Maulana Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi, 60, the vice-chancellor of Darul Uloom, Deoband, who landed in controversy for praising Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was finally removed from his post on Sunday by the Majlis-e-Shoora, the highest decision making body of the seminary.
Mr Vastanvi has said in January that Muslims should move on from the Gujarat riots and the Modi government in Gujarat is doing a good job.
Caretaker vice-chancellor, Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani, will be the new head of the institution. Mufti Nomani said that while nine members of the committee voted in favour of Vastanvi’s removal, four others voted against the move. Maulana Vastanvi was sacked by the Majlis-e-Shoora after he went back on his February promise to quit on is own. His sacking on Sunday brings down the curtains on the seven moth long controversy that snowballed into a battle between fundamentalists and moderates. Sources said that Maulana Vastanvi refused to quit on the grounds that the inquiry report submitted by the three-member committee that had been set up in February this year to look into the allegations against him, had conveniently refused to probe those who had fuelled anti-Vastanvi protests on the campus. Before leaving Deoband after his sacking, Maulana Vastanvi told reporters, “I am leaving Deobad but I continue to b a member of the shoora. I refused to quit on the basis of an incomplete report although I had said in February that I would quit irrespective of the contents of the report. The report failed to provide any insight into what or who was behind the student unrest in Darul Uloom”.
He further said, “I could have continued as mohta-mim but that would be detrimental to the interests of Darul Uloom as people with political leanings do not want me to work here. Darul Uloom is not the heirloom of some family. I have its best interests at heart so I do not want to be a roadblock in its progress.” Meanwhile, as Maulana Vastanvi’s SUV steered out of the campus, students from rooftops and on the streets, cheered in apparent approval.