KARACHI: Renowned Pakistani author and journalist Farahnaz Ispahani on Thursday tendered her resignation from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) post vilification compaign against her husband Hussain Haqqani, former Pakistan ambassador to the United States.
In a letter addressed to PPP’s Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Ispahani said that “she cannot find a place for herself in a party where space for many schools of thought, faiths, castes and creeds has shrunken.”
“It is with a heavy heart that I write these words. I entered politics at the urging of your mother, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. I hope to always follow in her path of dignity and the politics of conscience. However, with distance and thought I find that I cannot find a place for myself in today’s PPP. Therefore, I tender my resignation from the party,” she said.
“What made the party different to others was the space for so many schools of thought. For so many faiths. For so many castes and creeds. That space has shrunk. The years distancing us from the life of my leader have affected the core of the party and there are too many in the leadership for whom being in power is the only politics they understand,” she added.
Ispahani, who has written a book on the plight of minorities in Pakistan, further asserted that the way in which many party loyalists, including Haqqani Sahib, who worked with the chairman’s mother and the party were treated was appalling.
“My husband and I plan to continue with our scholarship and public life outside the PPP. I will always be there for you and your sisters if you ever need me in any way. May God bless you and always keep you safe,” she said.
In 2008, Ispahani joined the National Assembly of Pakistan as a Member from the PPP, representing the Sindh province in the reserved seats for women. This development comes after the PPP had last week disowned Hussain Haqqani.
