Makkah Declaration a ploy of US, allies: Haqqania Madrasah

Spokesperson says any assertion useless unless it meets demands of the Afghan Taliban

PESHAWAR: Peace cannot prevail in Afghanistan until the occupying forces leave and real forces of the country take over or their demands are fulfilled, said Haqqania Madrasah Central Spokesperson Maulana Yousaf Shah on Thursday.

“Any declaration anywhere in the world will be useless unless it addresses the demands of Afghan Taliban,” he said talking to The Express Tribune on Thursday.

Haqqania Madrasah is the alma mater of many leading Taliban figures and has played key role in Afghan peace talks.



In Makkah Declaration, Afghanistan’s High Peace Council (HPC) invited religious scholars from Islamic states who urged the Afghan Taliban to end violence and resume dialogue for the greater peace and stability in the country.

“Islamic religious scholars around the world issue decrees that the war in Afghanistan is not a Jihad (holy war), we also know that and the scholars also know that this is not Jihad, rather it is a proxy war or you might say an imposed war plotted by international intelligence networks,” Shah said. The conference that passed the Makkah Declaration in Jeddah was the third of its kind. Earlier one was held in Indonesia and another in Islamabad.

All these moots have called on the Afghan Taliban to end aggression and come to negotiation table. Shah said that most religious scholars in Pakistan don’t agree with the Makkah Declaration.

“The ulema term this declaration a useless effort of the pseudo scholars who have no standing among the religious fraternity,” he said.

“People representing Pakistan in the three sittings were government appointees and those from Afghanistan were powerless, even their Mosque’s fellows don’t obey their orders, so how could they to compel the Taliban to end violence in the country,” Shah said.

The name Makkah Declaration was used to touch the emotions of people who believe in the sanctity of the place that has Kaaba, but those who had sponsored the conference were playing the role of puppet of the US in the region, so how could Taliban heed the demands made in the conference, Shah asserted.



“We have asked the Afghan government to make their own decision and don’t listen to their masters, the US and its allies, in the matters of running the country,” the Haqqania Madrasah spokesman said.

“Almost 85% of Afghan people support the cause of Taliban,” Shah said. “Ashraf Ghani regime has control only over the capital Kabul, the rest of Afghanistan is in Taliban control, so how could the Afghan government make decisions for peace,” he added.

Most of the Afghan Taliban Shura has ulema and they, in the light of the Holy Quran and Hadith, have approved the right to safeguard the land of their forefathers and motherland, Shah said adding these ulema need nobody’s directions.

Meanwhile The Express Tribune also contacted Mufti Mukhtar Haqqani, who rejected the conference declaration on the ground that: “it is US sponsored gathering.”

Mufti Mukhtar said that the US has done nothing for peace and development in Afghanistan during its long stay, however, it has made efforts to douse the spirit of Jihad in the Islamic countries, Mukhatar said.

Haqqania Madrasah and its role in Afghan Jihad

Maulana Samiul Haq Haqqani was considered as the father of Taliban since their emergence as a force 1992. Most of the foot soldiers and commanders had studied here and had great esteem for the religious institution and its teachers. 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2018.