Maulana Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi removed from Post of Mohtamim of Darul Uloom

Maulana Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi was removed from the post of Mohtamim (Vice-Chancellor) of Darul Uloom, Deoband on 24 July 2011 by the Majlis-e-Shoora powerful governing body of the institution.

The Maulana was voted out after he refused to step down, even as Shoora members insisted that he should stick to his 23 February 2011 statement that he would resign irrespective of the findings of a probe committee.

The report of the three-member committee was submitted to the Shoora on 23 July 2011. The committee was formed on 23 February 2011, to investigate charges against Maulana Vastanvi, who had sparked a controversy by praising Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, after he took over on 10 January 2011, following the death of Maulana Marghoobur Rahman. The committee's findings were based on evidence in the form of newspaper interviews of Maulana Vastanvi, pro-Vastanvi statements and anti-Vastanvi opinion.

The Shoora meeting on 23 and 24 July was presided over by Maulana Ishtiyaq Ahmed of Bihar's Muzaffarpur. The Shoora's decision to remove Maulana Vastanvi was taken only after he refused to quit and backed out of his statement that he would resign irrespective of the findings of the committee. However after the committee submitted the report, Vastanavi maintained that the report was incomplete and refused to resign.

Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani of Kanpur has been appointed the Vice-Chancellor.