Home Latest News Maulana Samiul Haq Assassinated in Rawalpindi

Maulana Samiul Haq Assassinated in Rawalpindi

by Staff Report

Sajjad Qayyum—AFP

The head of the JUI-S was stabbed at his home, according to his son

Maulana Samiul Haq, two-time former senator and head of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, was assassinated at his home in Rawalpindi on Friday, according to local media. He was 80 years old.

Talking to a private TV channel, Haq’s son, Maulana Hamidul Haq, alleged his father had been resting in bed after returning from a failed attempt to attend a demonstration against the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s acquittal of blasphemy accused Aasia Bibi. When his personal guard checked on him, he found his body covered in blood, allegedly caused by a knife.

Haq, according to media, was still alive when he was found and was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Born on Dec. 18, 1937 in Akora Khattak, in what is now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Haq was educated at the Darul Uloom Haqqania founded by his father and eventually went on to take leadership of it himself. During his tenure as teacher, Haq had close ties with Mullah Omar, who went on to become the head of the Taliban, earning Haq the title ‘Father of the Taliban.’

Actively involved in politics since the 1980s, Haq’s faction of the JUI was aligned with Gen. Zia-ul-Haq. He was also a founding member of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal that opposed Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s decision to ally with the U.S. against the Taliban in Afghanistan and the religio-conservative Difa-e-Pakistan Council.

In recent years, Haq had been in a political alliance with the PTI, which had been working with him to enact madrassa educational reform. He had also come out in favor of the U.S.’s plans to open peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan, terming it a ‘pragmatic’ move.

Related Articles

Leave a Comment