Embassy officer James Plasman and his Indian accomplice Dinish Dubey found themselves at the receiving end at both seminaries, where clerics told the delegation unequivocally that the US by its actions has moved too far to find a meeting ground with the Muslims community.
The United States’ bid to reach out to leading Deobandi clerics, as part of a public relations exercise by the new ambassador Nancy Powel, failed to take off as its delegation that visited leading Islamic seminaries at Deoband and Sharanpur had to face tough questions on American policy on Muslims and Islam.
Embassy officer James Plasman and his Indian accomplice Dinish Dubey found themselves at the receiving end at both seminaries, where clerics told the delegation unequivocally that the US by its actions has moved too far to find a meeting ground with the Muslims community.
The delegation visited both the madrassas quietly. They had asked local authorities to keep their visit under wraps. It is generally believed that the Taliban had learned their interpretation of Islam while studying at Deobandi seminaries in Pakistan.
At their first destination at Jamia Mazahir Uloom Saharanpur in western Uttar Pradesh, chief cleric Maulana Mohammad Salman told the delegation that American policies were unjust and would lead to anarchy.
“Your country is threatening Iran, but shielding Israel,” the Maulana said. He confided to the DNA that he mentioned how the US administration let off an American priest who had allegedly burnt the Holy Quran and Also issued warrants against Sudan General Umar-al-Bashir for acting against Christians.
He even interrupted James Plasman who was trying to explain that the US was as pluralistic as India and was not against Islam. The chief cleric told the delegation that America by its actions, evident from desecration of the Holy Quran, recent expose of curricula being taught to the US soldiers, urinating on dead bodies has only highlighted how much America hates Muslims.
At their second destination at Deoband, rector Mufti Abul Qasim Noamani and his deputy Maulana Abdul Khaliq Madrassi raised the issues of Palestine, besides discrimination and profiling of Muslims. They told the US officers that even an illiterate Muslim would not believe in their statements.
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