Deoband Islamic seminary clerics not to meet politicians in run up to Lok Sabha polls

Lucknow: In an apparent bid to avoid any controversy and keep its apolitical character intact, famous Islamic seminary Darul Uloom at Deoband in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district has said that its celrics will not meet leaders from any political party in the run up to the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, which are scheduled to take place in April.

A senior cleric of the Seminary, which attracts students from across he country as well as abroad, said that Darul Uloom will not 'receive' representatves of any political party nor will the clerics meet the politicians.

He said that leaders of political parties often visit the seminary in the run up to the elections and meet the senior clerics and seek their blessings for success in the polls. ''The seminary is apolitical and its work is to impart Islamic education to the students....it has nothing to do with politics,'' he added.

The cleric said that the political leaders, who visited the seminay and meet senior clerics during or before the polls, often claim that they (clerics) extended their support to them (politicians) in an attempt to secure the support of the people.

He said that the president of a leading political party had visited the seminary and met the chief cleric a couple of years back. ''During the meeting a local leader of the party had the chief cleric put his hand on the head of the party president....later the party leaders started telling the people that the chief cleric had extended support to their party, which was wrong,'' he added.

Sources said that Darul Uloom, which comanded huge respect among the Muslims across the country, wanted to avoid getting caught into any kind of controversy especailly in therun up to the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls and therefore decided not to entertain political leaders this time.