KARACHI: Despite heavy rain in the metropolis, the Pak Sarzameen Party on Friday staged a protest demonstration against a decision of the Pakistan Peoples Party government in Sindh to create Keamari district and rejected the “division of Karachi on ethnic lines”.

Heavy downpour started in almost all parts of the city much before the scheduled time of the PSP’s protest which was to take place in front of the Karachi Press Club. Roads leading to the venue were submerged by rainwater and it appeared that the party would postpone its protest.

But the PSP stuck with its plan and its workers from all over the city started reaching the venue, where party president Anis Kaimkhani was already present since morning to oversee the arrangements.

Carrying party flags and banners inscribed with slogans asking the Sindh government to “stop enmity with Karachi [Karachi dushmani band karo]”, a number of PSP workers attended the protest demonstration.

Speaking on the occasion, PSP chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal said that despite the fact that rainwater accumulated on all city roads “thousands of workers” gathered at the press club to tell the rulers that they would neither allow the division of “dharti maa Sindh” nor allow the division of Karachi which is the heart of “dharti maa”.

He said that the PPP created the seventh district in Karachi although it failed to improve civic infrastructure and people’s standard of living in the existing six districts.

He said that the metropolis was divided further at a time when the chief justice of Pakistan had observed that both the provincial and local governments had failed in Karachi.

“People of Karachi will not allow the rulers’ nefarious plan of dividing the city on ethnic lines,” he said, adding that the PPP just for its petty political gains was fanning ethnic hatred in the province.

“The PPP is trying to occupy the city because its ‘Sindh card’ is incomplete without Karachi,” he said.

Explaining his claim that the PPP had been taking decisions on ethnic lines, he said that in district Central the number of voters for one seat of provincial assembly was 260,000; whereas in district Malir a PA seat (PS-99) comprised just 56,000 votes.

Commenting on Muttahida Qaumi Mov­ement-Pakistan’s demand for a new province in Sindh, he said that the slogan was being raised by those whose local government had failed to get even the function of sewerage from the PPP.

He said that such people were tacitly supporting the PPP by calling for the division of Sindh. “The slogan of a new province suits PPP as it conceals their corruption, incompetence, death of children due to hunger and rabies, etc, from innocent Sindhis.”

Mr Kamal said that the PSP would foil the conspiracy being hatched by the PPP and MQM to pit Sindhis and Mohajirs against each other just for electoral gains.

He declared that his party would approach every forum against the division of Karachi.

“Those people who have been saying that the federation cannot intervene in Karachi must know Karachi is not occupied Kashmir. Karachi is Pakistan and its destruction is Pakistan’s destruction,” he said.

Mr Kamal invited state institutions to intervene in Karachi to save Pakistan.

He praised his workers for participating in the protest demonstration despite heavy rain.

Earlier, PSP leader Ashfaq Mangi while demanding the resignation of the chief minister said that the PSP would hold protest demonstrations against the PPP in every city and town of Sindh.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2020