Darul Uloom refuses to close its website, police deny asking for closure
The seminary’s spokesperson Ashraf Usmani said that the matter came up for discussion in the meeting of ‘ Shoora’ ( executive council) which concluded on Thursday, and its members unanimously refused to close the website. Ashraf said that the website of the fatwa department was launched in 2008. It had a collection of over 60,000 fatwa and it received 20 million hits and searches every month from across the globe.
MEERUT Islamic seminary Darul Uloom of Deoband has refused to shut down the website of its fatwa department.
The officials of Saharanpur had reportedly told the seminary to close the website during their investigation after the apex child rights body National Commission for Protection of Child Tights (NCPCR) had issued a directive to the Uttar Pradesh government to register an FIR and take legal action against the seminary following the discovery of alleged objectionable content on its website.
Speaking to HT on phone, the seminary’s spokesperson Ashraf Usmani said that the matter came up for discussion in the meeting of ‘ Shoora’ ( executive council) which concluded on Thursday, and its members unanimously refused to close the website.
Ashraf said that the website of the fatwa department was launched in 2008. It had a collection of over 60,000 fatwa and it received 20 million hits and searches every month from across the globe.
He further said that this was the only website in which fatwa could be read both in Urdu and English, so it was popular among the masses as well as clerics. He also said that a detailed report regarding the mentioned fatwa was submitted to the police and district administration.
SP (rural), Saharanpur Sagar Jain, however, denied that the seminary was asked to close the website. “ We talked to them about the controversial fatwa posted on the website and found no ground to register a case against them,” explained Jain and questioned why would they ( police) ask for closure of the entire website for just one fatwa?
Meanwhile, police have submitted its report on the fatwa to the district magistrate of Saharanpur which will be further submitted to the NCPCR.
Earlier, in a letter addressed to the senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Saharanpur about 10 days ago, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Priyank Kanoongo highlighted the commission’s concern regarding a fatwa published on the website. The fatwa in question discusses the concept of ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ and allegedly glorifies “martyrdom in the context of India’s invasion”.
“This fatwa is exposing children to hatred against one’s own country and eventually causing them unnecessary mental or physical suffering,” said Kanoongo in the letter, emphasising the alleged violation of Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.
The NCPCR, invoking Section 13(1) of the CPCR Act, 2005, emphasised the potential for such content to incite hatred against the nation. Referring to legal precedents, including the case of Kanhaiya Kumar vs the State of NCT of Delhi, the commission underlined the gravity of expressions that could be construed as an offence against the state.
