Salman Akram Raja says he is not answerable to anyone’s family.  Bushra Bibi lost her temper in party meeting and used word ‘shameless’ for leaders who did not join protest.

ISLAMABAD  -  Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja on Thursday resigned from his position after facing criticism within the party for not participating in the much-hyped protest march that ended after the crackdown of law enforcement agencies.

A day earlier, Raja and Chairman PTI Gohar Ali had faced very tough questions in the meetings of the party’s Political Committee and Core Committee for staying away from the main convoy of the protest march. The other leadership of PTI is also in hot waters for not making it to the D-Chowk of Islamabad – the venue of the protest demonstration.

Earlier this week, the supporters of Imran Khan had marched on to Islamabad demanding his release but they had to disperse after the crackdown of paramilitary troops and police.

According to party sources, Bushra, the wife of Khan, in the Political Committee’s meeting used very harsh language against those leadership of the party that did not reach Islamabad to participate in the protest. She lost her temper and even used the word ‘shameless’ for those leaders who were absent from the protest venue.

After she left the meeting, Raja objected that he was the secretary general of the party and not answerable to anyone’s family. PTI leader from Karachi Firdous Shamin Naqvi also endorsed Raja and said that he was not attending the meeting to hear such a language.

Separately, some private TV channels also reported that jailed PTI leader Imran Khan had removed both chairman and secretary general from their positions by appointing former speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser and Ali Muhammad Khan for both the positions respectively.

However, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram rebutted such news and said former prime minister Imran Khan has not removed chairman and secretary general from their positions. “We reject such propaganda…All this is being done to undermine the present leadership,” he added.

A day earlier, the Core Committee and the Political Committee had questioned the role of Bushra in the decision-making of the party and held her responsible for its retreat from the D-Chowk. They said it was Bushra who defied Imran Khan’s direction of holding a sit-in at Sangjani, an outskirt of Islamabad, and emphasized to hold the protest in the heart of Islamabad – a decision that led to the alleged killing of party workers.