A prominent religious scholar and Ex-Senator Sami-ul-Haq was assassinated in the late hours of 2nd of November. The late senator was a prominent figure in both regional and national level politics. He was the Principal of Darul Uloom Haqqania, a religious seminary in the western province of Pakistan. He had been an integral part of the Afghan Peace Process, and his assassination has dealt a serious blow to the Afghan peace process. Leading, some may even speculate if this was a random act of personal revenge or a well thought out and orchestrated act of sabotaging the Afghan peace process. The way the assassination attempt has unfolded, shows clear signs of a well-orchestrated attempt to derail the Afghan Peace process.
Maulana Sami-ul-Haq was also referred to as the “Father of the Taliban” as 80 percent of the top Taliban leadership had graduated from the School of which he was a Principal. He mentored two generations of the Taliban and so the Taliban leadership had great respect and admiration for their teacher and accepted him as a mediator. His acceptance to the Taliban as a mediator made him an important player in the Pakistani and regional politics.
He was a moderate person who always talked with logic and great sense of responsibility. He was perhaps amongst the dwindling generation of politicians who preferred national interests over personal interests. He also had good relations with the Pakistani Security establishment, who saw him as a messenger between them and the Afghan Taliban and relied heavily on his insights. He had frequent interactions with the US and Afghan Ambassadors, who used to visit his educational institute at Akora Khattak. The Maulana had served a long stint in the Senate of Pakistan and had good working relations with all major political parties of Pakistan whether on the Treasury benches or the opposition benches. He was also a coalition partner of the present government of Imran Khan.
Maulana Sami-ul-Haq had a long stance on the peaceful settlement of the Afghan issue through dialogue. He while talking to the US ambassador told him that Peace in Afghanistan was impossible without the complete withdrawal of the foreign occupying forces.
One of his most applauded works has been the support of the Polio Drive in Pakistan. He had mustered courage and provided the campaign the necessary religious backing it needed to be successful in Pakistan. Polio campaigns in Pakistan are mired with great suspicion, especially since the revealing of the CIA using the campaign to conduct its covert operations in Pakistan.
In the recent weeks, dozens of Afghan clerics called on Haq and appealed for him to use his influence with Afghanistan’s Taliban to plot a path to peace that would end the 17-year insurgency which has left Afghanistan to ruins. Unfortunately, before he could continue his mission as a peace-maker, he was assassinated in cold blood. The question, however, remains who could benefit from his death? Definitely, not the forces struggling for peace and stability in the region.
