• Embittered Mazari mother-daughter duo depart in disgust!
• Mazari exit preceded by Hoti’s desertion
• PTI local leaders run rogue, promote mob rule
  

  What, me worry?

For the past few days, the former cricketer turned politician Imran Khan’s Pakistan Movement for Justice or PTI has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Recently, one of its oldest and very senior members, Dr Shireen Mazari (BSc. MSc. London School of Economics, PhD. Columbia University) resigned from the basic party membership of the PTI. Her grievance at Imran Khan’s no-show at a political rally in her chosen constituency of Rajanpur snowballed into a war of words with Jahangir Khan Tareen, a wealthy businessman/turncoat politician and more recent entrant in the PTI. By her own admission at her recent press conference, Shireen Mazari confirmed she resigned when Khan asked her to apologise to Tareen who ostensibly suggested an alternative event to the one in Rajanpur.

Another casualty of this conflict was Mazari’s own daughter Imaan, a leader in the youth wing of the PTI. Her declaration to quit PTI mentioned the harassment she suffered from the hoards of hostile PTI supporters who’ve gained notoriety on social media for their viciousness and vulgarity.

Dr Mazari in her resignation letter mentions the harassment her daughter suffered from PTI supporters.

“Sadly, instead of resolving the issue amicably, your social media and their “trolls” chose to use filthy abuses against my daughter which compelled her to leave the party; I hope that we are not reduced to abuse and name calling on the social media again as it will not do anyone any good. I do not want to reduce myself to personal attacks and we refrained from such filth even when my daughter was being subjected to filthy abuse. But there are limits to everyone’s patience.”

 

Both these disillusioned desertions come hot on the heels of a previous departure from the PTI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial wing. Khwaja Mohammad Khan Hoti claimed Imran broke a promise made over the Holy Quran to not accept corrupt politicians into the PTI. A promise, Hoti claimed, Khan refused to carry over to the “new PTI”.

“His aim is not to fight corruption. Instead, he is glorifying corruption and corrupt politicians,” he told The News. “Actually, his willingness to pack the party with corrupt politicians sent a clear message that the more you are corrupt the more you are important and respectable to him,” he added.

“When he started accepting unscrupulous politicians, I reminded him of his promise. But his answer surprised me. He told me that this is a new PTI and the promise belonged to old PTI,” he recalled. “He is not Hajr-e-Aswad that will wash dishonest people’s sins,” Khwaja Hoti remarked referring to the holy rock kept at the Ka’aba in Makkah.  “If Imran Khan could break one promise made with me on the holy Quran, he could break any commitment with the nation. He isn’t a leader who could be trusted,” he added.

 

Speaking of viciousness, two leaders of the PTI have been implicated in criminal cases in the same month! Both the cases involved local PTI office bearers using a mob of supporters to ransack a government installation.

“PTI activists booked

Dawn newspaper; September 10, 2012

The Wah Cantt police on Sunday booked a local leader of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) along with his 40 supporters for allegedly ransacking a toll plaza and damaging state as well as private property besides taking away cash worth Rs0.3 million.

According to the FIR lodged by officials of the National Highway Authority (NHA) and the toll plaza contactor Akbar Khan, the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf leader, who is also a former Union Council naib nazim, along with his 40 supporters attacked the toll plaza on Hazara road with clubs and sticks and damaged it. They also uprooted the newly-installed barriers besides allegedly taking away Rs0.3 million cash and a generator.

It has been learnt that there was a despite between the local residents and the NHA contactor over collection of toll tax.”

“PTI leader attacks police station

Dawn newspaper; September 27, 2012

ISLAMABAD, Sept 26: A politician from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) along with his gunmen raided Aabpara police station on Wednesday, to set free activists belonging to his party.

The politician — Raja Khurram Nawaz — along with his gunmen, Saeedur Rehman and Amir Mughal and other activists of the political party attacked the police station and manhandled the staff. The police claimed that they also tore the uniform of Naib Moharar of the police station, head constable Mohammad Fiaz, although PTI disputes the claim.

As many as 25 activists of PTI were arrested on charges of disrupting normal life during the protests on Thursday and Friday in Islamabad.

The demand surprised the police officials, who informed the politician that the arrested were booked under criminal charges and a legal procedure required their release.

Spokesman for the PTI, Umar Cheema when contacted showed ignorance about his colleague, Raja Khurrum Nawaz. He replied: “I am not aware of him.”

 

These events, in a rather strange coincidence, have occurred all in this one month. So we’ve got to ask…has September 2012 proven to be the PTI’s mensis horribilis? It’s ‘horrible month’?

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