Akora Khattak (Staff Report): Maulana Hamidul Haq, son of assassinated Jamiat Ulema Islam-Sami (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq, has been named acting chief of the party.
Sami-ul Haq was stabbed to death at his residence in Rawalpindi on Friday.
Head of the Darul Uloom Haqqania, Akora Khattak, Haq was known as the "Father of the Taliban".
His party has been an ally of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The PTI also gave him ticket for the 2018 Senate election, but he could not be elected to the upper house.
The JUI-S chief headed a committee formed for peace talks with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in 2014.
The talks, despite repeated rounds, failed to yield results and the then Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led government subsequently launched a crackdown on militants following terrorist attacks on Karachi's Jinnah International Airport and then the Army Public School in Peshawar later that year.
Samiul Haq was currently the chancellor of Darul Uloom Haqqania, a Deobandi Islamic seminary which is the alma mater of many prominent Taliban members. Haq served as chairman of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council and is the leader of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam political party, known as JUI-S.
Samiul Haq was also a founding member of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal.
He also served as a member of the Senate. He formed Mutahida Deeni Mahaz (United Religious Front), an alliance of relatively small religio-political parties, to participate in Pakistani general election, 2013.
President Dr. Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan have expressed sorrow and grief over Haq’s assassination.
Condemning this tragic incident, they expressed sympathy with the bereaved family.
Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has also condemned the assassination of Maulana Sami-ul-Haq and sought report from the Inspector General of Punjab police.
Funeral prayer for Maulana Samiul Haq offered at Nowshera's Khushal Khan Degree College on Saturday.
A large number of people including senior politicians and religious scholars attended the funerals led Maulana Hamidul Haq, the son of JUI (S) chief.
Leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulemai Islam (Fazl) (JUI-F), Awami National Party (ANP) and other political parties attended the funerals.