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NEW DELHI: As investigations into the recovery of explosives and assault rifles, and the Red For blast pointed to links of the accused to chat groups ‘Farzandan-e-Darul Uloom Deoband’ and ‘Kafila-e-Ghurba’ active on Telegram, senior functionaries in influential Muslim organisations, such as All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, claimed the outfits under the scanner were fake fronts set up by fringe elements to mislead people with their radicalisation agenda.Darul Uloom Deoband principal Maulana Arshad Madani, who also heads of one of the two Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind factions, decried the attempt to misuse and manipulate the name of ‘Deoband’ and ‘Deobandis’. “Anyone advocating for terror by using the name of Darul Uloom was against both Muslims and Islam,” he said. Darul Uloom Deoband, is an Islamic seminary where the Deobandi Islamic movement started in 1866.“Deobandis are spread all over the world, and at Darul Uloom, we focus on education. I am saying it clearly that we have nothing to do with anyone misusing the name of ‘Deoband’ to radicalise and propagate terror. We cannot be blamed for someone steering radicalisation in the garb of names like Farzandan-e-Darul Uloom Deoband. How can we stop or investigate this? But yes, we condemn such misuse,” Madani said.‘Farzandan-e-Darul Uloom Deoband’ came under the scanner of intelligence agencies after they started probing the source of posters that sprung up in Srinagar and other places expressing solidarity with the Jaish-e-Mohammad, a terrorist group which is widely seen to be of ‘Deobandi’ in orientation and which has claimed responsibility for a number of terror attacks in India, including that on Parliament and hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane. Jaish along with Lashkar-e-Taiba and Kashmir-based Hizbul Mujahidin were the prime targets of Operation Sindoor, which India launched in retaliation to the killing of tourists by Lashkar terrorists at Pahalgam.On the chat groups, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) spokesperson SQR Ilyas said, “We must understand that these are fake fronts created by fringe elements and do not reflect in any way on the larger Muslim community. The attempt to build a narrative that the whole Muslim community is vulnerable to radicalisation is absolutely wrong.”Jamaat-e-Islami Hind vice president Salim Engineer said, “Regarding media references to certain online groups allegedly bearing Muslim or Islamic-sounding names such as ‘Farzandan-e-Deoband’ or ‘Ghurba-e-Islam’, we believe that such matters fall squarely within the domain of investigation. It is essential that reputable institutions and community organisations are not drawn into controversy without verified evidence.”“In an age of digital misinformation, fake accounts and fabricated identities are frequently used to mislead the public and discredit legitimate platforms. Investigative agencies must proceed with fairness, professionalism, and responsibility to maintain public trust,” he added. “Terrorism and extremism, in all their forms, are alien to both the teachings of Islam and the ethos of India,” Engineer said.In a statement on the Delhi Red Fort car explosion, AIMPLB urged the govt to conduct a comprehensive, unbiased and multi-dimensional investigation into the incident. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind also sought the probe be timebound, impartial, and its findings be made public.
