'We give what we love': How Kashmir's 'Little Iran' is giving generous aid to Tehran
Submitted by Umar Farooq Bhat on Tue, 03/24/2026 - 12:43
Cutting through sectarian lines, Kashmiri Sunni and Shia Muslims donate gold, heirlooms, and even their livelihoods for Iranian wartime relief
Families across sectarian lines in the Kashmir Valley made donations toward humanitarian efforts in Iran (Umar Farooq Bhat/MEE) Off Masrat Mukhtar touched the gold earrings her father gave her on her last birthday. She wore them on the second day of Eid al-Fitr, walked through Budgam in central Kashmir, and placed them on the donation table.
The volunteers accepted the jewellery with solemn nods. Her cousins followed, each bearing something precious.
This scene played out across the Kashmir Valley on the day marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Families arrived with copper utensils, savings, and livestock. Children emptied their piggy banks, while business owners gave a share of their earnings.
The donations were for Iran, which has been engulfed in more than three weeks of ongoing war with the United States and Israel that has left more than 1,500 of its civilians dead.
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In Zadibal, a predominantly Shia locality in Srinagar, 73-year-old Tahera Jan stood watching neighbours deposit copper pots.
“Kashmiris traditionally collect these utensils for their daughters’ weddings,” she said. “We chose to give them instead to daughters who lost mothers and sisters in the attacks.”
'I heard the mosque call and decided to give half my livelihood'
- Sadakat Ali Mir, mini truck driver
Her words captured the spirit of the drive, which redirected long-standing traditions of wedding preparation toward wartime relief.
Syed Asifi, who organised collections at Khomeini Chowk in Bemina, watched residents line up with medical aid contributions.
“The support overwhelms us,” he said. “Even those with little bring whatever they possess.”
Among them stood nine-year-old Zainab Jan, clutching a piggy bank she had filled over four years. She handed over her savings for Iranian children she would never meet.
The Iranian Embassy in New Delhi responded in gratitude in post on X: “We sincerely thank the kind people of Kashmir for standing with the people of Iran through their humanitarian support and heartfelt solidarity; this kindness endures.”
The embassy shared a video of a widow donating gold she had kept as a memento of her husband, who died 28 years ago. “Your tears and pure emotions bring comfort to Iran,” the post read.
Solidarity across sectarian lines
Sadakat Ali Mir drove his mini truck to the Budgam collection point. The 24-year-old owned two vehicles, both central to his livelihood, with his entire income dependent on them. There, he signed over the title to one, effectively giving up years of loan repayments and daily work.
“I heard the mosque call and decided to give half my livelihood,” Ali Mir said. “Thinking about Iran brings Karbala to mind,” he added, referring to the 7th-century battle that holds deep significance in Shia Islam, often invoked as a symbol of sacrifice and endurance.
“We stand ready to give our last drop of blood.”
Sadakat Ali Mir, 23, donates his mini truck toward humanitarian efforts in Iran (Umar Farooq Bhat/MEE)
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Meanwhile, Bilal Ahmad Gazi arrived on his scooter, the possession he valued most, and donated it without hesitation.
“This bike meant everything to me,” he said. “The situation in Iran feels like losing a family member. We feel that emptiness. This donation brings ease to our hearts.”
A young boy approached volunteers after Eid prayers in a Srinagar neighbourhood and handed over his gold chain, saying it was a gift for Allah and Iran. A teenager followed, signing over his bicycle. These individual acts grew into a groundswell that surprised even longtime residents.
Shias are estimated to make up about 10 to 15 percent of Jammu and Kashmir’s population, around 1 to 1.5 million people, concentrated mainly in Budgam, Baramulla, and parts of Srinagar.
However, notably, the fundraising cut across sectarian lines. Sunni communities observed simpler Eid celebrations this year, directing resources toward Iranian relief. Shopkeepers in Srinagar closed early, and families served modest meals.
“This restraint showed deliberate choice rather than obligation,” says Shameen Khan, a Sunni Kashmiri trader. “Our hearts beat for Iran and the brave people of that country facing war frenzy.”
Families flocked to donation points in the Kashmir Valley with copper utensils, savings, livestock to contribute toward humanitarian efforts in Iran (Umar Farooq Bhat/MEE)
Organisers at several donation points said the participation of Sunni residents was significant, sometimes even making up nearly half of all donors.
