Following the child rights body’s directive, the district administration sought a reply from the seminary. The Saharanpur district administration on Monday said it was investigating Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband for allegedly publishing “unlawful fatwas” on child rights.
News of the investigation came weeks after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) asked the district magistrate to probe the seminary for allegedly publishing the fatwas — interpretations of Islamic law — on its website.
The commission said the seminary made the “misleading statements” while answering the queries of people, and added that these replies had the impact of fatwas. The contentious replies are almost a decade old, according to a district official.
Following the child rights body’s directive, the district administration sought a reply from the seminary.
“Darul Uloom Deoband sent its reply. They have also removed the content from their website on which the objections were raised. In its reply, the Islamic seminary referred to a Supreme Court judgment. it highlighted a portion of the judgment and explained that its replies to questions asked by individuals cannot be considered to be fatwas,” said Saharanpur Sub-Divisional Magistrate Deepak Kumar.
The official said the district administration was examining the reply and trying to find out if child rights were violated. The administration had decided to take legal opinion from authorities concerned before initiating further steps, Kumar added.
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