Facing the same fate as Thatta, Hyderabad may be split into two districts

It is proposed that the National assembly and Sindh assembly constituencies be doubled.

HYDERABAD: Around two and a half centuries after its existence as a historical city which has also once remained the capital of Sindh, Hyderabad is likely to be divided in two separate districts. It will also become the second historic district in Sindh after Thatta, which is meeting the same fate.

However, unlike Thatta where political and financial ambitions arguably underpinned the administrative creation of Sujawal, politico-ethnic divisions are the bedrock for Hyderabad’s division.

The greater Hyderabad district was first divided in 2004 when Matiari, Tando Allahyar and Tando Muhammad Khan were created as new districts. But, the urban centres of all these districts were about 40 to 50 kilometres away from Hyderabad. However, Qasimabad and Hyderabad are separated only by 60 to 90 feet wide roads.



The proposed offshoot, Qasimabad, will comprise two of the four talukas in the existing district -- Qasimabad and Hyderabad Rural - and three union councils from Tando Muhammad Khan district. The petered out Hyderabad will be left with the historic City and Latifabad talukas.

The former talukas are dominated by Sindhis who have always elected representatives from the Pakistan Peoples Party’s while the latter talukas are the stronghold of Muttahida Qaumi Movement with a proportionately high Urdu-speaking population.

While the government has yet to come clear on this issue, the provincial minister for fisheries and livestock, Jam Khan Shoro, has put out feelers for the anticipated division. Sources revealed that Shoro’s recommendations in this regard have been approved by provincial minister Syed Owais Muzaffar but are awaiting sanction from the chief minister.

“It is also proposed that constituencies for the National Assembly and Sindh Assembly should be doubled from the one NA and two PS seats at present,” a source told The Express Tribune. Muzaffar could not be contacted for his version.

Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner Nawaz Soho was also not available for comment while the Additional DC Rao Atif Raza denied having any knowledge about it.



Shoro, who was elected as MPA on PS-47 constituency in Qasimabad, could not be contacted either.

Disapproval

The PPP’s district president, Zahid Bhurgari, who was twice elected as MPA from Qasimabad in 2002 and 2008, expressed ignorance about the issue. “I don’t know if any such thing is in the pipeline,” he told The Express Tribune. Tacitly disapproving the new district, he said if the party leadership decided to make Qasimabad a district he would accept the decision.

Another PPP leader said Shoro wanted to turn Qasimabad into his fiefdom. “Like the feudal mindset elsewhere in Sindh, Shoro wants his nominated officials in police, revenue, health, education and other departments. He wants to make the town his dominion,” he alleged. Till now, the PPP has been seen sharing power and authority with the MQM in matters pertaining to the district administration.

MQM Rabita Committee’s member Kanwar Naveed, who served as district Nazim of Hyderabad from 2005 to 2009, said, “I have no knowledge of this issue. We will be able to say something after a notification is issued.” Naveed had earlier opposed the status of municipal committee for Qasimabad under which the taluka’s municipal administration was separated from City and Latifabad talukas.

“Hyderabad’s division will be tantamount to the enactment of controversial Peoples Local Government Act 2012,” said Sindh Taraqi Pasand chairperson Dr Qadir Magsi, adding that the move will meet the same resistance if the PPP government dared to go ahead with it. Dr Magsi was referring to the LG law introduced in August 2012, which elicited a strong backlash from Sindh and was subsequently abrogated.

The STP chairperson said the PPP is again pandering to the wishes of an ethnic political party by depriving Sindhis of their historic city. “We have called an all parties meeting, excluding the PPP and MQM, on Friday to decide on the resistance.”

Qaumi Awami Tehreek president Ayaz Palijo has also opposed the proposed division. “By doing this, the PPP is engendering ethnic discord instead of taking steps to bring harmony among the people.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2013.