Srinagar: 03 May( Arjumand wani ) The Kashmir Valley witnessedwidespread protests on Sunday morning afternews broke of the killing of Iran’s SupremeLeader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a massivejoint military offensive by the United States andIsrael. The operation, named “Operation EpicFury,” targeted Islamic Republic regimeleadership and military installations, withKhamenei killed in an Israeli strike on hiscompound in Tehran.As the first Sehri of Ramzan concluded,thousands of people predominantly from theShia Muslim community poured onto thestreets across the Valley, raising slogans insupport of Iran and against what they calledthe unlawful killing of the revered religious.leader. The protests began at Srinagar’s iconicLal Chowk and rapidly spread to other parts ofthe Valley where Shia Muslims areconcentrated, including South Kashmir’s.Pulwama and districts of North Kashmir,making it one of the largest spontaneousdemonstrations witnessed in the region sincethe abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.The Shia Muslim community, which makes upapproximately 12-15% of Jammu andKashmir’s population roughly 1.5 million peopleholds deep religious and cultural ties with Iran.For them, Khamenei was not merely a politicalfigure but a supreme religious authority, andnews of his death struck a deeply personalchord.Chief Minister Omar Abdullah acknowledgedthe grief and anger felt by sections of thepopulation, while urging restraint. He appealedto people of all communities to uphold peaceand avoid any action that could lead to unrestin the Valley. Abdullah also directed the policeand administration to exercise utmost restraintand refrain from using force or restrictivemeasures against the protesters.The Chief Minister further confirmed that theJ&K government is in close coordination withIndia’s Ministry of External Affairs to ensure thesafety of Kashmiri residents, includinghundreds of students currently stranded in Iranin the wake of the US-Israel military strikes.
