Will the Deoband Edict Restrain Jehadis?
By Amulya Ganguli Although belated, the condemnation of terrorism by Darul-Uloom Deoband is a major step forward in the war against religious extremism. It can seem odd, however, that it took this widely respected religious seminary based in Uttar Pradesh so long to express its disapproval of the militancy of bigots and mercenaries although this country, and the world, have been battling this menace over a long period. Arguably, the unavoidable political angle made an immediate outright denunciation difficult earlier because of the hoary chestnut about one man’s freedom fighter being another man’s terrorist. This was the argument Pakistan consistently used to justify its support to the jehadi enterprise in Kashmir and elsewhere in India. A parallel, though erroneous, was also drawn by Islamabad between Kashmir and Palestine. Even now, Kashmiri separatists are ambivalent about the diktat as is obvious from Syed Ali Geelani’s remark that although he respects the Deoband proclamation, the
