TEHRAN – Hojjatoleslam Kazem Seddiqi, the interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran, has said the issue of Kashmir is one of the tragedies of the Muslim world.

Addressing worshippers on Friday, Seddiqi said the Indian government was expected to abide by international law.

“Their action is contrary to human conscience, fairness and even the domestic laws of that country,” the cleric remarked.

He was making a reference to the Indian government’s recent decision to strip autonomy of the Kashmir region and its crackdown on the Muslim majority region.

The cleric further advised India to reconsider their decision and “know that oppression would not end [well].”

Seddiqi also criticized mistreatment of the top Nigerian Shia cleric Sheikh El-Zakzaky in India, where he went to receive medical treatment but had to return to Nigeria after Indian medical authorities refused to provide him with adequate treatment.

He said that the actions against Sheikh Zakzaky were contrary to human rights.

Elsewhere in his sermon, the cleric referred to the situation in Yemen, offering condolences on the martyrdom of the brother of the Yemeni leader al-Houthi.

He added that the Yemenis will emerge victorious in the end as the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei predicted in a meeting with a Yemeni delegation earlier this week in Tehran.

MH/PA