Patari clarifies that Khalid Bajwa has not been re-instated as company’s CEO
Islamabad (Pakistan Point News – 1st July, 2018) The core team of renowned music streaming app Patari has resigned after rumours that former CEO Khalid Bajwa accused of sexually harassing young women has been reinstated.
Earlier this year, a few women shared screenshots on Twitter, suggesting that Patari CEO Khalid Bajwa Patari has been sexually harassing and stalking young women.
Following the allegations, Khalid Bajwa stepped down as Patari’s CEO and Ahmer Naqvi was made the interim CEO. However, Naqvi took to social media platform Facebook on Sunday and announced his resignation over ‘loss of values’ at the company.
Naqvi wrote, “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.”
He recalled that 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. An audit began to assess the allegations against Khalid Bajwa, and this opportunity allowed for greater self-reflection on the company’s structure and processes.
He went on to say, “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. During this time, Mr. Bajwa, who was asked to take leave from company matters while the audit proceeded, continued to operate with external partners as representing the company. An internal meeting made clear that some of the co-founders thought Mr. Bajwa had been unfairly victimized, and that further there was no room for many employees, including many of the undersigned, to remain in the company.”
“The immediate threats to our livelihood, our love for our work, and our futures enacted tremendous pain. It felt clear to us that while Patari, which 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. 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,” he added.
“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 further said.
Meanwhile, Patari also released a statement clarifying that Bajwa has not been reinstated as the company’s CEO.
“Contrary to rumours circulating on social media, Khalid Bajwa has not been re-instated as Patari’s CEO,” it said.
The statement further said: After a two month audit and negotiation between Co-founders and principal investor
1. Rabeel Warraich is announced as interim CEO with immediate affect
2. Khalid Bajwa removed as board member and from any role with Patari
3. Audit concludes with full recommendations to be implemented by a reconstituted Board, with Co-founders agreeing to abstain from voting
4. Patari has zero tolerance for abuse of power, sexual harrassment and for creation of toxic culture
5. Thorough process will be followed to redress all serious allegations.
