SRINAGAR: Amir Zahoor drives his motorcycle into a garage and requests the mechanic for a full checkup of his vehicle.
But the 32-year-old Shia Muslim’s focus is on finding a pickup truck to transport thousands of banners and flags supporting Iran, which will be raised, hanged, and waved during the Muharram, just two days away.
From tea stalls and baker’s shops to barber’s shops, from automobile garages to the taxi stands - in the streets and on roads, the war between Iran and Israel has taken over the conversations in Kashmir. And as the month of Muharram is in the offing, Kashmiri Muslims, especially the Shia community, is anxious.
Muharram marks the beginning of the New Year as per the Islamic calendar, and is also a month, when 20 direct descendants of the Holy Prophet (A.S), including his grandson along with 52 others were gruesomely murdered on the soil of Karbala, a city in Iraq.
Mourned by Muslims across the world, the event also is an historical example of truth versus falsehood, resistance against oppression and tyranny. Millions of Shia Muslims take out processions of mourning and solidarity with the martyrs of Karbala.
Police remove graffiti, detain several people
After Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear sites on Friday earlier this month, the latter retaliated by using their sophisticated weapons like the Fatah missile.
The 12-day war, as the US President called it, saw exchange of heavy artillery and aerial attacks.
And on Sunday (22 June), the US said it had bombed three nuclear sites in Iran, marking the inception of the direct involvement of the US in the war between Iran and Israel. Following this, Iran retaliated by attacking US Air Bases in Qatar.
On Tuesday, the President of the United States Donald Trump said Iran and Israel have agreed upon the ceasefire. And hours after Trump’s statement, Israel said that it is attacking Iran as it claimed that the latter had violated the ceasefire.
Then, the US President again took to his official handle on Truth Social (which he owns) and warned Israel not to use bombs against Iran as that would be a clear violation of the ceasefire.
These events and statements ignited a rollercoaster of emotions in Shia Muslims of Kashmir, who said they have little trust on what “America and Israel say.”
"The enemy is so ruthless; I fear it (Israel) might intensify its bombardment on Iran during the month of Muharram,” said Dar Sahil, a Shia Muslim from Srinagar who heads a marketing team of a national company.
Sahil said, “he fears if the situation remains violent, then the Arbaeen won’t take place. Arbaeen, meaning forty, is a Shia Muslim religious observance to mark the forty days of Imam Hussain’s martyrdom. It is among the world’s biggest pilgrimages, where millions of Shia Muslims, especially from Iran, walk to Karbala in Iraq and pay obeisance at the shrine of Imam Hussain.”
On Monday, police in Srinagar said that it detained two persons for “affixing foreign flags in Balhama.”
“Acting on credible inputs, including visual evidence indicating the installation of United States and Israel flags, Srinagar Police launched a prompt investigation using various techniques and ground-level verification."
“During the course of investigation, 6–7 suspects were identified and questioned. Sustained interrogation led to the confirmation of involvement of three individuals,” Srinagar Police wrote on its official X-handle.
Then on Tuesday, the police said, “it has removed ‘foreign flag graffiti’ near Imambara in Zadibal and that they had identified the accused and will follow with legal action.”
“Police Station Zadibal received information about graffiti resembling a foreign flag (Israel) painted on the road outside the main entrance of Imambara Zadibal.”
Acting swiftly, a Police team reached the location and ensured immediate removal of the graffiti to maintain communal harmony and public order.
Preliminary enquiry revealed the involvement of three local teenage girls (names withheld due to age), all students residing in the area.
Given their age and the sensitivity of the act, their parents were called to the Police Station and the minors were counselled in their presence.
They were sensitized about the implications of such actions and the need to uphold communal harmony and responsible civic behaviour.
"Legal action shall follow strictly in accordance with the juvenile justice framework,” Srinagar police said.
Do not raise Palestinian and Hezbollah flags
"Police in Kashmir have called meetings with elders of the Shia community, asking them to refrain from taking out Palestinian flags or raising slogans against Israel," members of the Shia community from Maisuma, Basant Bagh, Zadibal, and Lal Bazar said.
However, the leaders have refused to take responsibility, saying hundreds and thousands of mourners gather at different places during the first ten days, and “we can’t promise that the decree from police would be obeyed.”
“Instead, young Shia Muslims have given orders for customised badges displaying the Hezbollah flag, Palestinian Flag, and Iranian flag,” Shia activists said.
“But we are not sure we can host them all,” they added.
"If violence escalates in Iran, it will echo in our processions, our hearts," said a Shia cleric who leads prayers at a Srinagar Mosque.
A source said that young boys were pasting General Qasim’s photo on a wall at the edge of historic Gaw Kadal, where a bunker (an armoured vehicle used by cops) is positioned on standby, but the elders, fearing a backlash, asked them to remove the poster.
They were also planning to put up Palestine flags but took them back when the elders protested, the source said when this reporter reached the spot.
