• JUI-S body appoints Maulana Abdul Haq as emir with consensus.
• Central Council meeting concerned over law, order situation in KP.
• Urges government, institutions to protection of religious scholars.

NOWSHERA: Maulana Abdul Haq Sani, son of late Hamid-ul-Haq Haqqani, has been chosen as the central emir of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) during the party’s Central Council meeting at Jamia Darul Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak, The News reported on Monday.

Maulana Abdul Haq’s appointment as the party chief came via a mutual consensus during the meeting attended by representatives from all four provinces.

The leadership position became vacant following the martyrdom of his father Maulana Hamid-ul-Haq Haqqani in a suicide bombing that killed seven others at the mosque inside the Jamia Darul Uloom Haqqania on February 28.

The sprawling campus is home to roughly 4,000 students who are fed, clothed and educated for free.

It is pertinent to know that before Maulana Samiul Haq — father and grandfather of Maulana Hamid-ul-Haq and Maulana Abdul Haq, respectively — was stabbed to death while he was resting in his room at his residence in Rawalpindi in November 2018.

Meanwhile, the JUI-S meeting on Sunday also appointed Sheikhul Hadith Mufti Habibur Rahman Darkhwasti as patron-in-chief and Maulana Khuzaima Sami as the central information secretary.

During the meeting, fateha was also offered for Maulana Hamid-ul-Haq with a call for the immediate arrest of his assassins. The participants further questioned the silence of both the central and provincial governments, as well as institutions over the incident.

The meeting also expressed concerns over the deteriorating law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, particularly the killing of religious scholars. The recent bombing targeting Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Waziristan’s head Maulana Abdullah Nadeem in Wana, and the martyrdom of renowned religious scholar Mufti Muhammad Munir Shakir in Peshawar were declared tragic incidents.

The government and institutions were urged not to consider scholars as adversaries but to ensure their protection.

Speaking on the occasion, Central Secretary General Maulana Syed Muhammad Yousaf Shah and Emir Maulana Abdul Haq assured the meeting that they would continue the mission of their martyred leaders, Maulana Samiul Haq and Maulana Hamid-ul-Haq and that their sacred sacrifices would not go in vain.

The meeting was attended by several prominent scholars, including Maulana Abdul Quddus Naqshbandi, Maulana Abdul Wahid Khateeb, Maulana Muhammad Ayub Khan Daskavi, Maulana Qari Hazrat Wali Hazarvi from Karachi, Maulana Qari Azam Hussain, Maulana Abdul Jabbar Shakir, Maulana Luqmanul Haq Haqqani, Maulana Osama Sami, Maulana Khuzaima Sami and others.