PTI leader Usman Dar announces to quit party, politics

04 Oct, 2023

In another blow for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Usman Dar on Wednesday announced to leave the party as well as politics, saying he was “disappointed after May 9 incident”.

PTI had earlier claimed that Usman Dar was “picked up by unknown persons” from Karachi’s Malir Cantt area. However, days after his disappearance, Dar appeared in an interview to journalist Kamran Shahid for his Dunya TV programme on Wednesday.

“After careful consideration, I have decided to leave both the party and politics,” he said .“I’m misfit in all this.”

The development comes at a time when a number of PTI leaders have already left the party, following arrest of many supporters after May 9 incident.

May 9 a ‘black chapter’: Army says will not allow anyone to take law into their hands

“I have always praised the army, our martyrs and I always appreciated them. On May 6 I had left to visit my family. I believe that the May 9 incident did not occur in a day,” PTI leader said.

During the interview, Dar claimed that PTI chief Imran Khan was supporting a narrative in the party to use “human-shield” against his possible arrest.

Khan also supported “anti-establishment” narrative in the party, he added. “Since Imran Khan was a sportsman, he likes frontliners.”

He claimed that there were two mindsets in the party. One was supporting the politics of confrontation, which included Azam Swati, Hammad Azhar, Murad Saeed, and Farrukh Habib.

“I, Asad Umar, Shafqat Mehmood, Ali Muhammad, Omar Ayub were part of the other group that advocated reconciliation with the establishment,” he added.

In response to the Usman Dar claims, PTI alleged that Dar was forced to give such statements.

In a separate statement, Secretary General PTI Central Punjab, said he was concerned about Dar as “he seemed to be trembling and seemed on the verge of crying” during the interview.

“He [Usman Dar] needs immediate trauma and pain therapy instead of have to perform in this scripted show,” Azhar wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

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