Centre, Sindh must fix civic issues in 30 days: Kamal

PSP chairperson says he can't wait until next elections in 2018 for the availability of safe drinking water,

KARACHI: Chairperson of the Pak Sarzameen Party Mustafa Kamal warned the federal, Sindh and city governments on Sunday to fix utility problems in the metropolis within the next 30 days, otherwise he would be compelled to launch a campaign.

Addressing a large gathering at Tibet Center on MA Jinnah Road, Kamal said that he could not wait until next elections in 2018 for the availability of safe drinking water, waste management, free education and health care for his people.

“These are issues that [if]the government [wants, it] can solve tomorrow,” he said, adding that the ‘drama’ that ‘there is no custodian of this city’ ended now.

“The people you voted in, joined hands with thieves,” he said. This was the largest gathering mustered by PSP since its inception on March 23 last year.

People from different areas of Karachi and outside the city, mostly those who previously supported the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), converged on the venue, in considerable numbers.

From this show of street power, it can be suggested that Kamal’s party has, within the span of just 10 months, grown enough to give a tough time to MQM-Pakistan spearheaded by Farooq Sattar.

The PSP chairman’s 50-minute speech centered on criticising MQM’s founder Altaf Hussain, besides discussing other issues, such as extra-judicial killings and forced disappearances, among others.

“There are two sides to the narrative churned out against people in Karachi: All of them were (somehow) linked with Altaf Hussain and his MQM, and that they wanted to live in isolation from other ethnicities … This (description has) collapsed today,” he maintained.

Responding to allegations of being patronised by a segment of the establishment, he said that he was backed just by God. He asked policymakers of the country to witness the gathering, proving that this city had ‘converted’ and no longer supported Altaf Hussain. “Don’t accuse them to be RAW agents … Don’t put them behind bars,” he said.

Reiterating that people in the city were provoked to fight against each other over differences in ethnicity and sects, and admitted that even himself and members of his party’s core  team were misled for three decades.

Criticising the August 23 move by Dr Farooq Sattar and his allies of disavowing Altaf but retaining MQM identity, he said that the party’s name, just because it was founded by Altaf Hussain, will “forever” remain an insult to everyone who supported him in the past.

Highlighting the issue of malnourishment in the country, he accused the government of hyping up the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), but neglecting people’s basic necessities.

“CPEC can prove an exercise in futility if most people are deprived of basic facilities … Children remain malnourished and out-of-school,” he said, adding that the city needed a rehabilitation package if full return to normalcy was required objective.

Mentioning two power projects, being established near Hawkes Bay and Bin Qasim areas, he said that these projects would cumulatively generate nearly 3,500 megawatts of electricity, “but the city will get no share”. He demanded that at least 20 percent of the power generated from these projects should be diverted to the city.

Criticising the K-Electric for pocketing more than Rs62 billion in overcharging consumers, he demanded that the amount should be returned before the company was sold to a Shanghai-based firm.

In the end, he demanded of the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Bajwa to set up four cadet colleges in Karachi and two in Hyderabad for inducting people of these cities in military.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2017.