Muslim Leadership: Demagoguery and Dubious Devotion

Minority leaders often descend into demagoguery. The votes of the people they represent, gives them a certain power and often makes them into kingmakers. That means negotiations and thus largesse in return. Once they get a taste of all that, they do not want to let go of the power, the people they represent be damned! In fact, it is in their interest to see that their constituents remain in the mire of ignorance and victimhood. We see this syndrome in the Indian Muslim leadership. They have the Muslim votes and that bank gives them a lot of power. They can make people do strange things (Digvijay Singh, Mulayam Yadav and other pseudo-secular leaders are exapmples of that).

On the face of it, the Deobandi madarsah is a powerful religious outfit. They have the attention of the majority of Muslims. Since the 1980’s, one family has ruled this outfit. As per Mr. Sikand’s article, they even split the organization with the help of Congress to retain power. The Madani family is the Congress conduit into the Deobandi Muslim community. I suppose that Congress must have been distressed when the Madanis were forced out of the leadership position and Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi was elected as the head of the madarsah. The new sheriff made the cardinal mistake of speaking the truth. He credited Bhai Narendra Modi’s administration for the prosperity of the Gujarati Muslims. No surprise there because when a state prospers, everyone benefits. Vastanvi’s statements have riled up every enemy of Bhai Narendra. A movement is afoot to unite all the enemies of Vastanvi, especially the two members of the Madani family. For conflict resolution, the warring factions always call someone who the both sides trust. Now instead of a senior Indian Muslim, these guys invited a hardline anti Indian, pro Taliban Maulana Fazlur Rahman. Now this is very distressing to see the kind of trust the Indian Muslims are putting in an avowed enemy of the country. Our foremost expert on these matter, Mr. Bahukutumbi Raman says the following:

Five Pakistani jihadi organizations are members of bin Laden's International Islamic Front -- HUM, HUJI, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Of these, HUM, HUJI, JEM and LEJ are close to the Maulana. The Lashkar, despite its strong Wahabbi orientation, is not. The Maulana's perceived hobnobbing with India could act as a red rag to the bull and provoke an intensification of terrorist strikes in Indian territory.

Now it is one thing to not sing “Vande Mataram” but it is quite different to hobnob with a person of Rahman’s character. To bring him to adjudicate a family squabble shows the kind of trust they must place in this man. The implications are that one can question the allegiance of Muslim leadership who invited this guy (and not for the first time either). One has to wonder what would they do if the visiting Maulana starts to instigate them against one or more Indian leaders or dare I say, the country itself?

Deoband and the machinations of the mullahs
Needless to say, in this symbiotic nexus, the common Muslims, sacrificial victims of the machinations of political parties and the mullahs, have everything to lose, even the faint glimmer of hope for educational empowerment that Vastanvi's appointment had appeared to promise.
The article can be read at:http://www.rediff.com/news/column/column-yoginder-sikand-deoband-and-the-machinations-of-the-mullahs/20110217.htm

Maulana Fazl in India to broker peace
Fazlur Rahman, is believed to be opposed to Vastanvi, and his association with Arshad Madni goes back almost four decades, Times of India opined.
“Fazlur Rahman, who had tried to unite the Madnis back in March 2007 as well, did his best to bring about a rapprochement during his two-day camp in the seminary. The results have been satisfactory,” Times of India quoted its source as saying. Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi who has recently been elected as rector of Darul uloom Deoband invited trouble when he reportedly praised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in a press statement.
The article can be read at:http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/18-Feb-2011/Maulana-Fazl-in-India-to-broker-peace

Maulana Fazlur Rehman's mysterious visit to India

by B. Raman
" The two-day India visit by Islamic hardliner and Pakistan's Jamiat-ul-Islami chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman is believed to be aimed at reinforcing the anti-Vastanvi forces at the Darul-Uloom Deoband seminary in Uttar Pradesh , where the recently appointed vice chancellor Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi had drawn much flak for praising Narendra Modi's governance in Gujarat.
"Ostensibly, Rehman was in Deoband and New Delhi earlier this week to broker peace between the two warring factions of Indian Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind led by rival Madnis -- uncle Arshad Madni and nephew Mahmood. "However, informed sources at Deoband suspect that the Pakistani cleric's 'real intent behind bringing the Madnis together was to strengthen the anti-Vastanvi lobby.'

The complete article can be read at:http://www.indiandefence.com/forums/f5/maulana-fazlur-rehmans-mysterious-visit-india-4544/

Beware the Maulana!

By B. Raman
Controversial Jamiat-ul-Ulema Islam leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman's high-profile visit to India and the attention accorded to him in governmental and non-governmental circles in New Delhi are being viewed by many India-watchers in the US with bewilderment and concern.
Read more at: http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jul/23raman.htm

The picture is from: http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/apr/23look.htm