Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Hammad Azhar on Wednesday resigned from the party posts of acting Punjab president and general-secretary, citing his inability to meet founder Imran Khan or appear on television, as he remains in hiding from authorities over his alleged role in the May 9 riots.
In a resignation letter addressed to PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan and Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan, the former minister said it would be better if someone who can lead it from the front represented the party. “It has been an honor, but it would be selfish of me to continue while I am still in hiding and unable to represent the party even on television,” read the letter, which was shared on social media. “In my opinion, at this stage the party would be best served by a leadership in Punjab that is able to be present on the ground and lead from the front,” he added.
Any office-holder, he wrote, should have access and permission to appear on television, and also meet founding chairman Imran Khan directly, neither of which he has. Maintaining he and his team in Punjab had “bravely endured the onslaught of a fascist regime that remained bent upon dismantling the party machinery,” he lamented the “oppression” of thousands of PTI workers and leaders after the May 9 riots.
He claimed that since he assumed the office of acting PTI Punjab president in May 2023, 42 “fake” terrorism cases were lodged against him; his appearance on all electronic media was banned; multiple raids were conducted at his residence; and his family was harassed, forcing him to send his wife and children abroad for their safety.
Azhar similarly regretted a ban on the PTI’s political gatherings; alleged rigging in the Feb. 8 general elections; and the PTI’s success in the polls despite being denied its electoral symbol. He stressed that his decision was taken after much thought and deliberation.
“I have agonized over this decision, but I feel it is the correct one,” he wrote. “It comes from a place of concern for the wellbeing of my party that I have dedicated 13 years of my life to and a desire to serve its best interests not mine,” he said, vowing to continue serving the party as a loyal and ideological worker.