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The world is watching in horror as the war, now raging for over a week, continues to escalate. It began on the night of 28 February, when Israel and the United States launched large-scale pre-emptive strikes against Iran, targeting its leadership, security apparatus, nuclear infrastructure, and missile sites. The stated objective was to cripple Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities and reduce the threat to Israel, the US, and neighbouring Gulf nations. Iran responded with full force, retaliating against US forces in the Gulf region, Israel, and several US-allied Gulf states. Despite suffering devastating losses in the initial strikes including the deaths of key political and military leaders, Iran pressed its counter offensive. The killing of top religious figure, Ayatollah Khamenei, triggered waves of jubilation across the globe, particularly among Iranian diaspora communities and Muslim populations in many countries.
The killing of Iran’s supreme religious leader marked the end of a rule widely condemned as oppressive, a regime responsible of the brutal killings of tens of thousands of innocent civilians, children, women, and the elderly alike, punished for defying his authoritarian edicts. Under his hardline Islamist leadership, several militant groups were created, funded, and armed to unleash violence against nations the Iranian regime viewed as adversaries. These groups included Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthi movement, the organizations responsible for attacks on innocent Israeli civilians, including celebratory gatherings in their homeland on 7 October 2023. Those attacks became the trigger for Israel’s fierce retaliation and the ongoing strikes on Iran. Khamenei’s regime was never seen as supportive of India and it frequently opposed New Delhi on global stage, whether on the Kashmir issue or in the aftermath of terror attacks carried out by India’s arch adversary, Pakistan. He repeatedly sided with India’s rivals and accused India of oppressing its Muslim population, even when his own government was responsible for violently suppressing dissent and killing thousands within Iran. Despite this history, some Muslim hardliners and India’s opposition party, the Congress, have criticized the Indian leadership’s stance, condemning what they describe as support for the killing of the Iranian leader.
It is hardly surprising that India’s oldest political party, Congress, once again stands exposed of working against the interests of the nation and its majority population. Critics argue that in recent times it has shattered even its own previous thresholds, going all out in opposition, even when that opposition is harming the country itself. In a sovereign nation, foreign policy is the elected leadership’s prerogative, guided by national interest. Yet the Congress party refuses to accept this principle. After nearly twelve years out of power, it appears determined to exploit every possible issue to defame the government. The objective is clear: relentlessly attack the Modi government, manufacture negative publicity, and attempt to consolidate votes from its preferred constituencies—even if that means denting India’s image and reputation. Unfortunately, a section of the Shia community in India has taken to the streets in protest across several cities. Yet, as critics point out sharply, all these voices were conspicuously silent when over half a million Hindus were forced out of their homes in Kashmir 37 years ago, during Congress rule, families who never returned. There was not even one protest, during these years when thousands of innocent Hindus were killed amid waves of terror in states governed by Congress.
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The Indian leadership for now has chosen a wait-and-watch policy. With a vast Indian diaspora spread across the Gulf nations and only a minuscule presence in Iran, the government’s priority is clear, act in the interest of the larger number of its citizens. National interest, not noise, drives policy. Only a handful of countries have openly condemned the killings or taken an explicit side in the conflict. So why is India’s opposition so hell-bent on forcing the government to issue statements or pick a camp? Foreign policy is not shaped by impulse or political theatrics. The government will speak and act when the timing serves India’s strategic interests. Right now, the government’s foremost responsibility is safeguarding Indian citizens living in war-torn regions. Protecting its people comes before political grandstanding.
-Yugal Parashar
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