Connection between Kashmir and Iran
Kashmir was influenced by Iran even before the Iranian revolution. Besides ecological resemblance, the entry of Sufi saints and scholars from Iran in Kashmir infused some cultural unity.
The advent of Syeds from Iran in Kashmir brought cultural proximity, so much so that Persian became the official language of Kashmir, says Muazam Ali, a Kashmiri Shia Muslim and a senior History and International Relation’s scholar at the Kashmir University.
“I have had Iranians say Kashmiris resemble them in physical features,” Ali said.
"When the 1979 revolution happened in Iran, Kashmir was one of the places where the impact of revolution was profound, not only among Shia’s but Sunnis as well," he said.
"In fact, many Sunnis were influenced before the Shias. Since then, whenever any mobilisation order comes from Iran, Kashmir is the first to react," Ali said.
Like when the founder of the Iranian revolution Ruhollah Khomeini declared that the last Friday of the month of Ramadan be commemorated as Quds Day and said that Quds (Arabic for Holy, used for the city of Jerusalem) is the central issue for the Muslim Ummah, he said.
“His emphasis influenced not just Kashmiris but all those influenced by the Iranian revolution. For them, Quds is the red line.”
"Since then, Kashmiris conduct seminars and solidarity protests for the oppressed people of Palestine and the Occupied Palestine," Ali said.
"The events in Iran and the West Asia (Middle East) have had huge impacts on Kashmir."
"Whether it was the Gulf War, Iraq War, or the consistent attacks by Americans or Israelis on Iranian leaders or scientists, resulted in solidarity protests in Kashmir," he said.
Biggest processions in recent times happened after the US killed Iran’s top military commander General Soleimani.
“When Soleimani was martyred in Iraq, huge crowds gathered in Kashmir. Men, women, and children everybody came out on roads. It was out of love and the deep pain felt by the Kashmiris, especially the Shia Muslims,” said Ali.
“I remember when the founder of Islamic Republic of Iran, Ruhollah Khomeini died in 1989, there were huge rallies in Kashmir consisting of both Shias and Sunnis together,” recalled Ali.
A huge, massive rally was organised at Zadibal where Mirwaiz Molvi Mohammad, father of Mirwaiz Umar, also spoke.
“Kashmiri Shias are very closely linked to Quds because of Iran.”
Deep pain and emotional connection
Whenever there is an attack on Iran’s sovereignty, and their leaders and scientists are killed, Shias in Kashmir are “deeply pained, they organize Majalis (religious gatherings), prayers, and supplications for the safety of the Resistance Axis and the leaders of Iran, especially Khamenie,” said Muazam Ali.
“Our supreme leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei is under the threat of assassination. Now, this is a very personal matter to us,” said Syed Saifullah, a Kashmiri Shia who works as a Programme Manager for a private firm in south India’s Hyderabad.
“Khamenei isn’t just a head of state, he is our supreme leader, our guide, and a jurist. And like the Pope and the Dalai Lama, he has followers, who can do anything on his single command,” Saifullah said.
Since Israel’s intensified war on Gaza, Kashmiris, both Sunnis and Shias have been very concerned about the war.
In 2009, during the Gaza siege, Khamenei said that Gaza is today’s Karbala. This connected Kashmiri Shias more with the Palestinian cause. Because the events in Gaza are similar to the atrocities which Yazid did in Karbala - cutting off water supply, food, and killing babies, Ali said.
“In Karbala, Yazid’s forces killed Imam Hussain’s six-month old child Ali Asgar, and in Gaza, Netanyahu’s forces are also killing babies,” said Muazam Ali.
“This is why Kashmiri Shia are very emotionally connected to Palestine, because they can relate it with the characters and stories of the Karbala.”
“During the Muharram processions, we don’t just remember the martyrs of Karbala, but we also call out on the ‘Yazids’ of every era,” said Sameer Abbas, a Kashmir Shia who works as a freelance graphic designer.
Abbas’ statement is seconded by Saifullah who says, Muharram is not just the remembrance of an event that happened 1400 years ago. The gatherings are a voice against tyranny and oppression around the world.
“When you visit the Shia-dominant areas of Kashmir, you’ll truly understand how deep the emotional and ideological connection is. After the recent attacks on Iran, several senior religious scholars here openly condemned the aggression,” said Abbas.
“Last year, we wore badges and carried flags of Palestine but this time the solidarity will be more powerful because this time Iran is directly involved,” young Shia activists, a Shia scholar, and four Shia elders told Kashmir Times.
For Ismayil Hussain, the connection to Palestine is beyond religion. “It is spiritual, historical, and deeply emotional. “Our geopolitical realities-from living under heavy militarisation to being silenced, our bond is of shared pain and courage to resist and exist,” Hussain told Kashmir Times.
The procession of remembrance, solidarity, and unity
The real impact of Israel’s aggression against Iran would be seen during the Muharram processions, Saifullah believes.
