MQM-Pakistan ‘talks to PM about injustice with Sindh’s urban centres’

The Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan has emphasised to Prime Minister Imran Khan that Karachi is already putting its share towards the betterment of the country and now it was the federation’s turn to play its part for the city.

This was stated by MQM-P Convener and Federal Minister for Information Technology and Communication Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui on Sunday as he spoke to the media after an MQM-P delegation met with PM Imran Khan who was visiting the city.

The delegation comprising law minister Farogh Nasim, Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar, MQM coordination committee’s senior deputy convener Amir Khan, deputy convener Kanwar Naveed Jamil and members Faisal Sabzwari and Nasreen Jalil called on the PM at State Guest House.

“Karachi should get its due rights,” said Siddiqui. “We discussed the injustices done with the urban centres in Sindh with the PM on which he assured us that our concerns will addressed and the city will get a fair share in resources.”

He said they emphasised to the PM that Karachi had been playing its role in the country’s betterment and the federal government should redress the problems and fears its citizens are facing. According to the MQM-P leader, the topic of Karachi’s controversial population results was also discussed.

MQM-P also raised the matter of missing persons from Karachi and Hyderabad and discussed a legislation to recover them, he said. According to the party, more than 100 of its workers have gone missing during the targeted operation in Karachi after they were allegedly picked by law-enforcement agencies.

Siddiqui said that the matter of the residents of government quarters who are being pressured to evacuate the houses on the Supreme Court’s orders was put up before the PM and he was advised to seek an alternative solution to the problem so that people could be saved from being homeless.

The MQM-P and PTI are coalition partners in the federal government. On a question about Farooq Sattar, the party leader who has sidelined himself owing to differences with colleagues, Siddiqui said that he has already asked Sattar for a meeting and hoped that he will convince himself to return to the office.

He, however, declined to comment on the reported offers to Sattar to switch to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and said that Sattar will decide his future himself. After the July 25 polls, the PTI and MQM signed an MoU in August to become coalition partners.

The MoU says that the resolution passed by the National Assembly regarding the Karachi census and as decided in the Council of Common Interests (CCI) should be implemented immediately.

In line with the PTI and MQM manifesto, the local government system in Sindh and Punjab does not conform to the constitutional requirements under Section 140 A. The PTI will support the petition of the MQM-P, which is before the Supreme Court of Pakistan in this regard.

The Karachi operation shall be reviewed in totality and in consultation with all the stakeholders. All parties should have a level playing field and be taken to its logical conclusion and if someone’s rights were breached, these should be mitigated.

All appointments in the government should be based on merit and according to law through an accredited and impartial testing system. Octroi was abolished in 1988, the decision made then was that the affected cities would be compensated with a share in proportion to the loss, in lieu of Octroi taxes. That decision should be implemented fully.

The urban centres of Sindh, including Karachi, have been severely neglected in the past. A direct financial package will be announced immediately that shall be disbursed by the federal government, with special emphasis on water.

Both parties shall strive to introduce police reforms as implemented by PTI in KP and promised by MQM-P in its manifesto, so that police is de-politicised and recruited with merit in letter and spirit according to law that envisages local recruitment.

A university of international level and repute shall be established in Hyderabad. It is agreed in line with the statement given by PTI chairman, election audit will take place about the constituencies pointed out by MQM-P.