On 8 March 2026, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol. Thirumavalavan participated in a memorial event organised by the Tamil Nadu Shia Muslim Jamaat in honour of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In a post shared on social media, Thirumavalavan said he had attended the programme and delivered a speech at the remembrance event held for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whom the organisers described as the leader of the Islamic Ummah and a martyr.

The memorial meeting was conducted under the auspices of the Tamil Nadu Shia Muslim Jamaat, with participants gathering to pay tribute and reflect on Khamenei’s legacy.

Speaking to the audience, he said, “On behalf of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, I offer my heartfelt and brave tribute to the late leader, the martyr, Khamenei. When I received the news that he had been assassinated, I was deeply shocked. I did not know what to do, I was left bewildered. Then a call came from brother Bashir Ahmed. He said, ‘A protest march has started on Anna Salai, on Peter’s Road – where are you?’ I said, ‘I am in Chennai, I am coming right away,’ and I left immediately and joined that protest and that rally. This reminded me of when Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was assassinated, I had immediately joined a protest march with Islamic comrades on Anna Salai here.”

He continued, “There is a trend on social media of mocking and ridiculing, ‘What does Thirumavalavan have to do with this?’ Those forces, which have been conditioned to think that if there is a problem for Muslims, only Muslims should fight; if there is a problem for Dalits, only Dalits should fight, they cannot understand that anyone with democratic thinking can raise their voice for the rights and lives of Muslims. It is natural to ask – ‘Why should I condemn the assassination of the Iraqi President? Why should I condemn the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Imam Khamenei?’ There is no dispute about that. But I have not built myself into a sectarian leader. I have not made myself someone who speaks only for a particular caste or only for a particular religion. I am someone who holds the conviction that wherever injustice is committed on this earth, wherever dominance raises its head, we must raise our voice against it to the best of our ability. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was a great hero who never knelt before American imperialism. He had the courage to say, ‘The American dollar may have value in every country of the world, but in my country, it is just paper.’ He said: ‘I need not fear you. I need not bow my head before you. There is no need for me to kneel at your feet to carry this crown.’ Even at the moment of kissing the hangman’s noose, he accepted it with a smile – that was Saddam Hussein, the great hero of Iraq. No one can deny that.”

He further said, “The courage to resist imperialism belongs not only to leftist parties or leftist countries – it also belongs to Iraq, it belongs to Iran. Those who demonstrated this are the makers of history, Saddam Hussein and Khamenei. Soviet Russia stood against American imperialism, and it broke apart. Cuba is a communist country that stood against American imperialism. Che Guevara stood against it. All of these are communists – firm in their opposition to imperialism. This is how we have studied politics. But those who believe in God, those who have spiritual faith, those who believe that ‘Allah alone is one’ – they too stand firm in opposing imperialism, just as firmly as the leftists. Presidents Saddam Hussein and Khamenei stand as witnesses before us to that fact.”

He continued, “It is on the basis that Viduthalai Chiruthaigal too will stand wherever imperialism is opposed – that is why, when not just Shia Muslims as a single faction, but the entire Islamic community as a whole stood united on Peter’s Road that day, Thirumavalavan also came and stood with them. Opposition to imperialism. Opposition to American arrogance. Opposition to American insolence. Intervening in every country. Interfering in internal affairs. Installing military bases in every country. Threatening nations of the world. As they please, in every country’s elections, getting their preferred people elected as Prime Ministers or Presidents. Creating internal disturbances and destabilising every country’s political stability under the name of ‘people’s revolution’ – all of these are the atrocities that American imperialism is committing today, with the arrogance that there is no one to question them, and the pride that there is no one to oppose them. ‘You should not buy oil from Russia. If you do, we will punish you. We will impose 50% tariffs. If you comply, we will reduce the tariffs.’ Now, permission for 30 days to buy crude oil from Russia – look at how they are puppeteering the Indian government. The courage to oppose American imperialism is not in India. It is not in the Indian Prime Minister. When we think about this, we feel nothing but deep anguish.”

He continued, “Who is he? We do not have the courage to ask – ‘By what authority do you decide from which country we should import crude oil, and with which countries we should make trade agreements?’ That courage existed in President Khamenei. It existed in President Saddam Hussein. This is the problem. The person who stood firmly against imperialism was Imam Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This is the first reason. The second reason: He approached Israel as his born enemy, in support of Palestine. He stood firm in the conviction that Palestine is the land that must exist on the world map, not Israel, and that he would oppose it until his last breath. Based on that position, he supported armed groups fighting against Israel – that is one of the charges against him. He supported Hamas. He supported Hezbollah. He supported the Houthi organisation. He stood by them, encouraged those forces, and was a major headache for Israel. He questioned Israel’s military might, and was always a great threat to Israel. Just as he was a threat to America, he was equally a threat to Israel – that is the second reason.”