“This year’s Muharram will be a platform for our solidarity with Iran. You will see a lot of pictures, flags, banners, badges showing solidarity with Iran and the axis of resistance,” Saifullah said.
“This Muharram, if flags are banned, we will carry resistance in our hearts, in our Nawhas (hymns), in our marsiyas (elegiac poems),” said Hussain.
“If they try to censor our lips, our remembrance will still rise as a whisper, a prayer, or a defiant glance. Truth doesn’t need permission,” Hussain asserts.
Like dozens of Shias KT spoke to, Saifullah and Hussain fear that the violence in West Asia would “be used as an excuse to suppress our expression of grief and solidarity. That our religious processions would be seen through the lens of law and order rather than love and mourning.”
“I fear more surveillance, more restrictions and perhaps attempts to disconnect us spiritually from the global ummah,” Hussain said.
And despite the curbs by the government on pro-Palestine marches, “we will hold peaceful demonstrations against imperialist powers who are suppressing Palestinians on every level,” said Hussain.
Last year, when police removed Palestinian flags raised by Shia mourners across Kashmir even as they booked many youths for the act, it didn’t deter people from showing solidarity with Palestine, who painted their faces with Palestinian flags.
“Well, our biggest fear is more repression, raids, arrests, and criminalization of pro Palestine voices. But what revives our dead amid a silenced atmosphere, is the spirit of Karbala that lives on in every oppressed,” asserted both Hussain and Saifullah.
"The recent episodes will have a significant impact on the Muharram processions," said the History and International Relation’s scholar Ali.
"The previous central government was a bit inclined to Palestinian cause, so the authorities in Kashmir saw no harm in it, however, with Modi’s open inclination towards Israel and its Prime Minister, the Indian state will not let people denounce Israel or the United States," the scholar said.
"Besides, the Indian state fears that demonstrations like those supporting Palestinian cause will stoke the anti-India narrative in Kashmir," believes Ali.
But not just Kashmiri Shias, Israel’s aggression against Iran and its oppression against Palestinians and the consequent response from Iran and the axis of resistance is changing the perspective of young Kashmiri Sunnis.
Syed Shams was surprised to see his Sunni colleague’s WhatsApp status, which was an edited collage consisting of three pictures: An Iranian flag, the picture of Khameini, and the colleague himself.
Curious as he became, Shams messaged his colleague and asked about the post.
“I was blinded by hate, but I have started to realise that Arab nations are hand in glove with Israel and the West, and that Iran has held our heads high by giving Israel a taste of their own medicine,” his colleague replied.
“This is the time, when more than ever, we need to shun our internal differences and identify as Muslims, without any sectarian or ideological labels,” says Harris Labeeb, a 27-year-old filmmaker from Kashmir.
“After Israel broke the so-called international law by attacking Iran, the latter had the full right to retaliate. The Israeli Zionist regime backed by US has been committing genocide of Palestinians and we as Muslims feel the pain and agony of Palestinians who are facing unimaginable horror,” Labeeb said.
“Muslim Ummah is like one body, if one part of the body feels pain, the entire body is, and must be affected,” asserted Labeeb.
People are talking, like they always do in Kashmir, in the streets and random gatherings. More and more Sunni youth are encouraging the courage and resilience of Iran’s leadership, Labeeb said.
Reasonable Restrictions
While Article (19) of the Indian constitution grants people the right to Freedom of Expression, it enables the government to impose “reasonable restrictions” on the exercise of free speech in the interests of friendly relations with Foreign States.
“So as far as the constitution is concerned, detention of people denouncing Israeli and American flags could be justified by the state,” said scholar Ali.
"The authorities can also curb and prevent Shias from raising the Iranian flag, for it belongs to a foreign nation, but then there are sentiments and religious affinity which go beyond the borders," said Ali.
"Likewise, the flag of Iran is a flag of a nation, but Shia hold it as a symbol of their religion," said Ali.
"But they cannot stop people from displaying the posters of Khameini, because he has followers like the Dalai Lama or Pope has," Ali said.
Kashmir’s subtle and organic solidarity
Palestinian flags and slogans supporting them were a usual scene during the anti-government protests in Kashmir before 2019. However, after central government’s iron fist policy and high-handedness against dissenters, public outrage is rarely witnessed in Kashmir.
But exploring social media platforms like Instagram and X (formally Twitter), one sees that almost all the handles belonging to Kashmiris, especially ones with pseudonyms, have Palestinian flags in their Profile Pictures, or on the side of their account name, or their stories on Instagram.
“Yes, I do post on social media regarding all this. Mostly, people share hard news and rhetoric, I share nuanced views and broader perspectives about the situation in the Middle East. I want everyone in my circle to realise and understand how the US has been historically supporting, funding and enabling wars in the Middle East for geopolitical benefits. How media machinery whitewashes war crimes of the west and how, despite being victims, we Muslims are portrayed as aggressors,” said Labeeb.
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