ISLAMABAD, MAY 22: PTI leader Hammad Azhar reappeared on Wednesday after almost a year away from the public eye. Azhar, a former finance minister under the PTI government, went into hiding last year after the state launched a crackdown against the party leadership last year following the incidents of May 9.
“I received a message from Imran Khan last night after the attack on Rauf Hassan. He directed that it is now time for me to join the party leadership,” he said in a brief interaction with media personnel after showing up at the party central secretariat in Islamabad today.
“I have come to meet Rauf Hassan today. I will then go to Peshawar and seek interim bails and request more time. I will also appear in Punjab courts and will then leave the matter to the Almighty.
“After the kind of attack on Raoof Hassan, I don’t think it’s right to stay hidden anymore.”
He said that he would fight “all the 51 or 52 fake cases” against him in Punjab courts, adding: “I’m not guilty in any of them.”
When asked if he would be accompanied by security guards or a protocol, Azhar replied in the negative.
Soon after Azhar’s reemergence was reported by the media, the PTI tweeted that police had arrived at the party’s secretariat in order to arrest him.
