PPP, Muttahida start blame game a day after Sindh Assembly’s dissolution

A day after the dissolution of the Sindh Assembly, political temperature rose in the province on Saturday as the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) traded allegations over the recruitment drive of the last PPP government that was suspended by the Sindh High Court on the MQM-P’s petition.

MQM-P leaders voiced concerns over the alleged corruption and nepotism in Sindh, saying that the 15-year tenure of the PPP had come under scrutiny for reportedly favouring specific individuals in job appointments, leaving many young residents without opportunities.

Speaking at a press conference at the MQM-P’s central election office, they said the PPP claims to have provided employment to 500,000 youths but not a single candidate from urban Sindh secured any job.

The decision by the Sindh High Court (SHC) to halt further job appointments has been hailed as a significant step towards transparency and fairness, they added.

MQM-P Senior Deputy Convener Syed Mustafa Kamal said that successful candidates from the Sukkur Testing Board would acquire jobs in urban Sindh. The “discriminative” PPP government would not provide jobs to the youth of urban Sindh, he added.

Kamal said that another act of injustice has been perpetrated against the youths of Karachi. The PPP’s “bias” in job distribution, particularly in the field of civic services, has been exposed, and everyone is aware of these actions, he added.

“This injustice has now reached a point where it will impact the entire nation. The PPP has not only neglected rural Sindh but has also sunk the hopes of urban Sindh.”

The former Karachi mayor asked when the people would be liberated from this sense of deprivation. “The MQM-P’s efforts have resulted in the first-ever increase in the population census in the country’s history, aimed at uplifting the middle and lower classes,” he said.

“We call upon all the people of Sindh to stand with the MQM-P to overcome this oppression and cruelty, as we are the true advocates of the rights of the common people.”

He stressed that no MQM-P minister or assembly member has been involved in corruption or fraud. He warned state officials associated with the PPP to refrain from participating in fraudulent appointments, asserting that the MQM-P is vigilant and prepared to take legal action.

MQM-P leader Barrister Farogh Naseem affirmed that the SHC had cancelled more than 50,000 job orders in response to the MQM-P’s request. He said that due to the prevalent issue of corruption and manipulation in job appointments, legal action would be pursued against those involved.

Naseem said that media persons are aware of the PPP’s nepotism in jobs. He said that setting aside the formality of the Sindh Public Service Commission, the PPP government had hired thousands of people in backdate in violation of the SHC verdict. “We’re committed to taking legal action against these fake appointments.”

Hikmatullah Mehsud

Kamal also joined the protest organised by the Pakhtun Jirga to demand the recovery of Hikmatullah Mehsud on behalf of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

During discussions with the participants of the protest, the MQM-P leader expressed his views on the state of affairs in Sindh, and criticised the provincial government for its “failure” to ensure peace and security.

“Despite 15 years of governance, the era of dacoity still prevails in Sindh, and the issue of peace and security remains unresolved on a permanent basis. The PPP has turned Sindh into its fiefdom. After 15 years of rule, Sindh should have become an ideal province.”

He said Mehsud must be reunited with his family. “The institutions responsible for enforcing the law have performed commendably in this regard. We are in constant contact with them, and your leaders are also in touch with them,” he added.

“The MQM-P has voiced concerns at all levels, including at the forum of Sindh Assembly, to address these issues. Today’s participation in this protest is part of that ongoing effort.”

Murad censures Muttahida

Strongly protesting against the recent stay order of the court on the Sindh government’s recruitment drive in the province, outgoing chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that a just and meritorious process of providing jobs had been suspended to deprive deserving people of their livelihoods.

Speaking at a press conference at the CM House on Saturday, Shah said that those who moved the court to stay the provincial government’s recruitment drive have given the message to the public that the livelihood needs of the people would not be fulfilled.

“Giving a job to a person means providing a livelihood to his family,” he pointed out. He warned that the people of the entire province would resort to agitation against the recent order of staying the recruitment process.

He told the media persons that during his speech in the provincial assembly, he had mentioned that certain quarters did not like the development of the province because they followed the line of thinking of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain.

He said that the same elements moved the court against a lawfully initiated recruitment drive. The court should not be moved by hiring the services of a top lawyer for obtaining a stay order against the livelihood of the people of the province, he added.

He told the journalists that a meritorious system based on recruitment tests had been adopted for filling job vacancies in the province in accordance with the directives of the court. He disclosed that his government had initiated the recruitment process after coming under pressure from people who wanted jobs.

