Aligarh (UP), March 2 Members of the Muslim community held a funeral prayer for Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, at the lawns of the Aligarh Muslim University Students Union compound here, amid tight security, with speakers urging the Indian government to offer condolences to the cleric's family, instead of remaining silent.
The 'Ghaibaana Namaaz-e-Janazza' (funeral prayer in absentia) was attended by several people, including students of the university.
The prayer was preceded by slogans of Shia-Sunni unity and addresses to the gathering, where several speakers asserted that Ayatollah Khamenei, in his death, attained "martyrdom and aroused a wave of sympathy beyond the borders of his own country".
A number of speakers urged the Government of India to offer condolences to the family of the departed cleric, instead of remaining silent.
Addressing the prayer meeting, former president of the AMU Students Union, Salman Imtiaz, said that Khamenei, in his death, "became the voice of all those downtrodden people of the world who speak for humanity against the imperialist forces of the world" and brought Shias and Sunnis on the same platform.
"Ayatollah Khamenei was an old friend of India, and had stood by India even at the cost of its relationship with Pakistan," Imtiaz said.
The prayer meeting was held under tight security arrangements, and the participants were advised to disperse after the meeting instead of taking out any procession, police sources said.
Several opposition parties on Sunday condemned the killing of Khamenei in US-Israel strikes and questioned the Centre's "silence" over the development, with the Congress saying that it shows the Narendra Modi government's "abdication of moral leadership".
Opposition leaders also criticised the Centre's foreign policy and said the government's response to the war unleashed on "friend" Iran has been a "betrayal" of India's values, principles and interests.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to the King of Bahrain, Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Bin Salman, and condemned the recent attacks on the two countries in violation of their sovereignty and territorial integrity.
During his telephonic conversations with the two leaders, Prime Minister Modi said that the earliest restoration of regional peace and stability is of utmost importance and thanked them for looking after the well-being of the Indian community living there in these difficult times.