Lucknow, July 22: Declaring that he would not challenge the decision of the ‘majlis-e-shoora’ (governing council), Deoband-based Darul-Uloom chief Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi made it clear Thursday that he would happily step down if that was his punishment for his charitable remarks about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The next meeting of the ’shoora’ on Saturday will determine Vastanvi’s fate.
“I have no intention of moving any court against the will of the ’shoora’ in which I have complete faith,” Vastanvi told mediapersons at Deoband, about 400 km from here, Thursday evening.
“If the ’shoora’ wants me to continue on this position I will carry on with my duties, but if they choose not to have me here anymore, I will carry out their wishes,” he added.
Maulana Vastanvi has tendered his resignation from the prestigious position of vice-chancellor in the wake of violence and demonstrations that rocked the Darul Uloom campus in January, soon after he said a few words in praise of Modi’s governance. Vastanvi belongs to Gujarat.
There was a sharp divide on the campus with both teachers and students turning into pro-Vastanvi and anti-Vastanvi lobbies. While the larger chunk of students were unrelenting in their demand for the ouster of the VC, whom they were unwilling to pardon for praising Modi, another group stood up in his support.
The pro-Vastanvi lobby however claimed that the vice-chancellor’s remarks about the Gujarat chief minister had been “distorted and twisted” by the media. Vastanvi too repeatedly emphasized, “I never gave any clean chit to Narendra Modi for his role in the Gujarat riots of 2002.”
After six months of debate and speculation, Vastanvi claimed, “I hold this institution in very high esteem, therefore upholding the dignity of this institution is of utmost importance for me; already a lot of muck has been spread and I would not want that Darul Uloom Deoband earns any disrepute on account of me. Hence I would simply abide by the decision of the shoora.”
He was issuing a clarification to media reports about his intention to challenge the decision of the shoora in case it went against him.
In February, Deoband ‘Majlis-e-shoora’ had constituted the three-member committee, to look into the allegations against Vastanvi.
–IANS–