He recalled that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had earlier stayed the recruitment process in the province during the holding of the local government elections.

Shah said that during his five-year tenure as the provincial chief executive he had accomplished several tasks except generating employment opportunities for people in the province, so the recruitment process had been initiated after his cabinet made a decision to that effect.

He said that anyone involved in ill-gotten money for giving jobs would face Almighty Allah’s wrath. He advised the MQM-Pakistan not to repeat the mistake of boycotting the general elections as it had done in the recent past by staying away from the LG polls in Karachi and Hyderabad.

He also said that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had committed the same mistake in the 1985 general elections and faced the consequences of that decision.

Without attributing the statement to the MQM, Shah said that comparing the elected government in Sindh with Narendra Modi’s regime in India was an anti-state act.

Replying to a question, he said that no single political party would seemingly secure a decisive majority in the National Assembly as a result of the upcoming general elections. He predicted that a coalition government could be formed in the Centre again.

Answering another query, he said that after the recent announcement of the census results, the ECP was capable of completing the process of fresh delimitation of constituencies all over the country in two months.

He also said that the people of Karachi had overwhelmingly voted for the PPP’s candidates in the recent LG polls due to the development works completed by his government in the city without any discrimination.

He predicted that Karachi-based seats in the NA would play a decisive role in the forthcoming general elections in making the PPP chairman the next prime minister. He remarked that the PPP would emerge victorious in the city again in the next general polls.

Shah said he would approve the implementation of the Safe City project for maintaining law and order in the city before exiting the CM House.

Responding to a question, he said that it was beyond his comprehension as to where the heinous dacoits operating in the riverine belt of the province got modern weapons from.

Many policemen have laid down their lives in the operation continuing against the bandits, he added. He also said the dacoits of the riverine areas had tried to pressurise the government by kidnapping ordinary citizens.

He, however, claimed that the bandits had been resorting to cowardly acts to disturb the public peace, while the situation had improved a lot from the time when people used to be brazenly kidnapped while travelling on any highway in the province.

He told the media persons that soon after he had come into power following the 2018 general elections, his government had faced vengeance by the then regime of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in the Centre. He said his tenure as the provincial chief executive in the last five years was a challenging time.

He complained that he had not been intimated in advance when former PM Imran Khan visited Karachi during his regime. Shah, however, said that he had attended every programme in the city where outgoing premier Shehbaz Sharif was in attendance. He lamented that Khan had not owned Karachi during his regime.

“Keeping in mind all such hostile circumstances, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto had been compelled to state that Murad Ali would continue to be the chief minister of Sindh even if he had to run his government from prison.”

Meanwhile, Karachi Pakistan Peoples Party President and former provincial minister Saeed Ghani said that the recruitment drive of the Sindh government was in progress lawfully and on a meritorious basis.

Responding to the press conference addressed by Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan leader Syed Mustafa Kamal, Ghani said on Saturday the MQM had dashed the hopes of the jobless youth of Sindh.

He said that Karachi had witnessed an adverse situation like that of the occupied Kashmir when Mustafa Kamal had been active in the city at the behest of Altaf Hussain.

He mentioned that a transparent mechanism had been adopted in Sindh for the recruitment drive for government jobs in accordance with several relevant court judgements.

Ghani lamented that the MQM had hindered every effort of the Sindh government to provide jobs to the youth in the province. He said the jobless youth would never forgive the Muttahida.

He recalled that the government in the recent past had recruited over 60,000 schoolteachers on merit grounds and no one had objected to the recruitment of teachers.

Ghani said the IBA Sukkur had conducted the written test for the recruitment process, as it was known as a reputable institution for conducting job tests.

He hoped that the courts would reject the anti-poor stance of the MQM. He mentioned that the Peoples Party had served the people of Karachi well and in turn the Karahiites had overwhelmingly voted in favour of the PPP’s candidates in the last local government polls.

He said it was unfair to equate the peaceful present-day Karachi with the occupied Kashmir and should be seen as an attempt to downplay the atrocities of Narendra Modi. He said the MQM had further damaged its politics by speaking in favour of Modi.

The PPP leader was of the view that one could equate MQM founder’s aggression in Karachi with the atrocities of Modi in Indian Gujarat. He lamented that those who used to defend the atrocities of Altaf Hussain were now telling blatant lies.