PPP ruling Sindh for 13 years on basis of artificial majority, alleges MQM-P

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Saturday held a major rally in Karachi, demanding that the rulers give the city its due rights, and criticising the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Sindh administration for allegedly ignoring urban areas in development and government jobs.

A large number of people participated in the rally that started moving from the Hasan Square and stopped at the Karachi Press Club (KPC), where it turned into a public meeting that was addressed by the party’s central leaders.

Addressing the rally, MQM-Pakistan convenor Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said the party has already launched their struggle for the rights of the urban areas of the province, and soon they would voice their concerns for the rural areas.

“The MQM invites all the political and religious parties of the urban province to join the movement for the rights of the residents. By organising a mammoth rally, the MQM wants to tell the biased Sindh government that the progress of Pakistan is linked with the progress of Karachi.”

Lashing out at the ruling PPP, Siddiqui said it has been ruling over the province for the past 13 years on the basis of an “artificial majority”.

He said the urban areas of Sindh cannot make progress until the removal of the “corrupt, racist and pro-Sindhudesh” government of the PPP in the province.

He also said there is no government employment for the youth of Karachi, claiming that non-locals are given jobs on fake domiciles of urban areas.

The MQM leader pointed out that people of all ethnicities, including Pashtuns, Baloch, Gilgitis, Baltis, Memons and Gujratis, participated in the rally along with their Mohajir brethren.

“Since the creation of Pakistan, we have been Pakistanis, and we have chosen it. Today the MQM has brought their case to the KPC, and tomorrow we will take our rights along with millions of people,” he said.

“We are in [Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali] Jinnah’s Pakistan, and we have brought our share to it, but unfortunately, we are being pushed into the Pakistan of the 1970s.”

Siddiqui said Karachi was not a part of Sindh in Jinnah’s Pakistan, but Zulfikar Ali Bhutto made it the capital of the province. He said the creation of a new province is a constitutional demand of the people of the urban areas of Sindh. “We demand that as many provinces as possible be created, and the strongest case is that of the southern Sindh province. There is a dire need for creating new provinces in Pakistan in view of the increasing population and the people not getting their due rights.”

He thanked the Jamaat-e-Islami for demanding a fresh census in the city and no longer considering the population count illegal. “Due to the MQM’s struggle, all their demands have now become Islamic.”

He said that in the last few years Karachi and the National Financial Commission have given the Sindh government $60 billion, which is equal to the volume of all the development projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

“A judicial commission should be formed to investigate the $60 billion received by the Sindh government,” he demanded. He said that several areas of Karachi are facing serious water shortages, and the people are forced to buy even drinking water for their daily use.

He claimed the MQM’s workers have proved they are the most organised party in Sindh that cannot be divided. Party leaders Aamir Khan, Kunwar Naveed Jamil and others also participated in the rally. Carrying national flags and the tricoloured MQM flags, the participants attended the rally in buses and cars, and on motorbikes.

They also carried various placards inscribed with slogans like “Employment is the right of the residents of urban Sindh”, “Say no to biased Sindh government”, “Give water to Karachi” and “Say no to fake domiciles and PRCs”. Camps were also set up at various places, causing severe traffic jams.