Pakistan

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader and Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal on Saturday announced that his party would launch a street movement against what it described as the continued injustice towards Karachi, saying all protests would remain within the framework of the Constitution and the law. Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Kamal said the MQM-P had exhausted constitutional and parliamentary avenues to raise the city’s issues and had now decided to take its campaign directly to the public. “MQM-P has decided that it will no longer stay quiet,” Kamal said. “We spoke in the assemblies, but they did not agree. We presented constitutional amendments, but they did not agree. Now we will come onto the streets with the people while remaining within the law and the Constitution.” He stressed that peaceful public protests were a constitutional right and said the party would exercise that right to highlight Karachi’s longstanding governance and development issues. According to Kamal, Pakistan had reached a stage where the existing governance structure could no longer effectively address public concerns. The MQM-P leader criticised what he called the failure to implement meaningful devolution of powers under the 18th Constitutional Amendment. He argued that although provinces receive substantial financial resources from the federation, those funds do not adequately reach local governments or district administrations. Referring to federal resource distribution, Kamal said the federation allocated around Rs8.4 trillion among the provinces, with Sindh receiving approximately Rs2.2 trillion. He alleged that the money remained concentrated at the provincial level instead of being distributed to cities and districts. “These funds are allocated in the name of the people, but they remain confined to the Chief Minister House instead of reaching Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur or Larkana,” he claimed. He further alleged that Sindh lacked an effective system for transferring financial resources to union councils, limiting the ability of local governments to provide essential public services. MQM-P Demands Greater Devolution of Powers Kamal reiterated the MQM-P’s longstanding demand for administrative reforms and greater decentralisation, including the creation of new administrative provinces. He said the party would support every constitutional measure aimed at devolving powers to local governments, arguing that the objectives of the 18th Amendment had not been fully implemented. “The 18th Amendment has not been enforced properly,” he said, adding that administrative restructuring was necessary to improve governance and public service delivery across Sindh. The MQM-P leader maintained that stronger local governments would allow cities to manage their own development priorities and respond more effectively to residents’ needs. Karachi Being Prevented From Playing Its Economic Role, Says Kamal During the press conference, Kamal described Karachi as Pakistan’s economic engine and questioned why the country’s largest city continued to face severe infrastructure and governance challenges. He alleged that the Sindh government was preventing Karachi from making its full contribution to Pakistan’s economic growth. “Who can pull Pakistan out of this economic quagmire? It is Karachi, but the current Sindh government is not allowing the city to contribute as it should,” he said. Kamal clarified that his criticism was not directed at the development of other cities but argued that Karachi should have received priority investment because of its central role in Pakistan’s economy. “We are happy for Lahore, but if development was to take place anywhere first, it should have happened in Karachi,” he remarked. According to Kamal, improved governance in Karachi could significantly strengthen Pakistan’s economic performance. Civic Problems Highlighted The federal minister also accused the provincial administration of failing to provide Karachi’s residents with basic municipal services. He claimed that many areas continued to suffer from shortages of clean drinking water, inadequate sewerage infrastructure and poor public education facilities. Kamal further alleged that several girls’ schools lacked basic sanitation facilities, including toilets, while the province continued to face high rates of child stunting and out-of-school children. He also raised concerns over recurring incidents involving uncovered manholes in Karachi, saying children had repeatedly lost their lives after falling into open drains. “Sindh is the only place where children are losing their lives after falling into manholes,” he alleged. The MQM-P leader also referred to the high number of reported dog-bite cases in the province, describing them as further evidence of weak municipal governance. Calls for Governance Reforms Calling Karachi Pakistan’s “economic capital,” Kamal said the city generated a significant share of national revenue and hosted the country’s major seaports but continued to struggle with poor infrastructure and public services. He criticised what he described as the absence of meaningful police reforms and shortcomings in managing primary and secondary education. Comparing Karachi with developments elsewhere, Kamal said that while other cities were discussing modern transport systems and advanced emergency medical services, Karachi was introducing bicycle ambulances. “I want to tell those running the country not to mistake our silence for weakness,” he said, adding that cities across Sindh deserved better governance and public services. Kamal said the MQM-P had previously introduced constitutional amendments intended to address governance issues but lacked sufficient parliamentary numbers to secure their passage. He concluded by accusing the current political arrangement of preventing meaningful reforms and said the party would now intensify its campaign through peaceful constitutional means, including public demonstrations.