KARACHI(National Times)- Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Mustafa Kamal on Saturday announced that the party would take to the streets against the injustice being meted out to Karachi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kamal, who is also the federal health minister, made the announcement while addressing a press conference in Karachi, where he railed against the Sindh government\u2019s indifference towards the metropolis and its people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMQM-P has decided that it will no longer stay quiet. We will adopt all the ways listed in the Constitution. We spoke in assemblies, they do not agree. We presented a constitutional amendment, they do not agree. Now, we will make use of the streets while staying within the law and the Constitution. We will come onto the streets with the people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe law and the Constitution give us the right to come out onto the streets. Pakistan is at a point where it cannot function under the same system any longer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This system, he said, was the one with four provinces and a federating unit. Referring to the distribution of federal funds, Kamal said the federation had allocated Rs8.4 trillion among the four provinces, of which Sindh received around Rs2.2 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese funds are allocated in the name of the people, but they remain confined to the Chief Minister House instead of reaching Karachi, Larkana, Hyderabad or Sukkur,\u201d he alleged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that funds dispensed to Sindh were never seen by the districts, adding that there was no system for disbursing the funds to union councils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd they say they will not touch the 18th Amendment. The 18th Amendment has not been enforced. That is why MQM-P announces that it will endorse all steps for the devolution of power \u2026 the top of the list of which is new provinces on an administrative basis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the presser, Kamal accused the Sindh government of preventing Karachi from playing its role in driving Pakistan\u2019s economic growth, alleging that the provincial administration had failed to provide the city with basic civic services. He also questioned why Karachi was being held back despite its economic importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWho can pull Pakistan out of this economic quagmire? And who is preventing Karachi from playing that role? It is the current Sindh government that is not allowing Karachi to contribute to Pakistan as it should,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kamal said the provincial government was holding Karachi back and preventing it from contributing to the country\u2019s development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are happy for Lahore, but the tragedy is that if development was to take place anywhere in Pakistan first, it should have happened in Karachi,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The minister said Karachi should have led Pakistan\u2019s progress and helped the country emerge from its economic challenges, but alleged that the PPP-led Sindh government had failed to allow the city to fulfil that role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also accused the provincial administration of failing to provide residents with basic services, alleging that Karachi lacked adequate drinking water, a proper sewerage system and sufficient schools, while many girls\u2019 schools did not even have toilets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He further alleged that the province had the country\u2019s highest rates of child stunting and out of school children. He said that Sindh also reported more dog-bite cases than any other province, adding that incidents of children falling into open manholes were a recurring problem in Karachi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSindh is the only place where children are losing their lives after falling into manholes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Calling Karachi Pakistan\u2019s \u201ceconomic capital\u201d, Kamal said the city generated revenue for the country and housed its seaports, yet continued to suffer from poor governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is an international city, yet news of children falling into manholes emerges from Karachi. Lawlessness is at its peak, there is no one to look after primary and secondary schools, and there have been no police reforms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The minister contrasted Karachi\u2019s condition with developments in other parts of the country, saying that while other cities were discussing air ambulances, metro systems and trains, Karachi was introducing bicycle ambulances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to tell those running the country not to mistake our silence for weakness. Hyderabad, Karachi, Sukkur and other cities are home to living, breathing people, but everywhere there is destruction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kamal said the MQM-P had proposed constitutional amendments aimed at addressing these issues, but they could not be passed because the party lacked the required numbers in parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWill our generations continue to suffer because this government needs the PPP\u2019s numbers? From Karachi to Kashmore, our children are dying while political and democratic oppression continues,\u201d he alleged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI(National Times)- Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Mustafa Kamal on Saturday announced that the party would take to the streets against the injustice being meted out to Karachi. Kamal, who is also the federal health minister, made the announcement while addressing a press conference in Karachi, where he railed against the Sindh government\u2019s indifference towards […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n