Maulana Hassan Jan shot dead in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Maulana Hassan Jan, a revered religious scholar of the country and a vice president of the Wafaqul Madaris, was shot dead by unidentified terrorists near Wazir Bagh in the suburbs of Peshawar on Saturday evening.

Thousands of students of the 69-year-old religious scholar including politicians, religious leaders and people from all walks of life were seen in a state of shock when the body was brought to Masjid Darvesh where he used to deliver the Friday sermon.

“Some people took the Maulana to solemnize a wedding in Wazir Bagh. Later, we learnt that he has been martyred,” Abidur Rahman, one of the four sons of Maulana, told newsmen. The deceased also left behind a widow and a daughter.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Abdul Majeed Marwat told The News that the late scholar was taken by three persons to solemnise a nikah ceremony. When they reached near Wazir Bagh, two of them took him out of the car and shot him at the time of Iftar. Police are yet to find a motive behind the killing.

Maulana Hassan Jan received two bullets, one on his head and another on his chest. According to the CCPO, the police recovered two empties from the spot. Some sources disclosed that the three persons had also come to him on Friday with the request to tie the knot of one of their relatives on Saturday.

“We were offering prayers in Jamia Masjid Abu Bakar Siddiq at Wazir Bagh when we heard firing. Later, somebody told us that an elderly man had been shot,” a resident of Wazir Bagh, Jalal, told the people at Darvesh Masjid.

The eyewitness said the Maulana was alive and sitting on the footpath from where the locals took him to the mosque and called the police. “When the police took time to arrive, the locals took him to the Lady Reading Hospital but he breathed his last before reaching the hospital,” eyewitnesses said.

Thousands of people were seen crying when the body was brought to Masjid Darvesh where hundreds of

policemen were deployed.

Federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, while condemning the assassination of Maulana Hassan Jan, said he had talked to the IGP NWFP and directed him to seal the city so that the killers could not escape.

Maulana Hassan Jan was a top religious leader who was respected among the followers of every sect. He was also respected in many Islamic countries. The late Maulana was elected member of the National Assembly in 1990 when he made an upset by defeating Rahbar-e-Tehrik of the Awami National Party (ANP) Khan Abdul Wali Khan. Khan retired from politics after that defeat. Later, the Maulana also resigned from his assembly seat, arguing it was affecting his religious activities.

Maulana Hassan Jan, who was a teacher of the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and a number of ministers and parliamentarians, had always played a key role whenever any religious issue arose in any part of the country.

The late Maulana was born in January 1938 in Prang, Charsadda. After completing his religious education at Jamia Islami Akora Khattak, he proceeded to Madina Munawwara for higher education. He also obtained gold medal from the Peshawar University in MA Islamiat.

Political leaders including ANP President, Asfandyar Wali Khan, Chairman Senate Mohammadmian Soomro, NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, Governor Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai, MMA Chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad, JUI Chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman, JUI-S Chief Maulana Samiul Haq, MQM Chief Altaf Hussain, MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar, PPP leader Rahimdad Khan, Federal Minister Ijazul Haq, Senator Khalid Jan and several others have condemned the cold-blooded murder in the strongest terms.

The funeral prayer of Maulana would be offered today (Sunday) at 10 am at Qayyum Stadium. Agencies add: Maulana Hasan Jan was regarded as a friend of Taliban chief Mullah Omar. He was in a group of Pakistani scholars who traveled to Afghanistan in late 2001 in an attempt to convince Omar that he should expel Osama bin Laden from Afghanistan to avoid American attacks. Omar rejected the plea and a U.S.-led invasion later ousted the Taliban from power.