After its anti-terror message,US wanted to woo Dar-ul-Uloom

When Deoband declared that terrorism is un-Islamic,US saw in it an opportunity to gain Muslim support.

When Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband issued a declaration on February 25,2008 that terrorism is un-Islamic,the US Embassy in New Delhi saw in it an opportunity to gain Muslim support in South Asia and suggested the US government woo Deoband clerics by offering educational resources and invitations for international visitor programmes,according to a cable released by WikiLeaks.

In the cable,dated February 27,2008,the Embassy said,The influential conservative Dar-ul-Uloom madrassa in Deoband,Uttar Pradesh,viewed by some as the ideological home of the Taliban a claim Dar-ul-Uloom refutes,hosted an All India Terrorism Conference on February 25. The gathering of roughly 10,000-15,000 clerics from all sects of Islam jointly issued a declaration condemning terrorism as un-Islamic. With the cable was sent full text of the Deoband declaration.

The cable said,While the declaration obviously wont end terrorism and domestic political considerations are never far away,Deobands willingness to denounce terrorism publicly must be taken as a positive sign that will influence the thinking of Muslims from Afghanistan to Indonesia who listen to what Deoband has to say. The USG US Government should refrain from commenting on the declaration publicly,but should capitalize on this development by quietly offering Deoband educational resources and continuing to issue invitations for its clerics and students to participate in international visitor programs in the US.

The cable sent a request for action,which read,The Deobandis remain wary of the USG,and harshly critical of its policies,but they continue to engage at the personal level with representatives of the US Embassy. We tried a few years ago to offer them computers for madrassa education,but were turned down. We propose that we try to identify a third party perhaps one of USAIDs partners in programs in curriculum development through which we could offer technical assistance and other support.