MQM should think of public, not own compulsions: Bilawal

KARACHI: Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the federal government has imposed a controversial census on Sindh but “I am surprised that the so-called major stakeholder of Karachi, MQM, continues to sit with the federal government, which is working on anti-Karachi policies.”

He was addressing the inauguration ceremony of 4.9-km-long road from Fisherman Chowrangi to Ibrahim Hyderi on Tuesday. The ceremony was attended by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, provincial ministers Saeed Ghani, Nasir Shah, Shahla Raza, Murtaza Wahab, MNA and MPAs of the area, party leaders and workers and chairman Sindh P&D Mohamamd Waseem, Karachi’s Commissioner Naveed Shaikh, Administrator KMC Laeeq Ahmed, PD of the project Asghar Memon and others.

Bilawal once again predicted that the puppet rulers were leaving now as their government was coming to an end. The PPP chairman said that the MQM was a part of the coalition of PTI-led government, which had approved the controversial census but except for lip-service, the MQM has maintained a mysterious silence. “If a genuine census is conducted, the people of the province would get their rights in NFC, employment opportunities in federal government and its other related departments,” he said and added the MQM was silent.

The islands of our fishermen were taken away by the federal government but again the MQM remained silent, Bilawal Bhutto claimed and went on to add that the federal government had usurped the financial rights of people of the province but the MQM chose to keep mum. He said the federal government has refused to contribute to the development of Karachi which generates more than 60 per cent national revenue while the MQM once again opted for silence over the issue. The chairman PPP said the federal government was in power because of the votes of MQM, which they had bagged from Karachi but they were not doing justice with the people of this city. He said that the ordinance passed to take over the islands of the province had lapsed, therefore, the fishermen who sail to the islands for their livelihood should not be stopped. He urged Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to talk to the relevant agencies and tell them not to harass the fishermen, who are the real owners of the islands. He said that after lapsing of ordinance, they would not let the federal government develop the islands off Karachi’s coast without allaying the reservations of area fishermen. Bilawal lauded the Sindh government for initiating development projects in Karachi and hoped they would turn the city into one of the most beautiful cities of the world.

The Sindh chief minister said that the segment of dual carriageway, from Fishermen Chowrangi to Ibrahim Haidri, was dilapidated. “The median was full of garbage and water was overflowing on the road,” he said and added that in segment-II, there was an eight-metre-wide road connecting Ibrahim Hyderi Goth through a 526-meter hilly tract impassable by vehicles. Shah said that another stretch of 1.3 km road used to access the village was not fit for vehicle movement, specially loaded trucks originating from the fishing village. He added that the termination point of the road was very abrupt, therefore, 550-meter additional length was added to the access. The project started on 25th July 2019.

Talking about the Karachi Neighborhood Improvement Project (KNIP), the chief minister said the four-year project was started in 2017 by the Sindh government with the support of World Bank at a cost of $98 million in which WB-financed $86 million and $12 million were being shared by the Sindh government. The CM said that under the project, three neighborhoods, Saddar, Malir and Korangi are being upgraded. Recently, Saddar part, People’s Square of Phase-I was inaugurated and Korangi part has been inaugurated by the chairman today. The Malir part is being readied for inauguration.

Meanwhile, responding to Bilawal’s jibe, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s spokesperson asked that if the PPP supremo is unable to understand the MQM-P’s motives, did he send his delegation to its office on a study visit?

In a statement issued from the MQM-P’s temporary headquarters, the party said that the PPP’s rulers and their families have ruined the Sindh province during the past 50 years. The party said that injustice in the census with Karachi was started since Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government. He said Bilawal’s politics is pretentious and he was playing on both sides of the wicket.

Before asking the MQM-P to give reasons to stay in the coalition government in the Centre, Bilawal should first tell the reasons that compelled him to vote for the Senate chairman. “As being an unannounced ally of the federal government, how can Bilawal advise the MQM-P to quit the Centre?”

“Why did Bilawal offer the MQM-P ministries in Sindh a few months ago in exchange for the party breaking off its alliance in the Centre with the ruling PTI?” the MQM-P spokesperson said.

The party said that if the MQM-P quit the Centre, the PPP would join the PTI-led coalition government.

The MQM-P said Bilawal should also tell the reasons to the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) of not resigning from the assemblies.