Lucknow, July 2 (IANS) A day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati termed the India-US nuclear deal as “anti-Muslim”, Muslim clerics appreciated her stand and commended her for withdrawing support from the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Shia and Sunni clerics met Mayawati here Wednesday to thank her for opposing the nuclear deal, which they said was “against the Muslims”.

“There is a great deal of confusion among the Muslim community over the nuclear deal,” a cleric told reporters after meeting Mayawati.

Among others All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) vice chairman Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, Naib Imam of Idgah and AIMPLB member Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali met Mayawati.

Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad, who is presently in Iran, spoke to Mayawati on phone and appreciated BSP’s stand on the nuclear deal.

Interestingly a majority of the clerics who met Mayawati had supported the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections and some of them had even issued appeals to the community to vote for SP candidates.

Mahali said that the Muslim clerics had also written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, urging him not to sign the nuclear deal as it was against the interest of the Muslim community worldwide. They did not however explain why the deal was against Muslims.

We had also sought an appointment from the prime minister to explain our point of view but our request did not elicit any response, he said.