KARACHI: The Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party criticised the Muttahida Qaumi Movement on Wednesday for demanding new administrative units in Sindh and called it a move by the MQM “to fulfil its vested political interests”.

Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, STP chief Dr Qadir Magsi, flanked by Dr Rajab A. Memon and other party members, said: “We think the MQM’s demand for administrative units is unjustfied and against the sanctity of our province.”

Getting into further details, he narrated the history of Sindh, starting from the pre-partition days when Sindh was merged into Bombay (now Mumbai) as an administrative unit.

“Sindh has gone through and survived various attempts to divide or submerge it earlier. Sindh is not an administrative unit of Pakistan, it is a national unit. And any attempts to make it otherwise will be met with resistance from the people of Sindh,” he said.

In the same vein, he requested the MQM to not “indulge in politics of division and hate”, and invited them to work together for the betterment of underdeveloped areas of the province.

Speaking about the quota system, he said Liaquat Ali Khan, one of the founding fathers of Pakistan, was the one to introduce the 15 per cent quota system for people migrating from India. “We cannot form the quota system on the basis of linguistics. By definition, it has to be based on the needs of developed and underdeveloped areas.”

He reiterated throughout his press conference that even if there was a unanimous resolution for administrative units in the provincial assembly, it won’t be accepted by the people of Sindh.

“Nations get stronger because of its languages. Over here, we are making sure there is no trace of the Sindhi language, as most schools in Karachi that taught Sindhi have been closed down. These past 60 years were enough for racial and ethnic hatred. Now the politics of ethnicity needs to be done away with,” he added.

He suggested that Sindhi be made the official language of Sindh, economic migrants in the province should get the right to vote, illegal migrants should get work permits and small districts should be made with a margin of 1.5 million population in each of them.

In a separate conversation before the press conference, Dr Magsi said: “Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf chief Imran Khan, despite being respected for his stance against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, has embroiled himself in the state’s game plan, which might hamper his popularity in his own party.”

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2014