MQM demands separate province

Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Afaq Ahmed, while announcing to intensify the struggle for a separate province, said that a signature campaign for the acquisition of the province would be launched from March 1.

A referendum will be held on March 23 in the presence of international observers for setting up a separate province.

"I apologise with every Mohajir leader including Khalid Maqbool, Aamir Khan, Farooq Sattar, Anis Qaim Khani, and request them to bury the past and unite for the sake of the nation," he said addressing a charged crowd at Bagh-e-Jinnah late on Sunday night.

"We are the descendants of the founders of Pakistan. We do not need a certificate of patriotism from anyone. We have built the country and we will get a province for us," Afaq told the cheering gathering. Without the province, the problems of Mohajir nation will not be solved. The whole nation must unite.

He further said that the people of Pakistani origin stranded in Bangladesh should be brought back immediately. The new Local Government Act is a black law, it should be withdrawn. An empowered local government system should be formed.

"Quota system should be abolished and new census should be conducted under the supervision of international observers. Excess electricity billing on Karachi residents should be stopped."

When Afaq Ahmed reached the venue, the participants stood up and chanted slogans and gave him a warm welcome.

Afaq congratulated the workers on organising the successful rally.

"People are gathered here against the injustice by the government in Karachi," the MQM leader said and added, "My elders have made immense sacrifices for this country. Today I will talk about the atrocities that take place in this country to a Mohajir." He said that Pakistan had left the children of its founders alone. He reminded that in the erstwhile East Pakistan, "our elders supported the army to save the country." But following the surrender, the soldiers became prisoners of war with all rights protected under the Geneva Conventions, whereas, the civilian supporters of Pakistan and Pakistan army were mercilessly butchered. Till today they are living as a marginalized community, he said.

Afaq continued that people who had migrated from the then Hindustan to Pakistan continue to suffer discrimination in education and employment.

Afaq said that more people from Gilgit, Chitral and Sindh will be found in educational institutions than the Mohajirs. "An attempt was made to deprive the children of my nation of education through quota system, which has also deprived Mohajirs of jobs. I demand that the quota system be abolished immediately."

The MQM leader said, "I appeal to every Mohajir leader to unite for the sake of the nation."

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2021.