Darul Uloom Deoband Vice-Chancellor Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi was sacked from the post on Sunday after he praised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist politician loathed by many Muslims in India.
Vastanvi had pledged to update the seminary’s curriculum and rein in hard-line religious edicts when he became vice-chancellor in January. But he upset conservatives and sparked protests by praising Modi’s development policies and reportedly saying that Muslims in Gujarat should move on from the 2002 communal riots that left hundreds dead. The board of the 150-year-old institution voted to replace 60-year-old Vastanvi, who is also an MBA, with Maulana Abdul Qasim Nomani.
The board had first debated a special committee’s report on Vastanvi’s conduct, prompting 14 board members to walk out, Nomani said. Vastanvi objected that the report was incomplete. Nevertheless, the remaining board members voted 9-4 to remove him. “This is injustice and a conspiracy against me,” Vastanvi reportedly said, but made it clear that he would not seek to reverse the decision.Darul Uloom has around 4,000 students and, as the centre of the Deobandi school of thought, is seen as the spiritual light for thousands of other schools across the world. It was founded in 1866 to preserve Islamic culture and preaches an austere form of Islam that has inspired millions of Muslims, including the Taliban’s hard-line interpretation.