Why is it strange? My shaykh Hadrat Mawlana Arshad Madani db went to great lengths to invite the Shaykh to Deoband. Before Fajr on that day, there were 10 lakh people, most of them talaba and ulama already in Deoband waiting for the Shaykh. We need to stop underestimating the unity of the Ummah. And if anyone had stood up and shouted something stupid, he would have been beaten to a pulp.
Yeah brother. They are ignorance-driven people. May Allah give them Hidayya'