Political leaders joined the effort, lending their support to the growing public sentiment.
Budgam lawmaker Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi said he would donate one month’s salary toward humanitarian efforts in Iran.
“Humanity must come before everything,” he wrote on X, using hashtags #KashmirWithIran and #StandWithIran.
Imran Reza Ansari, a Shia cleric and leader of People's Conference, a political party in Jammu and Kashmir, noted that Kashmiris “have come forward in large numbers”.
Little Iran
The cultural connection between Kashmir and Iran goes beyond modern borders.
Seven centuries ago, Persian Islamic scholar Mir Syed Ali Hamadani arrived in Kashmir from Hamadan, Persia, bringing 700 followers. The Sufi saint introduced papier-mache, carpet weaving, calligraphy, and the shawl industry.
'Kashmiris collect these utensils for their daughters’ weddings. We chose to give them instead to daughters who lost mothers and sisters in the attacks'
- Tahera Jan, resident
Persian architectural principles shaped Srinagar's historic Khanqah-e-Moula shrine and Jamia Masjid mosque. The Persian language replaced Sanskrit in administration, creating a literary culture that produced poets like Ghani Kashmiri.
Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the philosopher-poet of Kashmiri descent, captured this bond in verse:
“Today that land of Kashmir, under the heels of the enemy, has become weak, helpless and poor, once known among the wise as Little Iran.”
The poet’s words gave the valley its enduring epithet: Iran-e-Sagheer, or Little Iran.
“The donation drives draw upon this deep reservoir of shared culture,” said Saba Khan, a scholar in Central Asian studies in Srinagar.
“Prayer names in Kashmir derive from Persian: Peshah for morning prayer, Digar for afternoon, Sham for evening.
“The Aurad-e-Fatiha, a rhythmic Persian litany compiled by Hamadani, still echoes in Kashmiri shrines. Sufiana Mausiqi, the valley’s classical music form, employs Persian verses by Hafez and Rumi.”
'We give what we love'
The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint US-Israeli attack in Tehran on the first day of the war has resonated deeply in Kashmir. Mourning processions filled Srinagar’s streets for days.
Since 2019, when India revoked the region’s semi-autonomous status and imposed sweeping security measures, public gatherings in Jammu and Kashmir have been tightly restricted, with past protests met by tear gas, pellet guns, and physical force.
'The donation drives draw upon this deep reservoir of shared culture'
- Saba Khan, a scholar in Central Asian studies
Large demonstrations have become rare, making the tightly controlled procession in Srinagar, amid a heightened security presence, all the more striking.
Black flags hung from windows in Zadibal and Hasanabad, while portraits of Khamenei and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s first supreme leader, filled public parks. Thousands marched through Lal Chowk, beating their chests in ritual mourning and raising their voices against the United States and Israel.
“What we see is not episodic charity but a patterned movement of resources built over generations,” said Ilyas Bhat, a Srinagar-based social activist. “Dowry gold saved for decades, daily wages set aside with effort, and household assets released with intent come together as a shared reserve.
“That aggregation creates a moral economy that links distant communities and turns memory into material support.”
The geography of this response also matters, Bhat added.
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“Collections concentrated in places like Zadibal, Hasanabad, and Budgam, while participation spread through mixed neighbourhoods in Srinagar and Baramulla.”
Students at the Islamic University of Science and Technology in Awantipora, south of Srinagar, organised supply drives informed by need, while local doctors assembled kits tailored to specific shortages in Iran.
“This is coordinated action shaped by knowledge of need,” Bhat said, “not a loose or symbolic gesture.”
Sakina Hassan, a lecturer who studies humanitarian practice, highlighted the personal dimension of these donations to Iran.
“People are not only parting with objects,” she said, “they are extending memory, inheritance, and care into another space. The act shows how relief can function at once as emotional continuity, social duty, and a form of public expression beyond the state.”
Meanwhile, Mukhtar stood back from the table as volunteers wrapped her earrings in soft cloth in her hometown Budgam. She pictured hospital wards in Tehran where supplies could ease pain, and homes where ordinary items would take on new meaning.
“We give what we love,” she said. “This brings us closer to them. This is what Little Iran does for its namesake. The bond persists through time and conflict.”
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