Pakistan’s acclaimed music stream platform came under fire after former CEO Khalid Bajwa was continuing as head of the company in spite of resignation confirmations issued earlier following harassment allegations placed on him.
After Bajwa ostensibly resigned from his post earlier, the interim CEO of the company, Ahmer Naqvi announced his resignation along with five other chief members from the corporation on social media.
“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,” his statement read.
He went on to speak of the sexual harassment allegations placed on the former CEO by several women on social media, saying that the accused was asked to step down immediately.
He went on saying: “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. 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.”
Naqvi continued stating that Bajwa continued as CEO after “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.”
“It felt clear to us that while Patari had always sought as on organisation to champion progressive ideals to the world, the co-founders were refusing to apply the same values to one of their own.”
Elaborating on the matter of the organization adopting insincere attitude towards the women employed there, he stated: “One example of this hypocrisy was seen through the consistent online hatred faced by Patari employees, especially women, on social media by commenters who have continued to associate Mr Bajwa’s actions with them – with no basis. But while these employees remained silent in order to respect the audit’s process as it continued, Mr Bajwa continued to represent the company, ignoring the tremendous damage and trauma being faced by his erstwhile colleagues.”
“For most of us, joining and working at Patari was an emotional and an ideological calling, and we genuinely believed in the vision the company displayed. Consequently, we worry now about further damage to the brand and its mission without greater scrutiny, structure, and foresight. We are leaving the organisation now because we believe that continuing to work under these circumstances will be tantamount to abandoning the values and vision of the company we had joined,” he continued.
The music streaming organization soon after Naqvi’s resignation issued a statement as well.