‘Father of the Taliban’: ‘War for freedom’ will continue till foreigners leave, says Samiul Haq

Samiul Haq's views carry enormous weight among Taliban on both sides of Afgahnistan-Pakistan border.

AKORA KHATTAK: He is known as the Father of the Taliban, bespectacled and soft-spoken, Maulana Samiul Haq is a revered figure in Pakistan and Afghanistan whose views carry enormous weight among the Taliban on both sides of the border.

His Darul Uloom Haqqania University was the launching pad for the Taliban movement in the 1990s and is still often described as the incubator for radical Islamists.

Speaking to Reuters at the sprawling campus near his native town of Akora Khattak, Haq did little to hide his sympathies for the Taliban.” Give them just one year and they will make the whole of Afghanistan happy,” Haq said.

Despite Haq’s openly pro-Taliban views and connections, his seminary is recognised officially in Pakistan.

Back in the 1980s, many young Darul Uloom Haqqania graduates swapped books for guns and drove west towards Afghanistan, where they joined mujahideen groups to fight against the Soviets.

One of them, Mullah Omar, later found the Taliban movement. Haq recalled Omar one of his best students. “He is a devout Muslim, a very simple man, with no princely tastes,” Haq said adding with conviction, “He is no aggressor. He is an angel-like human being.”

Taliban alma mater The seminary, founded in 1947, is now one of biggest and most respected Islamic institutions in South Asia houses 4,000 male students in its multistorey concrete buildings.

Haq says he and his seminary have nothing to do with terrorism. He has even offered to mediate between the United States and militants in order to bring peace to Afghanistan.

Haq, who speaks fluent Arabic, said the US ambassador to Pakistan visited him in July to discuss the situation in the region but added that peace was not possible as long as foreign troops were still in Afghanistan.

“As long as they are there, Afghans will have to fight for their freedom,” Haq said. “It’s a war for freedom. It will not stop until outsiders leave.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2013.