No fatwa, but Darul to protest

The Darul Uloom Deoband has ruled out a fatwa to back up its demand to block Salman Rushdie’s visit to India, but vowed to “oppose” it. Zia Haq reports.

The Darul Uloom Deoband has ruled out a fatwa to back up its demand to block Salman Rushdie’s visit to India, but vowed to “oppose” it.

“It is unfair to say we are baying for his blood. There is no question of a fatwa. But we have a democratic right to oppose Rushdie,” seminary rector Abul Qasim Nomani said.

Nomani, chief administrator of the puritanical seat of Sunni Islam in Deoband, said Darul would press its madrasas across the country to hold demonstrations. “Our information is… Rushdie may not be coming,” he said.

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Other Muslim sects have backed Deoband’s calls for Rushdie to be barred.

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