APROPOS the letter ‘Creating divisions’ (June 17). The writer rightly pointed out that it is rather strange how people have a habit of mentioning Karachi as a separate entity from Sindh even by senior politicians and ministers.

In 1972, the the PPP government was not trying to divide Sindh by setting a quota for the indigenous rural population; rather it was trying to deal with inequality. There was a huge gap in the intellect of the rural population and that of the urbanised Karachi because the rural youth did not have the same educational facilities and job prospects.

However, all that is in the past. More than four decades have passed and the people of rural Sindh have had enough time and opportunities to bridge this gap. In fact they have done better and moved ahead.

In the interests of fair play, the time has come to do away with the quota system as there is hardly any intellectual deficit in youth hailing from rural Sindh. In fact one has no qualms in stating that youth hailing from the urban areas are facing stiff competition from their rural counterparts in all fields.

Sassi Bhutto
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2020