New Delhi: If a report published in Times of India is to be believed, two factions of the influential Deobandi clerics-led Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind are working on the terms of a possible merger that is expected to materialise soon. One faction of JUH is led by Maulana Mahmood Madani while its rival group by the same name is led by Maulana Arshad Madani.
Sending out a strong message of solidarity to the Muslim community, at a critical time when the country is confronting with the threat of communalism, growing Islamophobia and the persecution of Muslims, both factions of JUH who have been at the forefront raising the concerns of Muslims and positioning Jamiat as “a voice that matters” within the community for issues from Babri Masjid to the Gyanvapi Masjid and the recent remarks by former BJP spokespersons against Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) are seen to be heading for truce. To give voice to community’s concerns as one, the two factions decide to bury their differences and work out a strategy for a merger.
Existing from over 100-year, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind claims to have the backing of over 1. 2 crore members. In 2017, Delhi High Court directed both factions to settle their differences through arbitration and arrive at a consensus.
JUH faction led by Mahmood Madani had recently organised a meeting at Deoband, where nearly 2,000 members came together. Arshad Madani too joined the meeting on invitation, signaling that it was time to “be united”. According to TOI, Arshad Madani cited the merger as a way to unite all voices under one banner and put forth the concerns of Muslims more vociferously in the prevailing situation. He is quoted to have said, “Our working committee has approved the proposal to merge and left it to me to negotiate the terms. Now we have to wait for the other faction’s working committee to decide and put forth their position at their meeting in July. Things will move from thereon.”
The division in JUH was triggered in 2006 after the passing away of the former president Asad Madani. It was the presidential tenure of Arshad Madani. Asad Madani’s son and Arshad Madani’s nephew Mahmood Madani was the general secretary of the organisation. Trouble broke out between Arshad Madani and Mahmood Madani over the division of powers and the working of the organisation. Citing his decisions to be autocratic, Arshad Madani was dismissed as the president of the united Jamiat. He formed a new executive committee while the existing Jamiat was led by Mahmood Madani.
