MQM-P announces Nov 29 rally for new administrative units

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan is taking its demand for new administrative units to the street, with party chairman Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui announcing a rally on Sharea Faisal in Karachi on November 29.

Siddiqui told a workers' convention at KMC Park in PIB Colony on Sunday that Pakistan needed a political system that devolved power and resources to ordinary citizens. Dawn reported that he called the November 29 event a "historic rally"; The Nation reported that he announced a procession towards Sharea Faisal to press the demand. The Nation said the meeting was held by the party's District East chapter.

"There is no room left in Pakistan for feudal democracy," Siddiqui said, according to The Nation. He argued that dynastic politics and the concentration of authority had left people without meaningful representation. Democracy could not serve its purpose if its benefits failed to reach ordinary Pakistanis, he said, and workers could not be represented adequately by wealthy industrialists, while the middle class needed representatives from its own ranks.

Siddiqui said the demand for a separate province, first raised by a student movement more than four decades ago, had gained support, particularly in Sindh's urban areas, and that his party would lead the campaign for new provinces and administrative units. Asked about the territory of the proposed province, he cited the families who migrated to Pakistan at Partition and left land and property in India. He predicted the November 29 turnout would fill the roads leading to Sharea Faisal.

Senior party leader Dr Farooq Sattar called for a referendum under the Constitution on the creation of new administrative units. He alleged that the existing four-province structure had become a mechanism for preserving the dominance of a handful of families. Sattar accused the Pakistan Peoples Party of misgovernance during its years in power in Sindh, saying unresolved civic problems had deepened public deprivation. He said the demand for a new administrative arrangement did not mean a rejection of Sindh's culture. "Even when our administrative unit is created, we will continue to wear the Sindhi cap and ajrak," he said.

Former Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar urged workers to remain united under Siddiqui's leadership, saying the city's residents and party workers had stood by the organisation through difficult periods.

Senior leader Syed Aminul Haque, Sindh Assembly Opposition Leader Ali Khursheedi, national and provincial lawmakers and party office-bearers attended the convention.