Following a tirade against his own leadership for giving in to a dictator, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart Makhdoom Javed Hashmi stood up to his reputation and submitted his resignation to the PML-N top brass, but party chief Nawaz Sharif rejected it, saying there was no parallel to Hashmi’s services for the party.
A source told Pakistan Today that at the party’s organisational meeting held here on Tuesday, Hashmi spoke about his services, sacrifices and commitment to the party and its leadership, saying that he had urged PML-N leaders Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif to apologise to the nation, as he thought it was imperative to make up for past mistakes. Hashmi said further that if the party leadership felt he had crossed some lines, he was ready to resign, the source added.
Another party leader contradicted this version, saying that when Hashmi appeared in the meeting room, he met Nawaz, who welcomed him and asked him to sit next to him. “A party leader asked Hashmi to refrain from making controversial statements because they were cause for critique against the party’s leadership. Hashmi said he was ready to resign as National Assembly member if his statement had hurt any leaders or workers of the party. “He also said that he had the same ideology and views that any other worker of the party had and he thought that Nawaz was the only leader this country had,” said the party leader.
He added that Nawaz had sharply interrupted and said that Hashmi ever leaving the party was out of the question. He also said that he was an asset for the party and had rendered many sacrifices for the party, said the source. The source said that Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had also joined Nawaz in praising Hashmi, saying that there was no parallel to Hashmi’s sacrifices. He advised Hashmi to refrain from making such statements as the people did not look at the ideology but the words, thus a new controversy would begin.
“Nawaz Sharif said the issue should now be forgotten as there was no difference between Hashmi and him,” the source said, adding that Hashmi, however, agreed to the point made by Nisar and said he would refrain from making such statements in future. A PML-N spokesman confirmed the report, adding that with his political acumen, Nawaz had resolved the issue amicably.
