KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) senior leader Dr. Farooq Sattar on Sunday fiercely criticized the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and demanded that the new Ajrak-themed number plates for vehicles be issued free of charge or that legal action against non-compliance be halted.
Sattar accused the PPP of operating a feudal system of governance in Sindh for the past 17 years, claiming that Karachi, the province’s economic hub, was being systematically exploited. He stated that citizens were being pushed to the wall while the city’s resources were being looted in the name of culture.
Addressing a press conference at MQM-P’s Bahadurabad headquarters, alongside senior leaders Syed Amin-ul-Haque, Zahid Mansoori, Shakil Ahmed, and others, Sattar voiced his discontent with the Ajrak-themed number plates. He claimed that, while the promotion of the plates appeared to be cultural, it actually served as a new means of exploitation. Sattar alleged that thousands of traffic policemen from rural Sindh had been deployed in Karachi, extorting money from citizens under the guise of enforcement.
“Governor Sindh has rightly pointed out that Ajrak will lose its sanctity if it is used to loot people,” Sattar said, condemning the move. He further highlighted the inconsistency in enforcement, pointing out that while over 95% of vehicles in rural Sindh operated without number plates, no action was taken in those areas. “Karachi, the golden goose, is being slaughtered,” he lamented, demanding either free issuance of the new number plates or an end to arbitrary penalties.
Sattar also criticized the transfer of 40 employees from the Sehwan Development Authority to the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), calling it an injustice to Karachi’s youth. He stated that Karachi and Hyderabad residents were being sidelined in government institutions.
The MQM-P leader also raised concerns about the collapse of buildings in Lyari and the lack of implementation of policies regarding dangerous structures. He blamed the PPP-led provincial government for negligence and called for former chief ministers and local government ministers to be named in FIRs for permitting illegal constructions during their tenure.
Sattar further claimed that the failure to convene regular meetings on dangerous buildings, as required by the Minister for Local Government, was a clear sign of the government’s disregard for the issue.
On the topic of education, Sattar criticized the disparity in the NED University entrance exam results, where 90% of students from rural Sindh boards failed, while 76% of Karachi students passed. “I feel sorry for these children. They are being made dependent on crutches by a broken system,” he remarked.
Finally, Sattar held both the Karachi mayor and Jamaat-e-Islami’s nine town chairmen responsible for the city’s poor conditions, questioning the mayor’s claim of not being accountable for the state of neighborhoods and lanes. “Then who is?” he asked.
