‘ Father of Taliban’ Maulana Samiul Haq stabbed to death in Rawalpindi
Pakistani cleric Maulana Samiul Haq, known as the father of Taliban, was assassinated on Friday in the garrison city of Rawalpindi near here.
The Jamiat Ulema- eIslam ( Sami) chief was stabbed to death inside his house in Bahria Town locality.
“He was at his residence and was supposed to travel to Akora Khattak. The servants had gone to get food when unknown attackers entered the house and assassinated him,” said his grandson Maulana Abdul Haq.
The attack occurred in the vicinity of the Airport police station. He breathed his last in the nearby Safari Hospital.
Maulana Haq was the head cleric of Darul Uloom Haqqania, Akora Khattak. He has served on the post since the death of his father, Maulana Abdul Haq, who founded the madrassah ( religious seminary) in 1988. Many leaders of Afghan Taliban, including the movement’s founder Mullah Omar, studied at Darul Uloom Haqqania.
He was a part of JUI Darkhwati and was made its president after Maulana Habibullah Darkhwati’s death. The group later came to be known as the JUI- S.
He formed the Difa- ePakistan Afghanistan council after 9/ 11, which later became the Muttahida Majlis- e- Amal ( MMA). Maulana Haq served as a Senator during the tenures of former military ruler Ziaul Haq and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He tabled the famous Sharia bill during Nawaz Sharif ’ s last term.
Moulana Haq was close to the incumbent Prime Minister, Imran Khan. The ruling Pakistan Tehrik- e- Insaf ( PTI) formed an alliance with his party before the 2018 general election.
He was regarded as the ‘ Father of the Taliban’ – referring to the relationship between a student ( Talib) and Teacher was a relationship of Father and Child, and had close ties to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.
He formed Mutahida Deeni Mahaz ( United Religious Front), an alliance of relatively small religio- political parties, to participate in Pakistani general election, 2013.
On 25 March 2013, he unveiled the electoral manifesto of the front, pledging that all high offices of the state, including the president, prime minister, chief justice and chiefs of armed forces, will be held only by Sunni Muslim men. It also talked of abolishing coeducation and training all adult Muslims for jihad ( holy war).
Maulana Haq openly promoted the Taliban retake of Afghanistan. He had stated: “Give them just one year and they will make the whole of Afghanistan happy... The whole of Afghanistan will be with them ... Once the Americans leave, all of this will happen within a year... As long as they are there, Afghans will have to fight for their freedom,” Maulana Haq said. “It’s a war for freedom. It will not stop until outsiders leave.”
In the backdrop of Te h r i k - e - T a l i b a n Pakistan calling poliovaccination un- Islamic and forcing people to quit vaccinating their children, Maulana Haq on December 9, 2013, issued a fatwa ( decree) in favour of polio vaccination.
The fatwa said: “Vaccination against deadly diseases is helpful in their prevention according to research conducted by renowned medical specialists. It adds that the vaccines used against these diseases are in no way harmful.”