KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan on Saturday once again accused the Pakistan Peoples Party-led Sindh government of being “corrupt, biased, and racist” and demanded that the National Accountability Bureau launch a probe into all government jobs given during the past 10 years by the provincial government.

The party also warned that the ‘injustices’ if continued would only lend credence to the call for a new province in Sindh.

Speaking at a press conference here, MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that the urban areas of Sindh had been facing “economic terrorism” during the over 11-year rule of the PPP as the provincial government had snatched all municipal and service delivery functions to mint money.

He alleged that the PPP government had appointed ‘favourite’ officials in the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC), made illegal appointments in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board by extending its jurisdiction and now posted 73 police officials of Larkana to Karachi.

‘Biased PPP govt’s attitude lends credence to need for a new province’

He said that the Sindh government wanted to create a law and order situation by deputing non-local police.

He said that the PPP government transferred officials from rural parts of Sindh to Karachi and then filled the vacant posts of rural areas by the people of its own choice since the SPSC had been ‘plagued’ by corruption and nepotism.

He said that the government had banned employment in Karachi Metropolitan Corporation as well as the district municipal corporations of East, Central and Korangi — all being controlled by the MQM-P — but government jobs were open for South and Malir DMCs, which are in control of PPP.

He said that the Sindh government did not take any coordinated efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus. He said a state of emergency had been imposed in Punjab and “we believe emergency should be imposed in Sindh as well”.

Former leader of opposition in the Sindh Assembly Khwaja Izharul Hasan asked the Grand Democratic Alliance, Pir Pagara and other “Sindhi friends” as to how long they would be deceived in the name of Sindh. “The sense of insecurity and deprivation within the people of urban Sindh could turn into sense of alienation,” he warned.

He said that the MQM-P would not only raise the issue of injustices with the people of urban Sindh before courts and in assemblies, but it could also stage sit-ins outside the offices of the SPSC, deputy commissioners and CM House.

Senior MQM-P leader Kanwar Naveed Jameel said on the occasion that his party had signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal government and one of the points was pertaining to formation of a commission comprising Supreme Court judges to investigate the wrongdoings and injustices meted out to the people of urban areas of Sindh in jobs in the name of so-called quota system.

He demanded NAB to hold investigation into over 100,000 government jobs meant for the people of urban Sindh but were actually given to the people of rural Sindh during the last 10 years.

Senior leader Amir Khan said that after some positive developments in the way of Khwaja Izhar’s constitutional petition against handing government jobs to the people holding “fake” domiciles and permanent residence certificates of urban Sindh the ‘biased’ government of Sindh had sped up the plundering of urban Sindh’s resources.

He warned that the MQM-P would take to streets and if injustices would not stop it would accelerate its struggle for a separate province in Sindh.

Khwaja Izhar also posed a question as to why the Sukkur Institute of Business Administration was making recruitments on government jobs for urban areas of Sindh.

He demanded that the head of Sukkur IBA resign since he had become “controversial”.

He questioned as to why the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf remained silent over injustices towards urban Sindh.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2020