Islamic school shuts doors on all politicians till poll

LUCKNOW: Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has banned all political talk on campus by any party leader till the end of the Lok Sabha elections. No political leader is welcome at the Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband (DuD) during this period. It is the first time such restrictions have been imposed by one of the world's most famous Islamic seminary which has been visited by political stalwarts eying Muslim votes.
The institute's managing committee has issued orders to one and all on the campus, including the students, the faculty and the administration, not to interact with any politician who visits the campus till the elections process concludes. Though DuD has always refrained from endorsing any political party or leader in elections, politicians publicise their visits to claim proximity with the institute and the community, especially during the election season.
Mohtamim (rector) of DuD Maulana Abdul Qasim Nomani Banarsi said the decision was taken to rule out possibility of DuD's name being (mis)used by political parties for electoral gains. On several occasions in the past, politicians who visited the campus to seek blessings of senior clerics requesting them to pray for their victory. They would go out and claim that DuD had assured support to them or their party. This had led to confusion among community members, said a very senior functionary of DuD.
Asked if the decision would mean a complete ban on entry of politicians, he said "we cannot ban anyone from entering the campus as it can be interpreted differently by different people. Besides, the campus has a masjid as well where thousands offer prayers everyday. There is no stopping anyone from praying for their success. But everybody has been cautioned not to entertain politicians on the campus under any circumstances so that there is no confusion whatsoever on whether DuD is supporting anyone or not in election."
The most recent case in point was the visit of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodiya to DuD on March 20. A day after the visit, there were reports in a section of the media that he had sought the support of DuD for his party in the Lok Sabha elections. "Sisodia had formally requested for a meeting with the deputy rector Maulana Abdul Khaliq which was accepted," said Ashraf Usmani of seminary.
A more serious situation had prevailed in the run-up to the previous Lok Sabha elections when Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav visited DuD on March 4, 2009 which was followed by reports that the SP national president had gone to meet the DuD chief to clarify his stance regarding his political bonhomie with former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh who had then deserted BJP to join hands with Mulayam. At that time, there were reports that even Kalyan Singh wanted to meet the DuD clerics to "clarify" his role in demolition of Babri Masjid demolition, but his wish could not materialise.