NAB, not Sindh govt’s committee, should conduct fake domicile probe, demands MQM-P

Rejecting the Sindh government-formed three-member committee to probe into the alleged issuance of domicile certificates and permanent residence certificates (PRCs) to non-residents of a district and the province, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) on Monday demanded that the probe should be handed over to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Addressing to press conference at the party’s secretariat in Bahadurabad, MQM-P central leaders Kunwar Naveed Jameel and Khwaja Izaharul Hasan said the provincial government did not act fairly in the formation of the three-member committee that would inspect and scrutinise the records of domicile certificates issued by the deputy commissioners in various districts.

MQM-Pakistan leaders Abubakkar Siddiqui, Abdul Qadir Khanzada, Zahid Mansoori, Mehfooz Yar Khan and Shahid Ali were also present in the press conference.

They also demanded an independent inquiry into the selection of candidates for the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) jobs. The party has also filed a writ petition in the Sindh High Court, alleging that the jobs were being sold in the province after issuance of fake domiciles and PRCs.

“We are hopeful that the court will announce its verdict on the issuance of fake domiciles soon,” said Jameel, MQM-P’s parliamentary leader in the Sindh Assembly. Hasan, a lawmaker, said the Sindh government formed “the committee on fake domiciles in a bid to influence the high court’s proceeding on the issue”.

“The people who are part of the committee have already denied the issuance of fake domicile in the court,” Jameel said. “The committee is unconstitutional and illegal.” He continued: “The Sindh government has adopted a similar policy for residents of the urban Sindh which the Modi government adopted for Muslims in India.”

He said Sindh’s bureaucracy had deprived youths of the province's urban centres of jobs by issuing fake domiciles to residents of rural areas. “Many got through on fake domiciles and those who have undertaken the practice must be weeded out and sacked.”

He said people hailing from the rural Sindh were being given precedence when applying for the SPSC over those from the urban Sindh. “Job quota of the urban Sindh stands at 40 per cent through legislation but the SPSC did not give a mere three per cent jobs to residents of the urban centres.”

Hasan said the government jobs had been sold out after the issuance of fake domicile certificates to non-residents, adding that permanent residents of the urban Sindh, including Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur, had been deprived of their due rights.

“According to the country’s constitution and the Services Act, job from Grade 1 to 15 is a fundamental right of the local residents,” he added.

“Why are youths from Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Nawabshah and Sukkar have not been given government jobs?” he asked. He also expressed concerns over the transferring of police officers from the rural Sindh to Karachi. “Why are not youths from Pashtun, Punjabi, Baloch, Mohajir and other communities from Karachi recruited in the police force?”