LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf central Punjab general secretary and acting President Hammad Azhar, who has been in hiding since May 9, has resigned from his party offices expressing his inability to represent on ground.

In a two-page resignation sent to the party chairman and secretary-general besides posting on his X handle, Mr Azhar has stated that the fascist government had booked him in 42 fake terrorism cases and banned him from all electronic media by Pemra. “My home has been raided repeatedly, ransacked and sealed, my family harassed,” he lamented.

In these circumstances, Mr Azhar stated that he would continue to render his services for the party as a loyal and ideological worker but it had become increasingly difficult to represent PTI on ground. “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 suggested.

Mr Azhar in his resignation stated that ever since founding chairman Imran Khan had entrusted him party’s Punjab chapter dual offices, his organisational team and all party workers had bravely endured the onslaught of a fascist regime that remained bent upon dismantling the party machinery. “Punjab has faced the brunt of this oppression as thousands of workers and party leaders have been arrested, tortured and some forced to leave the party post-May 9.”

Resigns as central Punjab general secretary and acting president, wants to serve PTI as ideological worker

However, he stated that he and his team managed to keep the party intact, its narrative strong and fielded excellent candidates in each constituency along with multiple back-ups - this was no small feat especially for a party in hiding! “Despite the loss of our electoral symbol, the result was a stunning victory,” he gloated.

On Feb 8, the people of Pakistan and Punjab in particular returned two/third of PTI-backed candidates to the assemblies. He regretted that it was another matter that the people’s votes had been stolen and the mandate hijacked by the PDM.

Since Feb 9 onwards, Mr Azhar said the most blatant and shameful display of Form-47 forgeries and result manipulation had been witnessed in the country’s already volatile democratic history. “Approximately 57 of our seats in the national assembly from Punjab and around 99 from the provincial assembly have been stolen,” he alleged.Mr Azhar stated that he had himself been booked in 42 fake terrorism cases and banned from all electronic media. He said his home was repeatedly raided, ransacked, sealed and his family harassed. “I have had to send my wife and young children abroad to protect them from the weekly trauma of raids and uncertainty or worse while I have worked for the party from an undisclosed location since May 2023,” he added.

It may be mentioned that Mr Azhar had once announced that he would himself appear in one of the protests in an (undisclosed) city but did not appear in any of the protests.

Acknowledging honour for being entrusted the party offices by the founder chairman, Mr Azhar stated that it would be selfish of him to continue while in hiding and unable to represent the party even on television.

“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 suggested and added that the leadership on ground would also be able to appear on television and most importantly to have access to the founding chairman directly to receive instructions and communicate with him directly.

“The founding chairman and my mentor Imran Khan has always inspired me towards the virtue of selfless service, and I try to base my politics upon that ideal. Therefore, after much thought and deliberation, I have decided to step down from the office of general secretary and acting president of the PTI Punjab chapter,” explained Mr Azhar and added that he would continue to render his services as a loyal and ideological worker.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2024