Govt, MQM-P trade barbs over MDCAT merit

The Sindh government and opposition MQM-P traded barbs on Monday over alleged irregularities in the MDCAT examination 2026, with Dr Farooq Sattar accusing the government and IBA Sukkur of compromising merit, while Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon dismissed the allegations as political point-scoring.

Sattar alleged that paper leaks, nepotism and poor arrangements had jeopardised the future of Karachi students and warned that MQM-P would approach the Sindh High Court if their grievances were not addressed.

Speaking at a press conference at the MQM-P headquarters in Bahadurabad, Sattar, accompanied by Deputy Parliamentary Leader Taha Ahmed Khan and other party lawmakers, demanded that the MDCAT question papers and answer keys be made public and an impartial inquiry be launched into the alleged irregularities.

He said the National Testing Service (NTS) had conducted the MDCAT examination from 2009 to 2019 for a fee of Rs1,500 without major complaints, but alleged that the system had deteriorated since examinations began being conducted through IBA Sukkur and Dow University.

Sattar claimed that out of 133,000 candidates across Sindh, around 12,000 were from Karachi but only two examination centres - Dow University's Ojha Campus and NED University - had been designated for them.

He alleged that around 6,000 candidates were accommodated at each centre and many had to leave their homes at around 4am to reach the venues. Students, he claimed, were made to sit in open areas in extreme heat without adequate drinking water, resulting in a large number of candidates fainting.

"Despite charging Rs9,000 as examination fee, IBA Sukkur and the Sindh government are playing with the future of Karachi's students," he alleged.

He warned that if the government failed to address the complaints, MQM-P would join affected students in approaching the SHC to challenge the MDCAT results and provide them with legal assistance.

Responding to the allegations, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said the government would not allow politics to be played over the future of children.

Reacting to Sattar's press conference, Sharjeel said the Sindh government did not discriminate between students from Karachi and Thar and rejected what he described as attempts to divide children into "ours and theirs".

He challenged Sattar to produce evidence instead of making allegations regarding irregularities in the MDCAT examination.

Sharjeel also rejected any attempt to link the Red Line BRT construction work with the MDCAT results, saying the two issues had no connection.

He accused the MQM-P of having promoted a culture of weapons, extortion, fear and violence in Karachi for political interests, adding that such politics should no longer be allowed to push the city's youth towards division.

The senior minister said Karachi's young people were now turning towards education and progress and should not be dragged back into old divisions. "If a student from Thar gets higher marks, the focus should be on enabling more children across Sindh to achieve similar success on merit," he added.