Sindh Senior Minister and Provincial Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit, Sharjeel Inam Memon, has said that the MQM is unnecessarily politicizing various issues and problems in an attempt to revive its dead politics. He stated that the gas shortage is the responsibility of the federal government, while K-Electric is not under the administrative control of the Sindh government. Regarding the water shortage, he said that the Sindh government has already informed IRSA through an official letter that the province is currently facing a 22 percent water shortage, which is also affecting Karachi.
In a statement, he said that the MQM frequently attempts to place the burden of issues falling under the federal government’s jurisdiction on the Sindh government. He added that, instead of focusing on resolving public problems, the MQM’s politics in Karachi revolves around using such issues for political gain.
Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the Pakistan Peoples Party is neither an ally of the MQM nor of the federal government. He stated that the party has only extended support to the federal government for the continuation of the parliamentary system and the democratic process.
He said that Karachi was once regarded as one of the finest cities in the world. It was also the capital of Pakistan, and students from various regions, including the Gulf countries, came here for higher education. According to him, the city’s decline began when the foundations of ethnic and linguistic politics were laid.
The Senior Minister said that Karachi’s problems worsened when parks were converted into marriage halls by local government institutions. He added that the MQM leadership is fully aware of the facts, as parks and sports grounds were encroached upon and individuals later accused of serious crimes, including terrorism, were recruited into local government institutions.
He said that during the operations conducted in 2015 and 2016, several terrorists employed by the KMC and the Water Board were identified. The local government system was severely damaged, accelerating Karachi’s decline. He alleged that some employees spent their time in unit and sector offices instead of performing their official duties.
Sharjeel Inam Memon said that journalist Wali Khan Babar had reported on such issues and was later murdered.
He further stated that Karachi is a port city through which a significant portion of the country’s heavy traffic passes. He added that Sindh’s share of infrastructure funds remains tied up in the Supreme Court due to various legal matters and is therefore not being made available to the province.
He said that Karachi contributes the highest revenue to the national economy. People from across Pakistan come to Karachi for employment, business, education, and healthcare. If other cities offered better opportunities, people would choose to go there, but Karachi remains the country’s largest economic and commercial hub.
Sharjeel Inam Memon reiterated that the Sindh government has officially informed IRSA that the province is facing a 22 percent water shortage. He said that water scarcity affects not only agriculture but also urban water supply. Karachi is the last major city in Sindh to receive water from the provincial distribution system; therefore, when overall water availability declines, the impact is directly felt in Karachi as well.