Kishanganj to Kargil, how India’s ‘Little Irans’ are watching the conflict unfold

3 hours ago 5

ARTICLE AD BOX

Some have turned to prayers, and others to protests. For Indians with Iranian roots, the conflict is a reckoning with identity and belonging

For the past three days, 67-year-old Shafeeq Abidi has been rummaging through old cupboards and dusty envelopes in his home in Alipur, Karnataka. He’s searching for a photograph taken four decades ago, when he was a fiery young poet of 25. “Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (now

Iran

’s supreme leader) had come to India after the inquilab (1979 Iranian Revolution). I met him at a big event in Alipur,” he remembers. “I recited poems of the revolution on stage. He was so pleased, he hugged me.”
Back in Iran, the 86-year-old Khamenei’s repressive regime is far from popular but the attack from

Israel

has forced many to rally behind it, albeit with heavy hearts. In India’s own ‘Little Irans’ — places like Alipur — it has revived some personal memories.

Read Entire Article