He demonstrated a bit too much Islamic Tolerance toward Hindus, and wanted to reform Islamic education by adding in science and computer programming. Yet another installment of Why We Don’t See More Muslim Reformers: “Muslim Seminary Chief in India Is Fired for Pro-Hindu Interview,” by Hari Kumar in the New York Times, July 24:
NEW DELHI “” India’s best-known Islamic seminary ousted its reformist leader on Sunday, less than seven months after he assumed the post, because he was quoted as speaking favorably of a Hindu nationalist suspected of fomenting deadly anti-Muslim riots.
The reformer, Mullah Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi, was appointed in January to lead the seminary, Darul Uloom, in the city of Deoband in Uttar Pradesh State. He had become popular in part because of the success of his madrasas, or Islamic schools, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra that bridged traditional Islamic education with the needs of the modern world by teaching students secular subjects like science and computer programming. He had hoped to bring those innovations to Darul Uloom.
But the effort was almost immediately derailed when he was quoted in an Urdu newspaper as saying that Muslims in Gujarat State needed to move beyond the 2002 sectarian riots there, one of the worst eruptions of religious violence since colonial India was partitioned in 1947. Hindus rampaged through Muslim areas of Gujarat, leaving about 1,000 people dead and leading to reprisals in some areas.
English-language newspapers and television stations in India portrayed Mullah Vastanvi’s remarks as implicitly condoning the actions of Narendra Modi, the controversial leader of Gujarat’s government. Many Muslims blame Mr. Modi for the 2002 violence.
Mullah Vastanvi denied that he had been praising Mr. Modi. Even so, he was swiftly suspended from his seminary post. And on Sunday, 9 of the 14 members of the council that oversees the seminary voted to request his resignation. He refused, and was then dismissed by the council, which appointed one of its members, Mullah Abdul Qasim Nomani, as his replacement….
Some Muslims in Deoband said Mullah Vastanvi’s quoted remarks disqualified him from the job. “Anybody who supports Narendra Modi, lightly or heavily, is not acceptable to Muslims,” said Ashraf Usmani, a local journalist.
But Hindu political leaders said Mullah Vastanvi had been treated unfairly. Mr. Modi’s center-right Bharatiya Janata Party said that Mullah Vastanvi had been punished for speaking the truth about Gujarat’s economic success under Mr. Modi. Gujarat is one of India’s most prosperous and industrialized states, and is a favored destination for investors from India and abroad.
The new seminary leader, Mullah Nomani, hinted that he would not follow in Mullah Vastanvi’s reformist direction.
“I will continue with the traditions of Darul Uloom,” he said. “I take my inspiration from my predecessors and follow the traditional path.”