MQM-Pakistan demands setting up district finance commissions

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) stands against dictatorship and “feudal democracy”, the party’s convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said on Sunday while addressing a public meeting in Liaquatabad.

“Today the heirs of the martyrs and the heirs of the missing MQM-Pakistan activists are also present here. They’re asking who killed hundreds of people in this city and why.”

Siddiqui said that the entire Pakistan pays taxes worth Rs1.6 trillion, while Karachi alone pays taxes worth Rs1.7 trillion, but the Sindh government only gives 10 per cent to its district. “We don’t believe in feudal democracy and won’t accept feudalism in the name of democracy.”

He said the MQM-P wants to create an administrative unit in Pakistan, adding that the party considers only Pakistan as the motherland. “We don’t want to divide Sindh, but we want to end the gap between urban and rural Sindh. We’ve sacrificed our part for this, and they’ve looted what we had.”

The party’s senior deputy convener Mustafa Kamal said that the public meeting has proved Karachi would lead Pakistan, adding that the meeting has proved that only the MQM-P can beautify the city.

Kamal said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) came into power but did nothing for the country, including Karachi. He said the MQM-P is present among its people. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) wants to take over this city and it is spending money on buying evildoers, he claimed.

“Sindh’s budget before the 18th amendment was Rs178 billion, while Karachi’s share then was Rs37 billion, but after getting provincial autonomy, Sindh’s budget is over Rs1 trillion, but Karachi’s share is only Rs38 billion.”

He said the constitution mentions district finance commissions, so the funds of all cities, including Karachi and Larkana, must be transferred from the province to the cities.

He told Karachiites to understand that if the government cannot solve basic problems, including water, sewerage and education, they have to take to the streets because if they do not do so, their problems will never be resolved.

The MQM-P’s senior deputy convener Dr Farooq Sattar said that through the public meeting Liaquatabad’s people would elect the party with majority in the upcoming elections. He said Liaquatabad’s sacrifices came even before Pakistan’s creation and also after its creation, adding that Liaquatabad’s people have made eternal sacrifices.

He demanded that the missing persons be recovered immediately. “Today this demand should go from Liaquatabad to Islamabad. If the people of Liaquatabad bring the matter out onto the streets, the government in Islamabad will be shaken.”

He said Karachi should be handed over to its heirs. He claimed that in the past 15 years not a single drop of water has been given to the city.

“The PPP did injustice to the city by keeping all the local budgets and powers. If the MQM-P comes to power, it will complete the K-IV and Karachi Circular Railway projects.”

The MQM-P’s senior deputy convener Nasreen Jalil said Liaquatabad’s history and that of her party’s are common. The PPP, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the PTI got a lot of opportunities, but it is a shame for them that they could not do anything.

“We have to fight oppression through education. The people’s job is to make the MQM-P’s representatives successful, and the party promises to serve only the people.”