Deoband Chief offers to resign after protests

Lucknow, Jan 25 (PTI) The newly-elected head of notedIslamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband, Maulana Gulam MohammadVastanvi, has decided to resign from his post next month afterprotests by students over his remarks on Gujarat ChiefMinister Narendra Modi.

The deputy head of the seminary Maulana Abdul KhaliqMadrasi told PTI over phone that Vastanvi has decided toconvene a meeting of Majlis-e-Soora (governing council) beforeFebruary 15 and resign from his post.

According to Madrasi, Vastanvi is of the view that thesituation in the seminary was not conducive for him tocontinue as the vice-chancellor and therefore, he wants tostep down.

Vastanvi, who hails from Surat in Gujarat and was electedV-C on January 10, has been facing protests from students atthe seminary after he had said that Muslims should forget thecommunal pogrom of 2002 and move on and that their communitydid not face discrimination in Chief Minister Narendra Modi''sstate.

However, he later said that he did not give a "cleanchit" to Modi.

Vastanvi could not be contacted for his comments.