In its 16 years of existence, the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) headed by Imran Khan has lost many of its old stalwarts on one pretext or the other. The founding members and seasoned politicians, who remained dedicated to the party, had either resigned or were sidelined by the party’s top echelon.
Nazim F Haji is on the top of the list of those who left the PTI due to differences with the party chief. Being a founding member Haji Nazim remained the general secretary of the party for about two years and left it in 1998 when serious differences cropped up with the PTI hierarchy on the party structure.
However, Haji Nazim could not be contacted as his cell phone was constantly found switched off. President PTI (Karachi) Ashraf Qureshi, however, confirmed that Haji Nazim had left the party in 1998 i.e. two years after its inception.
The other seasoned politician and founding member of Pakistan People’s Party Mairaj Mohammed Khan, also an old guard and trustworthy man of late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, had joined the PTI in 1998. He had rather merged his party Qaumi Mahaz-e-Azadi into PTI with the plan that young and energetic blood would fulfill the unfinished goals and aims for which the country was created. However, he resigned from the PTI in 2003, citing differences with Imran Khan
Meraj Mohammed Khan told this correspondent on phone: “I might be wrong since I could not convince the young blood or perhaps he (Imran) did not understand my language, so I resigned from the party’s general secretary slot.
“I explained to (Imran) Khan many a times that cricket is by chance but in politics you have to reach to the people, motivate them and come up with certain plans and policies to attract the masses but, unfortunately, he did not pay any heed. His policies were rather ambiguous whereas in politics one should have to be very clear.
“Now he (Imran Khan) has adopted the policy that I had consistently been convincing him with regard to holding public rallies. And he finally realised after nine years to go to public by holding rallies but the question remains as to whether these rallies would bring him into power or the people would vote for him.
“Why the diehard workers of other political parties would vote for PTI and what major programmes it has chalked out for the masses? And these questions would be raised by the people.
“If Imran suffers defeat in the election he might sustain it for being a strong nerved man but it would certainly be a great shock for the people.”Meraj Mohammed Khan feared that many of his trustworthy stalwarts would prove a nuisance and cause harm to the party’s stature.
The PTI was launched in 1996 with eight founding members - Mohammed Najeeb Haroon, Nazim Haji, Hamid Khan, Dr Pervez Hasan, Abdul Hafeez Khan, Owais Ghanis, Dr Abdul Mateen and Dr Mohammad Farooq, but today it has retained only Najeeb Haroon and Hamid Khan. The main contention between the old guards and the party chief was that the latter preferred new faces to the old ones.
Najeeb Haroon has maintained a relatively low profile while speaking out against injustices in Pakistan. “We often get disillusioned with politics and politicians, especially in places like Pakistan where corruption is rampant and politicians seem to forget the fact that they need to serve the interests and needs of their voters.”
Haroon was also present on the 16th foundation day of the PTI celebrated at the residence of one of the party’s financiers. Other founding members who attended the event included Dr Arif Alvi, Ashraf Qureshi and Jamal Siddiqui, however, party’s Vice President Naeem-ul-Haq did not show up.
Speaking at the cake-cutting ceremony, Dr Arif Alvi said that the PTI was being widely expanded with the induction of high profile political personalities from across the country in order to bring positive change in society.
Referring to PTI rallies held in different cities of the country, he said that Quetta’s rally was the biggest one and attended by the people from different walks of life, who were patriotic and desperate to secure the future of Pakistan.
It came as a surprise for all when national anthem was played at the rally in a province where people even did not like to hear the name of Pakistan, and this was a visible change that proved that these people wanted to live with Pakistan but with a devoted and patriotic leadership that could guarantee the protection of their lives and properties as well as securing their needs and interests, he added.
