Maulana Hassan Jan still missed by followers

Revered religious scholar was assassinated on Sept 17, 2007

PESHAWAR: Maulana Hassan Jan, one of the most revered and respected religious scholars, is being missed by his students and followers even nine years after his martyrdom.

He was shot dead by three armed terrorists near Wazir Bagh in Peshawar on September 17, 2007. Some people had requested him to solemnise the “Nikah” (engagement) of a couple in Wazir Bagh where he was martyred.

Maulana Hassan Jan was a top religious scholar liked by the followers of every
school of thought due to his moderate and enlightened views. He was Sheikhul Hadith and enjoyed respect in Islamic countries. His fatwa against suicide bombing was widely mentioned in Pakistan and abroad.

Unlike many other religious leaders, the late Maulana didn’t show any interest in occupying a public office. Once he contested general election for the National Assembly seat from Charsadda in 1990 where he defeated Awami National Party head Khan Abdul Wali Khan. The Maulana, however, gave up his seat soon as he realized it was hampering his religious activities. This was the first and last time that he contested an election.

The news of his killing shook the entire country. His funeral was attended by tens of thousands at the spacious Qayyum Sports Complex Peshawar. The police commandoes had to rescue the then chief minister Akram Khan Durrani and federal interior minister Aftab Sherpao when thousands of angry religious students tried to attack them for their failure in protecting Maulana Hassan Jan.

Durrani and Sherpao along with a number of other ministers had to return without offering the funeral prayer after sensing the intention of thousands of followers of the late Maulana.His coffin was placed on dozens of meters long two poles so that his students and followers could have the opportunity to shoulder it while transporting the body from the Qayyum Stadium to the graveyard in Chamkani located on the outskirts of Peshawar city.

The shops all over the Saddar Bazaar had closed down as people in Peshawar and rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa observed a day of mourning in his memory. Maulana Hassan Jan’s death was widely mourned on this day nine years ago.