watching millions gather for his funeral did not surprise me. The men who inherited his revolution weren’t simply mourning a leader; they were also telling the world that his ideology would outlive him.

History is full of such contradictions. Joseph Stalin played a decisive role in defeating Nazi Germany, yet his rule was also responsible for the deaths of millions. When he died in 1953, people still mourned him—not because his brutality had disappeared from history, but because decades of propaganda, fear, and genuine devotion had shaped his public image.

What interests me more is how little we seem to learn from history. The debate around Khamenei’s funeral quickly split into familiar ideological camps. Instead of applying the principles each side claims to uphold, many interpreted the event through existing political loyalties.

In India, even the political........

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