LAHORE: PTI leader Hammad Azhar on Wednesday stepped down as the general secretary and acting president of the party’s Punjab chapter citing his legal tribulations and the obstacles they presented in him performing his duties.
In a letter to party leaders Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Omar Ayub, Azhar said that he was entrusted with the dual responsibilities by PTI founder Imran Khan last year and had since “bravely endured the onslaught of a fascist regime that remained bent upon dismantling the party machinery”.
Azhar informed the two that he was booked in 42 cases and was banned from all electronic media by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority.
“My home has been raided repeatedly, ransacked and sealed, my family harassed,” he said, adding that he had to send his family abroad to protect them from the “weekly trauma” of raids “or worse” while he continued to work for the party “from an undisclosed location since May 2023”.
Azhar said it was an honour to serve the party but it would be selfish of him to continue in the roles while “I am still in hiding and unable to represent the party even on television.”
He opined that the party would be best served at the current juncture by leadership in Punjab that was able to be present on the ground and lead from the front.
“In addition, it should be able to appear on television and most importantly, to have access to the founding chairman directly to receive instructions and communication with him directly.”
Azhar said that after much thought and deliberation, he had decided to step down from his roles, saying that he felt it to be the correct choice despite having “agonised” over the decision.
He said his decision came from a “place of concern for the wellbeing of my party that I have dedicated 13 years of my life and a desire to serve its best interests, not mine,” adding that he would continue to render his services to the PTI as a “loyal and ideological worker”.
On Monday, Azhar had alleged that the returning officer for PP-147 (Lahore) Nabeel Ahmad Memon did not receive his nomination papers. Azhar had said that he intended to contest the by-election for PP-147, which was relinquished by Hamza Shehbaz following his National Assembly win.
It may be mentioned that Azhar’s nomination papers for the NA-129 contest in the general elections were rejected. Azhar is declared a proclaimed offender in several cases related to the May 9 riots.
He also has an inquiry on corruption charges pending with the Anti-Corruption Establishment against him.
