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Lucknow:
Maulana Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi, who was Sunday removed from the
coveted position of vice chancellor of the Islamic seminary Darul
Uloom Deoband, said that the institution was not anyone's private
property.
Talking to IANS over phone from Hapur, where he had gone to attend
a function at a madrasa, Vastanvi said: "The Majlis-e-Shoora
(governing council) of Darul Uloom might have chosen to remove me
from the vice chancellor's position, but I will continue to remain
a part of the institution since I happen to be a member of the
Shoora."
"In any case, the institution is not a private property of any
individual or a family, it is a heritage of the entire Muslim
community," he hastened to add.
Vastanvi's remark was an obvious reflection on the common
impression that the country's most powerful Islamic seminary had
turned into a 'family affair' of the Madni clan that has been
traditionally owing allegiance to the Congress party.
The decision to replace Vastanvi was taken by the powerful
governing council, which voted nine to four against the Maulana
who had raised the hackles of many for praising Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi's developmental policies.
Asked why he did not exercise the option to step down from office
and waited for the Shoora to show him the door, he said: "When the
three-member committee constituted to inquire into the charges
levelled against me gave me a clean chit, there was no reason for
me to resign. Yet, the Shoora decided to unilaterally throw me
out."
"Apparently, some people in the Shoora were in a hurry to have me
out of the vice chancellor's chair for reasons best known to
them," he said.
Vastanvi's views were shared by certain leading Islamic scholars
in Lucknow as well, but they preferred not to be named.
"Actually, Deoband has been run like a private fiefdom of a
particular family, which does not want to lose hold over the
institution at any cost," remarked a prominent Sunni Maulana,
heading a number of institutions here.
Another cleric said: "Coming from a progressive, educated and
financially sound background, Maulana Vastanvi would not have
allowed anybody to use him, nor would he have played the second
fiddle to anyone. Therefore, a strong lobby was built to have him
out of the way."
"I am convinced that Maulana Vastanvi remarks about Narendra Modi
were twisted and misrepresented to give a false impression that he
had said something in praise of the Gujarat chief minister," he
added. "The Maulana never gave Modi any clean chit for what he did
against Muslims as chief minister in 2002."
Meanwhile, in its report submitted to the governing council
earlier Sunday morning, the three-member inquiry committee gave
Vastanvi a clean chit.
"While two members of the committee opined in favour of Vastanvi's
continuance as vice chancellor, one of the members gave a
dissenting note against Vastanvi," said a Darul Uloom official.
The new vice chancellor, Maulana Abdul Qasim Nomani, told
reporters in Deoband, about 400 km from here: "Darul Uloom
Majlis-e-Shoora has resolved to terminate the services of Maulana
Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi with immediate effect."
"With Maulana Vastanvi's exit, I have automatically assumed the
full time office of vice chancellor," he added.
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