Hyderabad traders support MQM-P on census issue

Party says it would not remain silent if urban Sindh's population not counted correctly

HYDERABAD:

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM-P) has organised a large gathering of representatives of different schools of thought in Hyderabad under the title of "Shehri Sindh ka Muqaddima" (Urban Sindh's case) on the issue of the ongoing digital census, in which the MQM-P leadership participated in large numbers.

Addressing the audience, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Mustafa Kamal and Dr Farooq Sattar described the next eight to ten days as extremely important regarding the census and said that if the population was still not counted correctly, then their struggle would take a new turn.

The Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and the Hyderabad Chamber of Small Traders supported the demands of the MQM-P and demanded that Karachi, Hyderabad be counted properly so that there was a fair distribution of resources and development of high revenue generating areas.

A large number of businessmen, industrialists, representatives of commercial organisations, lawyers, dignities, and women of Hyderabad participated in the gathering held at a banquet in Latifabad, Hyderabad. Speaking at the event, former president of Hyderabad Chamber of Small Traders and Industries Altaf Memon said that the citizens of Hyderabad were tired of their problems not being solved.

Earlier, there was no electricity in the city, then polluted water started coming in the city and now gas load-shedding has been started in the city, whose timing was from eight o'clock at night to eight o'clock in the morning, and in some places gas load-shedding was carried out for 14 hours.

"We see that members of the MQM-P elected from Hyderabad are raising their voice to solve these problems in the national and provincial assemblies, but no one is listening, so now it is time to take strict action and if the MQM-P takes any strict step, then the business community will stand by them."

Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Adeel Siddiqui said that the "real problem is to count us correctly".

He said that Hyderabad is a large city for which funds of Rs500 million have been allocated in ADP, while Khairpur is not a bigger urban area than Hyderabad, but more than Rs1 billion have been set aside in the ADP for it.

"This is injustice."

He said that the Chief Commissioner of FBR informed him that this year, FBR received Rs50 billion from Hyderabad in terms of income tax and sales tax, while Sindh Revenue Board received Rs5 billion in taxes from here.

Thus, the city which gave Rs55 billion in taxes to the federation and the province does not get even one billion. Zafar Siddiqui, the in-charge of MQM-P District Hyderabad, said that MQM-P would not remain silent when every person is not counted.