Jai Parkash, a prominent Hindu leader and a minority member of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, resigned on Friday, making him the latest politician to quit the party following the May 9 attack on the country's military installations and government buildings.
Following the arrest of Khan on May 9, violent protests broke out in several cities across the country during which several government properties were damaged.
Khan supporters stormed the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and the Corps Commander House in Lahore was torched. Parkash was elected to the National Assembly as a PTI candidate on a reserved seat for minorities in the 2018 general election.
Addressing the media on Friday, the PTI minority wing president condemned the protests on May 9 in the strongest terms, saying “Pakistan exists because of the army, and we exist because of Pakistan”.
“I had no intention to leave the party till May 8," he was quoted as saying by Samaa TV, adding that he was quitting without any pressure. On Monday, PTI’s former Sindh governor Imran Ismail alleged that Parkash was picked up from his residence by over “40 masked men”.
