Kanpur /New Delhi: Maulana Arshad Madani, principal of Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband, has been elected as vice president of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) today. He was appointed to the post during the 27^th conference of AIMPLB held in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur city.

Madani has faced criticism for his views on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist group considered ideological mentor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Recently, he had claimed that the RSS is on the “right track” and is changing its old ideology. He had made the claim while reacting to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks, in which he had said that Hindus and Muslims share ancestry in India.

In 2019, just two months before the Babri verdict, Madani had met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at the organisation’s headquarters in New Delhi. He had described this meeting as “good” and agreed on similar interactions in the future too.

He recently gave an interview to Islamophobic television channel, Sudarshan News. During this interview, anchor Suresh Chavhanke was seen mocking “Allah” and other Islamic beliefs. His decision to give an interview to such a provocative channel did not go well with members of the Muslim community and he had to face strong criticism from them for the same.

Madani is currently heading the prominent Islamic seminary of Deoband as well as a major Muslim organisation called Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind.