India: The Revolution is here!

The Islamic Revolution had triumphed, and Iran now found itself under attack by the Iraqi Ba'athist regime. In the global media, there was no condemnation of the aggressor, nor any talk of aiding Revolutionary Iran. Consequently, a decision was made in Iran to dispatch representatives to various countries to speak directly to the world about the Revolution and the injustices facing the nation.

The representative chosen to travel to India was Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Sayyid Ali Khamenei, the Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran. This was a clear and deliberate choice. Like an expert researcher, Hujjat al-Islam Khamenei had deeply studied the history of India's anti-colonial movements and struggles during his years in the revolutionary resistance, and he was thoroughly well-versed in the history and spread of the Persian language in the subcontinent. Furthermore, he was the translator of the book Kifah al-Muslimeen fi Tahrir al-Hind [The Struggle of Muslims in the Liberation of India] into Persian – a book that, during the reign of the Pahlavi regime, had been banned and confiscated from the market due to its revolutionary concepts, and for which the translator himself had been interrogated and detained.

On February 11, 1981, Hujjat al-Islam Khamenei arrived in Mumbai [formerly known as Bombay] and addressed a gathering of the city's Muslim students. The welcome he received was nothing short of magnificent. With a floral garland draped around his neck, the envoy of the Islamic Revolution and Imam Khomeini was accompanied by a massive, swelling crowd – a vivid testament to the deep affection the Indian people held for the Islamic Revolution and its leader.

In the city of Bangalore, students and youths staged a parade wearing uniforms modeled after those of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC], while chanting the slogan: "Peace be upon Muhammad! Welcome O companion of the Imam!"

During this trip, Hujjat al-Islam Khamenei visited mosques, cultural centers, Friday prayers, and gatherings of Indian Muslims, speaking to them about the Revolution and the sacrifices of Iranian fighters in the war against Saddam's regime. Among these was an address delivered at the Friday prayers in Kashmir before an audience of ten thousand Kashmiri Muslims. This speech took place after he had offered his Friday prayers behind the Sunni Friday Leader of Kashmir.

Twelve years later, he recounted a memory from this trip:

"In the early days of the Revolution, I went to India myself and visited almost all of the country's major cultural and political centers. Wherever I set foot, I saw that the Revolution and the Imam were already there ahead of us! When we arrived, the people warmly welcomed us because we were the representatives of this epicenter – not because we went there to inform a populace that was otherwise unaware." (April 23, 1991)

Photo: Friday, February 13, 1985. Delivering a sermon at the Friday congregational Prayer of Sunni Muslims in Kashmir. The far-reaching impact of this fifteen-minute speech on the history of Kashmir could fill dozens of books and inspire months of discourse.