Popular music streaming service Patari’s interim CEO, Ahmer Naqvi, has resigned along with five fellow members. Ahmer had taken over the position left vacant by co-founder Khalid Bajwa after he was asked to step down following allegations of sexual harassment.
Ahmer took to social media last night (Sunday) to announce that he and five members of Patari top management had decided to resign as they were no longer able to work freely. “It is with great sadness that we, the undersigned, resign from Patari. It is a company where we can no longer work freely under the values that brought us to it – and which are now under threat. Earlier this year, the emergence of harassment allegations against Khalid Mubasher Bajwa led to him stepping down as CEO. We acted swiftly to keep the company afloat, and to protect its moral standing,†he wrote.
“While we waited for this audit to complete, all trust within the company was destroyed. Members of the company’s leadership, namely Mr Bajwa along with co-founders Faisal Sherjan and Humayun Haroon, violated the company’s governance, undermined ongoing projects, and threatened the roles of the company’s management.â€
Ahmer claimed that Khalid continued to represent Patari even after he was asked to step down and that some of the co-founders, in fact, believed he was being unfairly victimised. “An internal meeting made clear that some of the co-founders thought Mr Bajwa had been unfairly victimised, and that there was no room for some employees, including many of the undersigned, to remain in the company.â€
Right after Ahmer’s claims, Patari released a statement on Twitter denying that Khalid was reinstated as the CEO:
1/2 Contrary to rumors circulating on social media, Khalid Bajwa has not been re-instated as Patari’s CEO.
An independent company wide audit had been initiated, which has now concluded. Recommendations ensuing from that audit will be issued to the company Board to take…
— Patari (@patarimusic) July 1, 2018
This morning (Monday) Patari released another statement declaring Rabeel Warraich as their new interim CEO and that they had removed Khalid from its board of members.
Read more: Mehwish Hayat talks about harassment, the Meesha Shafi versus Ali Zafar case & more
“Patari has zero tolerance for abuse of power, sexual harassment. Thorough process will be followed to redress all serious allegations,” the company said.
It is still to be seen, however, if Ahmer and team will take back their resignations.
