By TCN Special Correspondent,
Ahmedabad: Taking the battle to the home turf of newly appointed vice-chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband Maulana Ghulam Muhammed Vastanvi, Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind controlled by Maulana Mahmood Madni is holding “Husul-e-Insaaf” (securing Justice) conference at Surat on Saturday (February 5).
Vastanvi, who stirred a controversy with his remarks that ‘there was no discrimination against Muslims in Gujarat as far as development was concerned and all communities were prospering under Chief Minister Narendra Modi’, hails from a village called Vastan near Surat. His comments were taken as an affront by the majority leaders of the community as Modi is largely held responsible for 2002 anti-Muslim riots in the state in which over 2000 persons, mostly Muslims, were killed.
Maulana Ghulam Muhammed Vastanvi
The Saturday’s conference is being described as a challenge to Vastanvi’s stand on Modi. Though Vastanvi, after criticism from the community, had said he had not praised Modi and had been misquoted by the media. However, he held his ground on point that Muslims were prospering like other communities under Modi’s rule. This angered the community and also provoked a debate on national and regional media, including Urdu and Gujarati, with Modi having the last laugh. Muslims in Gujarat generally feel that they are being discriminated against by the Modi government.
The organizers of the Surat conference say that the conference would mainly focus on educational and economic problems being faced by Muslims in Gujarat, apart from the human rights abuses post-2002 riots and the state government’s obstructions in securing justice for the riot victims.
Though the organizers say that the conference has nothing to do with Vastanvi issue, the theme of the conference and before the meeting of the Majlis-e-Shoora to decide on the fate of Vastanvi (whether he should continue as vice-chancellor or quit) suggests that the ulema (religious leaders) connected with Jamiat are determined to challenge Vastanvi about his stand on Modi. The seminary’s `shoora’ is scheduled to meet on February 23.
To ensure that the conference is not dubbed communal, the Jamiat leaders have invited several Hindu religious leaders from Gujarat and outside and local tribal leader and Congress MP Tushar Chaudhary, also a minister in the UPA government. Prominent among those invited are Swami Agnivesh, Amrishanand Maharaja, Sitaram Maharaja, Ramvilas Maharaj and Vishveshwaranad.
Among the Jamiat leaders behind the program, apart from Maulana Mahmood Madni, all Jamiat leaders are from Gujarat and running madrasas (religious seminaries) in different parts of the state. They include Mufti Ahmed Devalvi, Maualan Rafiq Ahmed Barodvi, Maulana Ibrahim Tarapuri, Mufti Mahmood Bardoliwala and Maualan Ismail Buta, in-chaerge of state’s biggest madrasa at Tankaria in Bharuch district.