Union Minister Giriraj Singh sparks row, calls Darul Uloom Deoband a 'temple of terrorism'

The Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, said in Saharanpur that he could not make out whether Darul Uloom Deoband is a 'temple of education or of terrorism'.

Image: Giriraj Singh/File-ABP Live

New Delhi: Union Minister Giriraj Singh found himself ensnared in a controversy over his remark on leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh.  The Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, said in Saharanpur that he could not make out whether Darul Uloom Deoband is a 'temple of education or of terrorism'. Darul Uloom is an Islamic school founded in India in 1866, where the Deobandi Islamic movement began. It is located at Deoband, a town in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh. Singh who visited Swami Brahmanand Saraswati Ashram and Gurukul in Deoband, not only dubbed Darul uloom as a hub of terrorism but also trained guns at the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru. Singh said that had Vallabhbhai Pate been the Prime Minister of the country at the time, the present division between the Hindu and Muslim community would not exist. Singh said that no student from the Gurukul in Deoband has ever become a terrorist but it is difficult to state whether Darul Uloom is an institution of education or terrorism. Terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Baghdadi both are alumni of Darul Uloom, he claimed. He asked whether the Islamic school offers education about betterment of human race or about the devastation of the race, because both its alumni of Baghdadi and Saeed are killing humans. Attacking Congress he said that Nehru and the party have always worked for vote and  spreading hatred. The Deobandi Ulema expressed their fury at Giriraj Singh’s statement, and asked Giriraj to get enrolled in the school and check what education is imparted there. They refuted Singh’s claim of Hafiz Saeed and Baghdadi having studied at Uloom.