Deoband probe panel divided on Vastanvi remark

Headed by Mufti Mohammed Manzoor Mazhari of Kanpur,the panel has Maulana Mufti Mohammed Ismail Kasmi of Malegoan and Maulana Malik Mohammed Ibrahim Kasmi of Chennai as members. It was set up in February to probe whether Vastanvi had actually praised Modi and the cause of subsequent violence on the campus by students demanding his resignation.

Asked about the committees report,Maulana Ismail and Maulana Ibrahim said the report was incomplete as statements of those involved in the protests had not been recorded. Mufti Manzoor,however,said there was no need for it.

Maulana Ismail said the report was almost ready. There are certain elements who created obstruction in recording statements of the protesting students, he said.

I,along with Maulana Ibrahim,went to Deoband three times to record statements of students. They turned up,but every time Mufti Manzoor asked them to go away saying there was no need for their statements, he added.

We will record this fact in our report that due to Mufti Manzoor statements of students could not be recorded, he said. The inquiry report will lack conviction without the statements of the students.

Defending his stance,Mufti Manzoor said: There was no need for recording statements of students since this issue is closed. The students involved in protests were suspended by the Darul Uloom. Their suspension was revoked later,so the issue cant be revived again.

Vastanvi,60,who hails from Gujarat,was elected Mohtamim of the Islamic seminary on January 10 this year. The moderate cleric courted controversy when he allegedly said Muslims should forget the communal riots of 2002 in Gujarat and move on,and that the community did not face discrimination in Gujarat.

Following the controversy,Vastanvi had offered to resign but the offer was rejected by Majlis-e-Shoora,which later appointed the three-member committee to probe the matter. The Darul Uloom Deoband will close for Ramzaan holiday from August 1 to September 12.