Vastanvi's woes

The Islamic seminary's Majlis-e-Shoora (managing committee)’s unceremonious sacking of Dar-ul-Ulum-Deoband Chief Maulana Ghulam Muhammad Vastanvi smacks of vendetta by his detractors there. When Vastanvi offered to step down the very same Majlis-e-Shoora rejected the offer asking him to wait till the committee exonerates him of the charges against him alleged by his detractors. In fact, the din against the forward-looking Dar-ul-Ulum-Deoband Chief Maulana Ghulam Muhammad Vastanvi was much ado about nothing. But, now it is clear that the Majlis-e-Shoora played into the hands of his arch rivals who were perhaps uncomfortable with his broader vision and a reduced amount of orthodoxy. Perhaps, they wished to see a hard-liner occupying the Dar-ul-Ulum-Deoband’s apex seat. It is sad that his critics in Dar-ul-Ulum-Deoband, who were spearheading the smear campaigning against him to unseat the saner voice, not only scored an emphatic victory over moderation but also might emerge as the lone saviours of Islam. Admittedly, what pains is the way they ran the smear campaign to paint him a ‘traitor of the community’. It is also obvious from this that the hardliners from among the Muslims do not want the ordinary Muslims to come out of the Ghetto and the minority persecution complex. Ironically, it is the Modi who must be smiling at the turn of events as he stands to derive maximum political mileage out of it.