Patari, the music streaming platform, has lost its six core team members. The team resigned because its CEO Khalid Bajwa who was accused of sexual harassment came back to power. The CEO was running the company during the resignation confirmation period.
Ahmer Naqvi who was appointed as an interim CEO after Bajwa apparently stepped down took on to social media to announce his resignation. He said that he, along with the other five core members have decided to give their resignation.
“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 wrote.
He further said that they asked had Bajwa to resign during the harassment allegations and soon after that the investigation began.
“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 added.
Naqvi continued, “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.”
Even though Bajwa was asked to resign he continued heading the company as the CEO.
“An internal meeting made clear that some of the co-founders thought Mr. Bajwa had been unfairly victimised, and that further there was no room for many employees, including many of the undersigned, to remain in the company,” he added.
“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.”
He further talked about the hatred women employees were subjected to following the former CEO’s actions.
“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,” added Naqvi.
He continued, “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.”
The six core members resigned, but an audit is prepared to run the organization.
“We hope that the company returns to its values, and are hopeful the audit will help ensure that,” added Naqvi. “Unfortunately in the company’s current environment we believed there was no room for us, our values, or our work.”
After Naqvi posted his statement, Patari took on to social media informing people that Bajwa had not been reinstated.
