Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband Seminary Of India Accords Hero’s Welcome To Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi As India Courts The Taliban And Upgrades Embassy

On October 11, 2025, Afghan Taliban’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was given a grand reception by the students and teachers of Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband in the town of Deoband, about 180 kilometers from New Delhi. Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband is the largest Islamic seminary in the world after Cairo’s Al-Azhar University and is considered the spiritual fountainhead of the extreme religious teachings espoused by the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan.[1] Muttaqi arrived in New Delhi for a six-day visit on October 9-15, which is seen as reviving India’s presence in Afghanistan.

The grand welcome given to Amir Khan Muttaqi, who came as a spiritual hero for the students and teachers of Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband, shows that the seminary endorses the same version of Islam that the Taliban are enforcing in Afghanistan, banning girls and women from schools and colleges, from society and politics, from parks and professions, and from all spheres of life. This version of religiosity espoused by the Afghan Taliban and Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband is known alternatively as jihadism, when armed and not in power, and Islamism, when non-weaponized and forced into co-existence with non-Muslims.[2] This is the reason jihadis in South Asia are known as Deobandi Taliban.

This ideological thinking showed up a day before Amir Khan Muttaqi’s visit to Deoband at the Embassy of Afghanistan in New Delhi where he addressed a press conference on October 10. The Taliban barred all female journalists from attending. The embassy is now in the Taliban’s control and, as all embassies are, outside the jurisdiction of Indian law. As a result the Taliban had the authority to ban all female journalists as they have banished women from social spaces in Afghanistan.

Addressing the press conference, Muttaqi spoke of good relations with India and reiterated the Taliban’s known positions: “We will not allow any group to use our soil against any country.”[3] The Taliban continue to make this statement despite the fact that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), aided by them,[4] has been executing attacks in Pakistan, and Al-Qaeda has established a new base in Panjshir province, aided by the Taliban governors.[5]

There was an uproar on social media against the banishment of women from the Taliban foreign minister’s press conference. The Editors Guild of India condemned the exclusion of women journalists, stating: “While diplomatic premises may claim protection under the Vienna Convention, that cannot justify blatant gender discrimination in press access on Indian soil. Whether or not the MEA coordinated the event, it is deeply troubling that such a discriminatory exclusion was allowed to proceed without objection.”[6]

Former academic and now senator Manoj Kumar Jha wrote: “By not allowing women journalists to attend the press conference of the Taliban Foreign Minister, India has compromised its own moral and diplomatic standing. This is not just a procedural lapse but a symbolic surrender of India’s long-cherished commitment to equality, freedom of the press, and gender justice.

“For a country that has prided itself on being the world’s largest democracy and a champion of women’s participation in every sphere, this incident is deeply disappointing and politically short-sighted. It sends out the wrong message to Indian women and the global community that convenience has triumphed over conviction.”[7]

At the opposite end of the Deobandis, are the Barelvis, who follow the teachings of Ahmed Raza Khan (1856-1921), the founder of the Barelvi school. This school endorses Sufism and its syncretic teachings, including music and dancing at Sufi shrines, which the Deobandi school and the Taliban dismiss as a form of grave-worshipping and therefore shirk (“idolatry”) in Islam. Nowadays, the Barelvis, having evolved into a separate sect with mass following, do not like to marry those who follow the Deobandi school of Sunni Islam.

However, in the enforcement of Islam, there is not much difference between the Deobandi and Barelvi schools of Sunni Islam, with both willing to kill on various issues, notably for criticizing Prophet Muhammad. Malik Mumtaz Qadri, the elite security guard who killed Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, was a Barelvi follower who thought that Taseer’s support for Christian woman Asia Bibi who was sentenced to death on blasphemy charges was blasphemy.[8]

As the Taliban minister was visiting India, a war broke out at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border following Pakistan’s violation of Afghanistan’s airspace and strikes in Kabul. On October 12, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department of the Pakistani military said that 23 Pakistani soldiers and 200 Taliban fighters and other jihadis were killed and 21 Afghan border posts were captured.[9] Amir Khan Muttaqi, amid the border war with Pakistan and perhaps to address the controversy from his press event, called another press conference on October 12 at which women journalists were allowed. In an attempt at damage control, Muttaqi dismissed the issue of non-participation of female journalists as a “technical issue” arising out of “short notice.”[10]

Speaking in Urdu, Muttaqi also told the journalists: “We do not have any problem with Pakistani public or politicians, but there are some circles in Pakistan who are trying to ruin the circumstances.”[11] However, he warned Pakistan that Afghans are united: “One of Afghanistan’s characteristics is that, despite internal differences, if a foreign country interferes in their affairs, the entire nation, religious scholars and leaders alike unites in opposition.”[12]

During his day-long visit to Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband, Amir Khan Muttaqi, who is himself an Islamic religious scholar, received a lesson, symbolically, in hadiths (traditions of Muhammad). According to a report in the Urdu daily Roznama Sahafat, “Amir Khan Muttaqi took part in a lesson from Bukhari Sharif [book of hadiths] and obtained permission from Shiekh-ul-Hadith Maulana Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani in teaching hadiths. And the Sheikh-ul-Hadith tied amama [headgear] on Maulana Amir Khan Muttaqi’s head and awarded him the graduation degree after which Muttaqi has become eligible to write ‘Qasmi’ as his surname,” as Deobandi clerics do.[13] Shiekh-ul-Hadith Maulana Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani is the vice chancellor of Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband.

