Karachi: The ruling party, PPP, has always betrayed the people of Karachi. Now as the election is coming nearer it is again trying to befool the voters, but the Karachiites could never be doped anymore, said Pasban e Pakistan President Altaf Shakoor here Saturday.
In a statement, he said the ruling PPP has always hoodwinked voters of Karachi. He said it is again trying to sell snake oil to the Karachiites, but now the voters of this megacity are more mature politically. He said if the PPP wants to distance itself from its dark past in Karachi, Bilawal should publically apologize to their heirs of the martyrs of Liaquatabad in 1977 riots. He asked what price the MQM received for making rallies of the PPP in Karachi a success.
He said the PPP and MQM had ruled Sindh including Karachi for a long time and their coalition government practically did nothing for Karachi, saving breaking previous records of corruption and nepotisms. He said the PPP now shed crocodile tears over political recruitment in Karachi police, KMC and KWSB but it is pretending that the people do not know that these illegal recruitments were covertly approved by the PPP during their coalition government. He said there was a hidden pact that the MQM could do anything in Karachi and PPP would turn the blind eye to it, and reciprocally, the MQM would not object exploitation of people of rural Sindh and selling of government jobs and awarding government contracts to its blue-eyed boys.
Altaf Shakoor said there is no future for either MQM or PPP in Karachi, as both have already looted and plundered this city mercilessly. He said the megacity has no place for corrupt, spineless and inefficient rulers. He said the megacity needs honest, dedicated and able leadership to give it its due status. He said both the MQM and PPP lack capacity to modernize Karachi as their interest is limited to loot and plunder this city and send the looted money to the foreign back accounts of their masters. He said the era of rural and urban Waderas in Karachi has already finished and there is no hope that this curse would again hit the megacity.
Pasban leader said the Karachi voters have already rejected the professional political beggars and linked their vote to the realization of megacity status and megacity rights for Karachi.
He said nowhere in world, the megacities are treated like ordinary cities and towns, but both the MQM and PPP had treated this city in this neglected manner. This is why our megacity lacks true urban infrastructure and facilities. He said that because of these corrupt rulers, Karachi commuters travel on rooftops of battered minibuses, when resident of smaller towns like Multan and Lodhran enjoy modern public transport systems. He said Karachi is a megacity and it does need a megacity government system and a megacity status. We have already been demanding to make an amendment in the constitution of Pakistan to insert new articles regarding ‘megacity governments’ in it.
Shakoor said that the Karachiites envision their city as a megacity of industries and trade, a home of jobs and an engine of economic growth. He said to end rampant joblessness in the megacity it is necessary to convert Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway and Karachi-Keti Bandar road as economic corridors on the pattern of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. He said if the federal, Sindh and city government of Karachi show seriousness and strong political will to develop Karachi-Hyderabad Economic Corridor and Karachi-Keti Bandar Economic Corridor, not a single person in this province could remain jobless.
He said we strongly demand to open at least one university and one teaching hospital in each Town of Karachi, adding the megacity needs world class healthcare institutes to serve its citizens and also to attract international medical tourism.
He said Karachi needs is own separate megacity government and policing system led by an elected police chief. Welcoming the announcement of the federal government to open a big desalination plant in Karachi, he said the megacity requires dozens of big desalination plants run on solar and wind energy to end the water crisis for good. The city needs its own power generation plants to say goodbye to the electricity load shedding.
Shakoor demanded Olympics standard playgrounds and stadiums for the megacity. He said we also demand a long coastal park from Mubarak Village to Gharo to give the megacity new and fresh lungs and to end air pollution from it. He said we also want revival of the KCR, establishment of new metro bus routes and working on an underground train projects for the megacity.
He said we have already begun a drive to educate the voters of the megacity and our megacity rights’ march in Karachi would change the dynamics of politics in this megacity.