He continued, “The third reason they give: Iran is manufacturing nuclear weapons and that must be stopped. If Iran manufactures nuclear weapons, it will lead the world to destruction. Therefore, they say it is not just about protecting Israel – we must protect all nations of the world, and that is why we are conducting strikes against Iran. But there is no evidence whatsoever that Iran was manufacturing nuclear bombs. The same accusation was made against the Iraqi President too – they assassinated him, dug through every corner, searched every depth, and nowhere could they find any equipment or facility for nuclear bomb production. They could not produce any evidence. It was a completely false accusation. Uranium is used in every country in the world to generate electricity – nuclear power plants are installed everywhere. Which country does not have a nuclear power plant needed for electricity generation? Which country does not have an atomic power plant? Is it only Iran? This is how they spread slander, build public belief, and create opinion against Iran. One of the war strategies, one of the imperialist conspiracies, is to first brand the dog as a rabid dog before killing it. That is one of the strategies they use to destroy Iran – accusing it of attempting to build nuclear weapons, saying ‘we are taking this action to stop that attempt.’ These are the accusations they make. The fourth reason: Iran is one of the foremost nations in crude oil production among the world’s resource-rich countries. They intervene in that trade and commerce through American imperialism – so that Iran does not become an excessively powerful empire. The view exists that they intervene with the intent of preventing that. These are all reasons. All of them are reasons. But fundamentally, the most important reason is that he was a great personality with the courage never to kneel before imperialism. This is what we must understand. On this basis, we must understand and approach Imam Khamenei’s stand.”

He further says, “‘I can do anything. I can infiltrate any country. I can enter your home and eliminate him.’ To that same degree, in India today, we are seeing fascists possessed by religious fanaticism entering the homes of leftists and shooting them. That is how Gauri Lankesh was shot and killed. Professor Narendra Dabholkar was killed. Kalburgi was killed. They entered their homes, attacked and assassinated them and there was no one to question this fascism.

In one country, religious fanatics freely carrying weapons can enter someone’s very home and assassinate them – this situation is rampant here. That is exactly what American imperialism has now done on an international scale – becoming an international thug, taking the position: ‘I can intervene in any country in the world. I can kill any president.’ This is the greatest shame and disgrace to world civilisation. ‘You cannot choose your next Supreme Leader, I will choose him,’ he says. How is this democracy? How outrageously arrogant is this political conduct? We feel anguished wondering – are there no countries in the world to condemn this? There is not a single person to say, ‘How can you say this?’ Therefore, no matter how powerful he may be, when what he has done is an anti-democratic act – we must stand on the side of Khamenei. We must stand on the side of Imam Ali Khamenei. It is the duty of people like us to take this message to the people. Comrades said, Sadiq said, ‘Our Imam Khamenei lived like the Prophet Ali and passed away like the Prophet Husain.’ Those who are the family successors of the Prophet – they have been encountering cruelties, violence, brutalities, and assassinations for generations, for the sake of the welfare of these people, for the welfare of the Islamic community. They call this Islamic terrorism. They call this fundamentalism. It was not the Islamic community that created Bin Laden – it was American imperialism. The actions of Bin Laden have no connection to Islam. It is the product of American imperialism – he himself created it, and he himself had to face that consequence. Islam as a religion did not create anything like that. It has nurtured brotherhood. It preaches love. It preaches the magnificent principle of building a society without discrimination on a global scale. Therefore, against American imperialism that is threatening nations of the world, the righteous struggle of courageous people – we can lead that from Indian soil too. We can turn it into a people’s war. Proof of that is the massive rally held two days ago on Peter’s Road, where tens of thousands of Muslims gathered in the open – I want to place that on record here. In such a field, the field of protecting democracy and justice, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal will always stand with you as a steadfast companion. We will stand. We will stand. With that, I thank you for the opportunity, offer my brave and heartfelt tribute to Ali Khamenei, and conclude.”

தமிழ்நாடு ஷியா முஸ்லிம் ஜமாஅத் சார்பில் நடைபெற்ற இஸ்லாமிய உம்மத்தின் தலைவர் தியாகி ஆயத்துல்லா அலி காமெனி அவர்களின் நினைவேந்தல் நிகழ்வில் கலந்து கொண்டு உரையாற்றினேன். pic.twitter.com/Oz92m3oxAn

— Thol. Thirumavalavan (@thirumaofficial) March 8, 2026

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