Before the hadith lesson in the main hall, the Taliban foreign minister met with a group of select Islamic religious scholars in a guest room where he also delivered a short speech describing the long history of relations between India and Afghanistan. In 1915, during the struggle against British rule in India, a group of Indian Islamic scholars established a government-in-exile in Kabul, which was headed by Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh, a Hindu king, and several Islamic clerics placed in important positions, namely Maulana Barkatullah as prime minister and Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi as home minister.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, in his short speech, mentioned the role of Sufis and Ulema (scholars) such as Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Ajmeri, Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi, Sheikh Waliullah Muhaddis Dehlvi, Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanavtvi (founder of Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband), Allama Anwar Shah Kashmiri, Maulana Rasheed Ahmed Gangofi and Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani, among others – according to a report in the Urdu daily Roznama Inquilab.[14]

“The relations between Afghanistan and India and history of scholarship is very long. These elders, despite the lack of resources…, offered lasting service to the teaching of the religion… The biggest role of the Dar-ul-Uloom and our elders is that made their mission to protect the teachings of Prophet [Muhammad],” Amir Khan Muttaqi said.[15] According to the report, the Taliban foreign minister said: “Dar-ul-Uloom is an educational and spiritual center. Coming here and seeing students, teachers, and people has filled me with so much joy that I am unable to express it…”[16]

Earlier, King Mohammad Zahir Shah of Afghanistan had visited the Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband on February 25, 1958. In reference to historical ties between the two countries, Amir Khan Muttaqi said that he “is going to revive the historical relations. We, too, belong to the maslak [school of shari’a] that the Dar-ul-Uloom represents.”[17] According to a report in Roznama Sahafat, he added: “There has always been a relationship of heart and faith between the elders of Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband and the religious scholars and mujahideen of Afghanistan.”[18]

Following his meetings with government officials in New Delhi, India announced several new projects for Afghanistan as part of its ongoing healthcare cooperation, which included a gift of 20 ambulances, a Thalassemia center and modern diagnostic center in Kabul, a 30-bed hospital in Kabul’s Bagrami district, an oncology center and a trauma center in Kabul, and five maternity health clinics across the provinces of Paktika, Khost, and Paktia.

S. Jaishankar, the external affairs minister of India who held delegation-level meetings with Amir Khan Muttaqi, said: “India is fully committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Afghanistan. Closer cooperation between us contributes to your national development, as well as regional stability and resilience. To enhance that, I am pleased to announce today the upgrading of India’s Technical Mission in Kabul to the status of Embassy of India.”[19]

On his part, Amir Khan Muttaqi said of the bilateral relations: “From the time we came to power in Afghanistan in 2001, bilateral ties between India and us have been built slowly every day. This visit is very significant. We will first start deploying diplomats here and then gradually will reach the level of an ambassador.”[20]

Commenting on the significance of the Taliban foreign minister’s visit to India, The Indian Express newspaper, in an editorial titled “Express View on engaging with Taliban: A necessity,” stated: “The series of engagements confirms that New Delhi recognizes the ground reality that the Taliban are the only force, for now, that appears capable of controlling all of Afghanistan. It is also an acknowledgement that, in a highly competitive neighborhood, maintaining ties with the Taliban is a geostrategic necessity.”[21]

[1] X.com/IEAUrduOfficial, October 11, 2025.

[2] MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Series No. 1345, Towards A Definition Of Islam And Islamism, September 8, 2017.

[3] X.com/SharmaKadambini, October 10, 2025.

[4] MEMRI JTTM Report, Dari-Language Report: Afghan Taliban Have Employed Hundreds Of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Fighters In Afghanistan’s Civilian And Military Institutions, October 1, 2025.

[5] MEMRI JTTM Report, Telegram Channel: Afghan Taliban Handed Over Former Bases To Al-Qaeda And Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) To Build Copies Of Turkish Drones, Use ‘An Airfield With A 2,300-Meter Runway’, September 30, 2025.

[6] X.com/IndEditorsGuild, October 11, 2025.

[7] X.com/manojkjhadu, October 11, 2025.

[8] MEMRI Daily Brief No. 86, Pakistan’s Execution Of Malik Mumtaz Qadri – The Ideology Of Blasphemy In Islam, March 31, 2016.

[9] Dawn.com (Pakistan), October 12, 2025.

[10] X.com/sidhant, October 12, 2025.

[11] X.com/sidhant, October 12, 2025.

[12] ToloNews.com (Afghanistan), October 12, 2025.

[13] Roznama Sahafat (India), October 12, 2025.

[14] Roznama Inquilab (India), October 12, 2025.

[15] Roznama Inquilab (India), October 12, 2025.

[16] Roznama Inquilab (India), October 12, 2025.

[17] Roznama Inquilab (India), October 12, 2025.

[18] Roznama Sahafat (India), October 12, 2025.

[19] Theprint.in (India), October 10, 2025.

[20] Theprint.in (India), October 10, 2025.

[21] The Indian Express (India), October 11, 2025.