Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) senior leader Khawaja Izhar Ul Hassan on Wednesday while criticizing the Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that Karachi has become a ‘Banana Republic’ and Sindh CM is responsible for all the recent rain-related incidents.
Addressing a press conference, Khawaja said that MQM is asking for a proper system, not a mayor seat but the Sindh government is not ready to improve the flawed system, adding that PTI and Jamat-e-Islami are upset with MQM and PPP agreement but during PTI government Imran Khan never took any significant steps to improve the Karachi’s situation.
The MQM-P rejected PPP’s claims of serving the city during the rains and said the statements issued by the provincial government did not align with the on-the-ground situation.
“The role that the chief minister claims to have played is not based on reality,” MQM-P leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan said in a press conference at the party’s office in Bahadurabad.
Hassan, defending the MQM-P, said it had struck an agreement with PPP for the betterment of Karachi, but it caused “pain” to some people.
“The President belongs to Karachi but why he is silent over current Karachi’s situation,” Khawaja asked.
Taking a swipe at Sindh CM, he said that Murad Ali Shah may have released crores of rupees but the question is where the expenses were incurred.
The MQM leader added that Infrastructure should be built for the interests of Karachi city. If no one accepts, we do not need such agreements, Khawaja said.
Hassan then said that he was “awe-struck” to see the situation in posh areas like the Defence Housing Authority (DHA), where the water levels were extremely high.
The MQM-P leader stressed that once the city’s administrative structure is revamped, things will gradually improve as currently, the country was acting like a “banana republic”.
He said that the chief minister can and should give examples of London, but at the same time, he must grant the same powers to the mayor of the cities in his province.
“The people of Karachi are still at a loss as to who will pick up their trash. In rains, the situation of DHA was even worse than New Karachi,” Hassan said.