KARACHI: While declaring that he would never indulge in ethnic politics, Pak Sarzameen Party chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal announced on Wednesday that his party would hold a public meeting for Pakhtuns only at Sohrab Goth on Feb 28.

He claimed that the Pakhtun-only event would prove his point that there was no room for ethnic politics in Karachi.

Mr Kamal said this while speaking at a news conference here at the PSP’s Pakistan House headquarters. Party president Anis Kaimkhani and other leaders were present.

He said it was because of the PSP that no attempt had become successful to pit people of different ethnicities against each other.

He, however, slammed the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party for what he called its “biased politics” and said that it was very easy to fan hatred by indulging in ethnic politics but “we will never pursue ethnic politics at any cost”.

He said that the PPP had shut the door of government jobs on the people of Karachi and Hyderabad, but it was also a fact that the same party was also doing nothing for Sindhis of Larkana to Thar.

Protest in Liaquatabad planned

Reiterating his stance that the prime minister should take back the decision to accept the controversial National Census 2017, he said that the PSP had organised a very big rally to reject the census, but the government turned a deaf ear to their demand.

“If the state is not ready to count us correctly, then they won’t be able to blame us later,” he said, announcing that his party would “show a small trailer” by holding a demonstration in Liaquatabad on Friday and block the main road in protest over the “incorrect” census.

“If the matter is not resolved, we will besiege Governor House to hold a protest,” he warned.

He appealed to the Supreme Court to reject the Sindh government’s stance that the local government elections could not be held without announcing official results of the census.

He said all provincial governments had grabbed the power and resources of the local governments and now they were looking for excuses so that they could not hold LG polls.

Mr Kamal, whose party did not take part in Tuesday’s PS-88 by-election in Malir, said that it was a contest between “losing parties”. He did not say as to why his party chose to stay away from the by-poll.

He said that the treasury and the opposition both were blaming each other for horse trading in the Senate elections ignoring the fact that people were dying because of hunger in the country.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2021