No personal enmity behind: Samiul Haq’s assassination, says JUI-S

NOWSHERA: The Majlis-e-Shura of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) on Sunday dismissed reports that Maulana Samiul Haq had been killed due to personal enmity.

In a policy statement, the JUI-S said that external forces, including India and Afghanistan, were mainly responsible for his martyrdom.

“The celebrations over the death of Maulana Samiul Haq in Afghanistan vindicated our concerns,” it maintained.

The statement said Maulana Samiul Haq, who was assassinated at his residence in Rawalpindi on Friday, had played a pivotal role in trying to restore peace in Afghanistan.

Maulana Samiul Haq, it may be mentioned, was a noted religious scholar who was the custodian of Darul Uloom Haqqania founded by his father Maulana Abdul Haq in 1947.

The statement said Maulana Samiul Haq made sustained efforts to reconcile the warring factions in Afghanistan with each other after the defeat of the USSR. “The entire Muslim world was saddened by his sad demise, but certain media outlets in Afghanistan launched a smear campaign after his death to tarnish his image,” the JUI-S statement argued.

It said Maulana Samiul Haq did not have enmity with anybody and he had friendly relations with everyone and was known for his magnanimity and hospitality. “We appeal to the powers that be to arrest the killers of the Maulana,” the JUI-S’s Majlis-e-Shura said.

The Maulana openly criticised the rulers for their flawed policies, the statement further said, adding, he had made efforts to incorporate Islamic provisions in the Constitution and had authored several books.

The communiqué pointed out that the Afghan government had approached Maulana Samiul Haq on several occasions to use his influence and bring the Taliban to the negotiating table to restore peace to the war-torn country.

“However, the Maulana had made it clear that peace could only be restored if the occupying forces withdrew from Afghanistan,” the JUI-S statement noted.

It said recently a delegation of the Afghan government had called on him at his residence in Akora Khattak, Nowshera to seek his support to persuade the Taliban to give up fighting and engage in peace talks.

“However, the Maulana had expressed his reservations over the peace overtures of the Kabul administration that prompted certain Afghan officials and Afghan media to launch a smear campaign against him,” the statement said.

The JUI-S Majlis-e-Shura named his eldest son Maulana Hamidul Haq, a former MNA, as successor to Maulana Samiul Haq. He was appointed the acting head of the JUI-S. The other party office-bearers would retain their offices.

In a symbolic gesture, a turban will be placed on his head at the Qul of the Maulana Samiul Haq.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, JUI-S central Senior Vice-President Maulana Bashir Ahmad Shad said that the Majlis-e-Shura unanimously decided to appoint Maulana Hamidul Haq as the acting party chief.

Maulana Hamidul Haq said he was not willing to accept the responsibility, but accepted the decision at the insistence of senior party leaders. He said the killers of his father should be brought to justice. He rejected the reports that personal enmity was the reason of his father’s assassination