LAHORE: Punjab Home Minister Mohammad Has­him on Tuesday resigned for “personal reasons, with a pledge to continue serving Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf as a worker”.

The retired colonel had been under PTI pressure, with party loyalists criticising him for “being soft on the PML-N”, which they say had been booking and picking up its workers in Punjab and getting off scot-free.

“Of late, he was questioned by party workers and leaders alike how hundreds of containers got to Islam­abad (to block the PTI thre­atened long march) in presence of the PTI government in Punjab and why Col Hashim had not been able to check [the practice],” a party insider told Dawn.

Mr Hashim, whose handwritten resignation note was also shared widely on social media, had also stirred a hornet’s nest when he denied that Shahbaz Gill, chief of staff of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, had been tortured by law enforcers. But the last straw ostensibly came when he said no state resources would be used to facilitate PTI’s potential long march.

“None of these stances went down well with the PTI leadership, which started questioning the role of the home minister as a party worker, who is supposed to serve the larger interest of the party. Had it not been for social media, these differences could have debated and remained within the party. However, with the PTI penchant to take everything to social media and convert it into a trend, a harassed Hashim had no option but to quit,” said a provincial minister, explaining background of his resignation.

Mr Hashim also faced criticism when he “failed to punish” police officials the PTI blamed for beating up and tear-gassing party workers during the May 25 march organised by the party. Though all FIRs lodged against PTI workers were withdrawn later, for the PTI, the real issue was punishing the police officials that the home minister did not manage to the satisfaction of the party leadership, the minister said.

“One could see the kind of pressure applied on [him] to quit — and do so quickly. This could be gauged from the fact that the chief minister, Parvez Elahi, is in London. His absence did not make any difference and his home minister called it a day through a handwritten resignation,” the Punjab cabinet member said.

Some detractors linked his refusal to lend “official sources” to PTI marchers to his military background, with the establishment’s distancing of itself from Imran Khan being quoted as one of the reasons.

“He faced double trouble when Mr Khan’s anti-establishment rhetoric became increasingly venomous in the last few weeks, especially after failure of reported talks and perception of the establishment distancing itself took deeper roots. Mr Hashim may only be first to quit and escape pressure, with many more to follow,” claimed another of his Punjab cabinet colleagues, who did not wish to be named.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2022