Landlords ruling country not concerned about people: MQM-P

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) convener said on Sunday that those who have been ruling over Pakistan for 75 years are not concerned about the problems being faced by people because the rulers are a group of landlords.

Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui was addressing a public gathering on the occasion of the inauguration of the central election office for the National Assembly constituency NA-243 and the provincial assembly constituency PS-112.

On behalf of the MQM-P, Dr Siddiqui promised the residents of the constituency that whether the party wins or loses the general elections, it would continue standing with the people to address their problems.

He said the people of Pakistan can be divided into only two classes: the rich and the poor. Besides the children of landlords and capitalists, there was no middle class in the assemblies, but the MQM’s efforts brought the middle class into the assemblies as well, he added.

The MQM-P’s senior deputy convener Mustafa Kamal said on the occasion that in Pakistan’s 75-year history, those standing before the people in this constituency for votes disappeared after getting votes. If even five per cent of the promises of the previous rulers had been true, people today would not be dying in the gutters, he added.

He said that today there are no medicines in the hospitals, and there is no water as well. If the rulers would start working honestly today, Karachi would become a prospering city, he added.

“People in this city know that when I was the mayor of this city, I worked day and night to solve the problems of the people. I built dams for the development of this area, provided government jobs to the people of the slums, and brought water to the area when there was no direct line.”

Kamal said the MQM-P has united all ethnic groups. “We, with the help of Karachi’s people, can solve Pakistan’s problems. The MQM has brought all the people who speak different languages together.”

The MQM-P’s candidate for NA-243, Hamayun Usman, termed the gathering “historic”. He said that no one had come for a plate of biryani and no one had been lured with a job. Instead, he added, they have come to voice their concerns overinjustices.

Usman said the rulers who have made false promises to the people are running away. The MQM-P is a party of the oppressed people, and now the oppressors will start fleeing, he added.

A day earlier, the MQM-P convener announced in a workers meeting that the party had formed a digital media team to counter negative perceptions against the party.

The biggest challenge for the MQM-P was countering the false perceptions created against it, Dr Siddiqui said at the meeting held at the Pakistan House.

He said the MQM-P was still a force today and it had not become a thing of the past. He added that the party was a wall against dynastic politics.

He asked the party workers to tell the truth about the MQM-P to the entire world. “The truth is our destination. No one can defeat MQM-P with false allegations,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, MQM-P Senior Deputy Convener Mustafa Kamal remarked that the new era required a new way to fight for rights. The MQM-P had made many sacrifices and it stood tall, he said. Kamal was of the view that no one in the country was listening to the problems of 30 million people of Karachi. Our neighbouring country, India, was sending missions to the moon while people in Karachi were falling into open manholes, he lamented.

He said the MQM-P was disliked because it had taken to the streets to demand legitimate rights of the city.

He stated that the MQM-P would keep its digital media team active all the time. The party was to start a struggle on social media to solve Karachi's problems, after it had foiled the Pakistan Peoples Party's conspiracy in the census, he said.