The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Tuesday stated that it does not comment on politics and elections.
The statement was shared on social media by the AIMPLB General Secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani.
The move comes days after noted cleric Maulana Khalil-ur-Rahman Sajjad Nomani, a member of the AIMPLB’s influential Working Committee, tweeted an open letter to All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. In the letter, Maulana Nomani apprised Mr Owaisi of a division of votes, and urged that his party contest only where winning was certain, and enter into an alliance on others.
In the statement, the AIMPLB stated that only the statement of Maulana Rahmani issued by the board’s office should be considered as the board’s official stand. “It should also be kept in mind that the board does not participate in politics and does not make any statement about the election, in support of or against any political party or candidate,” it stated, adding that the media exercise caution while attributing statements to the board.
“The Board is a religious organisation of Muslims and deals in a timely manner on the required issues that fall in the domain of Muslim Personal Law,” the statement reads.
At a recent media on Monday, the Hyderabad parliamentarian stated that the AIMPLB did not write the open letter. “All India Muslim Personal Law Board has not written a letter to me. That is wrong. All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s constitution is clear. It does not involve itself in politics,” he said.
A source familiar with Tuesday’s development said that the statement was issued to clear confusion which was witnessed among sections of public. “Maulana Sajjad Nomani is a member of the board. People were mistaking Maulana Sajjad Nomani’s open letter as the official stand of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s stand. This is not the case at all,” he said.
