LUCKNOW: Asia’s biggest and one of the most prestigious Islamic seminaries, Darul Uloom in the Deoband town of the Saharanpur district has made headlines yet again by imposing a temporary ban on the entry of women and children on the campus for ten days till April 17.
The seminary administration cited entrance examinations for the new academic session as the reason for taking the measure.
As per Maulana Abdul Khaliq Madrasi, the acting Vice-Chancellor of the seminary, the ban was imposed for a limited period and would be lifted after the entrance examinations were over.
As per the sources, a notice was put up at the entrance gate of the seminary campus on Sunday, stating that thousands of students from across the world had started arriving for entrance examinations and the entry of women and children would distract the aspirants.
According to Mahdi Hasan Aini, president of Darul Uloom alumni body, the entry of women and children on the campus would be restricted from April 7 to April 17 as the entrance examinations, in which around 20,000 to 25,000 students were likely to appear, had started pouring in.
“There will be a huge crowd at the campus if we allow their families, like mothers or sisters. The presence of a large number of men and women may distract the aspirants during the examinations,” he added saying that the measure had been taken to keep the crowd on control.
This is the second time that the seminary has banned the entry of women on its campus. A similar ban was imposed on May 17, last year when while imposing a similar restriction, the administration had cited concerns that women’s presence on the campus was “distracting students from studies”.
It had led to huge protest not only on campus but also in various quarters of the society.
In 2024, the seminary authorities had made the visitor’s card mandatory for women to enter the campus. The visitors’ card used to be active for two hours onlyand it was mandatory for the women to leave the campus before the sunset. The women were required to leave their ID cards at the office, which would issue entry passes. They were also mandated to wear a burqa.
In November 2024, the ban on women’s entry was lifted but it was imposed on photography and videography by women on campus in the wake of an increasing number of reels on social media featuring the seminary.
“We had to impose a ban for a longer period last year because women were found to be engaged in making and uploading social media reels from within the seminary and most of them were without veils in it. The trend was not found to be good for the values of the institution. We lifted the ban later after imposing certain conditions,” Madrasi said.