KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent interview with American broadcaster CNN set off debate on the origins of Haqqani network.
The Prime Minister, in a wide-ranging interview with CNN, said that the Americans never understood what the Haqqani Network was. “Haqqani Network is a tribe. It is a Pashtun tribe living in Afghanistan,” he said.
“The Americans didn’t understand what the Haqqani network was. Haqqani is a tribe. It’s a Pashtun tribe, living in Afghanistan. Forty years ago, when the Afghan jihad took place, we had five million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, among them were a few of the Haqqanis,” he added.
He continued, “Haqqanis, the mujahideen were fighting the Soviets. They were born in Pakistan refugee camps. The US expected Pakistan to find out who among the three million people living in the refugee camps were and were not the Taliban”.
Reaction on social media
PM Imran’s statement prompted a response from a number of people, including journalists, who argued that Haqqani is not a tribe.
Just heard PM @ImranKhanPTI on @CNN he said Haqqani is a tribe in Afghanistan. It’s not a tribe.All students of Darool Alum Haqqania Akora Khattak KPK are called Haqqani’s including Jalaluddin Haqqani who played important role in the defeat of Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
— Hamid Mir (@HamidMirPAK) September 15, 2021
Just so we understand correctly, is PM Imran Khan (a Pashtun & a Niazi by tribe) telling us that Pakistan’s security forces couldn’t differentiate between the Haqqani tribe & Haqqani Network? https://t.co/GePeNWBEHY
— Sana Safi ثنا ساپۍ (@BBCSanaSafi) September 15, 2021
On a question regarding the Haqqani Network, PM Imran Khan tells CNN that “Haqqani is a Pashtun tribe.” Which of course, it’s not. pic.twitter.com/oZD8RTP5oi
— Naila Inayat (@nailainayat) September 15, 2021
If Jalaluddin Haqqani is from Haqqani Tribe then Imran Khan is from Aitchison and Oxford Tribes. (Jalaluddin and his sons get the name Haqqani from attending the Haqqania Madrasa in Akora Khattak, near Nowshera in Pakistan’s KP province.)
— Husain Haqqani (@husainhaqqani) September 15, 2021
History of Haqqani Darul Uloom
Maulana Hamid-ul-Haq, Central Leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) and former Member National Assembly, told VOA that Maulana Abdul Haq, affiliated to Darul Uloom Deoband, founded a madrassa in his native area on September 23, 1947.
Maulana Hamid-ul-Haq said that Haqqani Darul Uloom has a unique position not only in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but also in Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as in Central Asian countries.
According to him, in late December 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, the Haqqani Darul Uloom became an important destination for Afghan refugees.
Speaking to VOA, JUI Central Spokesman Maulana Yousaf Shah confirmed that Jalaluddin Haqqani, the founder of the Haqqani Network, had studied at Haqqani Darul Uloom.
According to him, most of Jalaluddin Haqqani’s family members have studied at the same madrassa. Similarly, with Jalaluddin Haqqani, most of those who were at the forefront of the resistance against the Soviet Union remained associated with the school in one way or another.
What is Haqqani group?
The Haqqani Network is an organisation of individuals who have been fighting wars in Afghanistan since the Soviet invasion. The group was formed by Jalalduddin Haqqani and joined hands with the Taliban in 1995. Due to deteriorating health, Jalalduddin had handed over the group’s leadership to his son Sirajuddin Haqqani.
The western media holds a view that the Haqqani Network had been fighting against Soviets, the US and NATO forces as an ally or a tool of ISI, but these claims have never been established or backed by evidence.
Haqqani has been termed the “deadliest” militant group in Afghanistan and had ties with al-Qaeda. The 2018 bombing of Kabul, which killed more than 100 people and injured over 400 others, was blamed on the Haqqani Network linked to al-Qaeda.
The group is reportedly based in areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. They carry out such activities as acquiring weapons, training suicide bombers, planning military operations.
Reports suggest that the Haqqani network comprises between 3,000 t0 10,000 members. It is financed by a number of sources, including the wealthy and influential from Gulf states. It makes money through smuggling too.
