Protest in Budgam Kashmir over ‘burning’ of slain Iranian commander’s portrait

As the protests started to spread in the Shia-dominated areas of Budgam and Baramulla, top officials visited the area and the Army officer apologised and waved a picture of Soleimani to pacify the crowd.

People took to the streets in a village in central Kashmir’s Budgam on Tuesday and clashed with police, claiming that an Army officer removed a portrait of slain Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani from a house and set it on fire.

As the protests started to spread in the Shia-dominated areas of Budgam and Baramulla, top officials visited the area and the Army officer apologised and waved a picture of Soleimani to pacify the crowd.

Soleimani, who was the chief of Iran’s Al Quds Force – a unit of Iranian Revolutionary Guards – was killed in a US drone attack on Baghdad airport in 2020. He is a revered figure among the Shia Muslims, especially in Kashmir.