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Monday August 18, 2025

End injustices to prevent division of Sindh: MQM

By Azeem Samar
June 23, 2016

Karachi

As the general discussion on the new budget continued for the sixth day in the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday; an opposition lawmaker said the injustices meted out to the people of the province should be stopped if its division had to be averted.

Muhammad Hussain Khan of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, while participating in the general discussion on the budget, said he did want the division of Sindh, but the last century had the witnessed the creation of 200 new countries, whether someone wanted them or not.

“First Pakistan was created and then Bangladesh came into being. If the division of Sindh has to be stopped, then the exploitation of the people of the province and the discrimination against them must be stopped,” he added.

The issue of craving out a new province had led to boiling of tempers and heated discussions in previous budget debate sitting too.

“We are told to demonstrate loyalty towards Sindh. We made sacrifices as we came to Pakistan after securing independence for the people here. We did not even receive 30 percent of the assets we had left behind in India,” the opposition legislator said.

“We should be told that as to how many secretaries, commissioners, deputy commissioners, and assistant commissioners are Urdu-speaking people. No university has been established in the urban areas of the province,” he added.

“We are told that there should be no talk for a separate province. I say that the discrimination and injustices against the urban areas of Sindh should be stopped. Has the quota system has been implemented? Have jobs have been given to 80,000 urban youth in accordance with the quota?”

Khan said the people of the urban areas of the province were facing discrimination on basis of their domicile certificates, permanent residence certificates, and through the provincial public service commission.

He said that none of the development projects in the province funded by foreign aid existed in the urban areas. He said that development projects earlier announced for Karachi had been excluded from the provincial budget.

The MQM lawmaker said every successive budget announced by the Sindh government had caused disappointment among people of the province. “The feeling of despondency among the people of Sindh is increasing. The people of Sindh are still deprived of health, education, and electricity.”

He said the urban and rural parts of the province had witnessed a worsening situation on an equal basis during the previous eight years of rule of Pakistan People’s Party’s provincial government.

Local government minister Jam Khan Shoro said no conspiracy to divide Sindh would be tolerated.

He said in the past those who had claimed to own Karachi in fact had neglected the city as the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, which till the year 2005 was functioning on its own, had been rendered debt-ridden owing to the menace of recruitments on political grounds.

He said the decades-old water pumping machines of the KWSB at Dhabeji had never been replaced as this work had been commenced by the present government.

He said that mega development projects related the o KWSB including K-IV bulk water supply scheme, S-III sewerage treatment scheme, 100 and 65 MGD water supply schemes, and other such projects had been initiated by the present provincial government for the welfare of the people of Karachi.

Besides the replacement of machinery at Dhabeji and Pipri pumping stations, the government was also providing a special grant to the water board of Rs500 million every month for the payment of its electricity bills.

He said the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation was the only local council of the province, which was receiving a grant of Rs500 million for the payment of its employees’ salaries.

He said that appointments on political considerations in the past had rendered these municipal institutions on the verge of devastation and those are completely responsible for such situation who had enjoyed being in power during the era of dictators who had undone democratic rule in the country.

“In Sindh if one sows seeds of hatred then he will get hatred and if one sows the seeds of affinity then he will get affinity. Those who were patronised under the dictators have always committed conspiracies against the PPP but we have countered every conspiracy daringly as we will continue to do the same,” he said.

The minister said the Karachi in the present day had been facing 50 percent shortfall of water in terms of demand and supply situation of water in the city. But this shortage of water supply has been persisting since the past owing to ill-advised policies and undue appointments, which had been done in these utilities by those who had claimed the ownership of Karachi.

 “Since the time we have taken over the control of the local government department, development projects on emergency basis were launched for providing facilities to people of Karachi and resolving their hardships,” he said.

“Today if the opposition party wants to do any favours to Karachi, then it should acknowledge the wrongs it committed in the past. Now the politics of threats will no more be allowed in the city and in the province,” said Shoro.

Health minister Jam Mehtab Dahar said MQM legislators were vociferously decrying the performance of the provincial government because of their frustration.

He said the MQM was not agitating against the people who were criticising the leadership of the party while openly naming them; instead was venting its frustration by pouring scorn on the PPP.

Sindh Ministers for Mines and Mineral Development Manzoor Hussain Wassan said the Indian intelligence agency RAW had been conspiring for the division of Sindh and the demand for creating a new province was part of it.

Nand Kumar, the parliamentary leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Functional in the House, suggested that a resolution should be adopted disallowing debates in the assembly over the division of Sindh. 

As the sitting continued till late afternoon, news came in regarding murder of famous Qawwal Amjad Sabri in Liaquatabad.

Opposition leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan said he could not speak anymore in the House after learning about this tragic incident and would take part in the general debate on the budget on Thursday. Parliamentary affairs minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro too supported the notion of the opposition leader after which Speaker Agha Siraj Khan Durrani adjourned the session till Thursday (today).