The recent developments in Deoband following newly-elected vice-chancellor Ghulam Moha-mmed Vastanvi’s praise of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi have now had a fall-out in distant Assam. The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JuH) faction led by Maulana Arshad Madani — who lost the race for the post of Deoband VC to Mr Vastanvi — on Tuesday decided to dissolve the Assam unit of the Jamiat. The Assam unit is headed by none other than Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) leader and a powerful player in the Deoband battle for supremacy, Badruddin Ajmal who is also a Vastanvi backer.
While the Jamiat would not admit this openly on Wednesday, the decision to dissolve its Assam unit seems influenced by the fact that Mr Ajmal had thrown his weight behind Mr Vastanvi in his battle for the vice-chancellorship. In the elections, while Mr Vastanvi obtained eight votes, Maulana Madani got merely four. Crucially, a meeting of the powerful Majlis-e-Shoora or the collegium which is expected to decide on Mr Vastanvi’s continuation as the Deoband V-C in the wake of his Modi remarks is now just a few days away, slated as it is for February 23.
Yet another reason for the dissolution of the Jamiat’s unit appears to be the growing power of Mr Ajmal who also is a Lok Sabha MP and his growing rivalry with Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi. Maulana Arshad Madani, on the other hand, is said to be a supporter of Mr Gogoi.
Mr Ajmal who is a member of the 18-member Majlis-e-Shoora draws a lot of his power in Assam from the JuH.
On Wednesday, the Arshad Madani faction claimed that the Assam unit was dissolved by the 21-member working committee as it had moved away from the dastoor (ethos ) of the JUH.