President of PTI’s Karachi chapter comes out of hiding, quits party

President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Karachi chapter, Mohammad Akram Cheema, on Wednesday announced his resignation from the party positions and basic membership while vowing to continue his political journey.

Addressing a press conference at Karachi Press Club, he demanded that those involved in the May 9 riots be identified and held accountable as a deterrent, Express News reported.

"What message did the individuals involved in the violent events of May 9 want to convey to the world? Our armed forces were targeted on that day... even Captain Colonel Sher Khan's statue was desecrated,” he lamented.

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Cheema mentioned that even the enemy officers praised Khan’s courage while handing over his body. He said that war hero MM Alam’s jet was also targeted who achieved the remarkable feat of downing five Indian Air Force jets in only one minute during the 1965 war.

“The sanctity of the four walls was violated by attacking the home of a corps commander. Damaging properties in the guise of protests was not appropriate. After May 9, two cases were also filed against me, so I went into hiding and have now come out on bail,” he added.

Cheema stated that he will continue to take part in politics and serve the country, demanding that the culprits of May 9 be identified and given severe punishment.

The former PTI leader expressed his intention to continue politics in the future but refrained from disclosing any affiliation with any party.

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Cheema had  a seat in the National Assembly on the PTI ticket in the 2018 general elections.

Meanwhile, PTI leaders Waseem Akhtar Ramay from Lahore and former provincial assembly member Chaudhry Adnan from Rawalpindi have also parted ways with the former ruling party, which landed in trouble following the events of May, a day the country’s military and PDM government termed as “black day”.

In an unprecedented show of vandalism, protestors allegedly belonging to the former ruling party vandalised public and private properties and even attacked the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, and Lahore corps commander’s residence, also known as the Jinnah House in Lahore.

The attack took place hours after paramilitary Rangers personnel arrested PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, later retitled as the £190 million National Crime Agency scandal, on the orders of the National Accountability Bureau, from the Islamabad High Court premises.

Following the clampdown, several senior PTI leaders were arrested, and many dissociated themselves from the party.

So far, many senior-most PTI leaders, including Fawad Chaudhry, Shireen Mazari, Imran Ismail, Ali Zaidi, Amir Kiyani, Pervaiz Khattak, Humayun Akhtar, Saifullah Nyazee, Fayyazul Hassan Chauhan, Musarrat Jamshed Cheema, have parted ways with PTI.

Besides a number of candidates, who were awarded PTI tickets for Punjab Assembly elections, quit the party, condemning the May 9 violence and attacks on military installations.

Former PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen has announced the formation of a new political party — Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party – and many former PTI leaders have joined it.

Nearly 100 former PTI members of the national and provincial assemblies joined the new party, expressing confidence in Tareen’s leadership.