Not supporting long-march: Punjab Interior Minister Hashim Dogar resigns

Punjab’s Interior Minister Punjab Col (retired) Hashim Dogar has resigned from his office on Tuesday, citing “unavoidable circumstances” which render him helpless to hold his portfolio any longer.

Dogar also holds the portfolio of provincial prisons minister and will be resigning from that as well.

On Tuesday, he tendered his resignation to Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.

However, the main reason many believe Dogar may have been asked to resign was his interview from a few days ago when he stated that no state patronage will be provided to supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who would set off to march on the federal capital.

Dogar had been elected from PP- 177 constituency in Kasur district, during the 2018 election on the ticket of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

He hails from a prominent political family of Kasur district. His father Sardar Muhammad Ashiq, a major politician of the area had been elected four times to represent the district at various levels of parliament. He was twice elected to the national assembly and twice to the Punjab Assembly.

Dogar had graduated from Aitchison College in Lahore, but had then gone on to join the armed forces where he served for a long period.

In 2015, he retired from the military and followed his family’s calling and joined politics.

In the hand-written resignation on his official letterhead of being a minister, Dogar explained the reasons for his resignation as “personal commitments and some health issues.”