Sindh govt’s Kemari district plan faces backlash

As the Sindh cabinet on Thursday creation of a new district in Karachi, it triggered a strong reaction by both the MQM-P and the PSP as their leaders described the move an attempt to divide the port city into linguistic lines, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

With the creation of Kemari as a new district, the mega-city will have a total of seven districts. This move will also increase the number of districts in the province to 30 as Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah suggested that new administrative units should be established.

This proposal is aimed at bifurcating the larger districts into smaller ones with some ministers calling for dividing Khairpur into two.

During the meeting, the participants noted that District West was the largest not only in the port city but also the entire Sindh which necessitated the need for creating Kemari as the new district.

This district has a population of 3,914,757 with a total of seven sub-divisions: Manghopir, Orangi, Mominabad, SITE, Baldia, Harbour and Mauripur. 

However, the newly planned Kemari district will have four sub-divisions – SITE, Baldia, Harbour and Mauripur.

The chief minister also proposed that District South should be named as District Karachi with the other districts of the port city named after the famous localities.

South, West, East, Central, Korangi, and Malir are the existing six districts of Karachi.

The move comes as some political circles are critical of the PPP government regarding governing Karachi with an argument that the city should be administered by a single authority.

Reacting to the news, MQM-P leader Haider Abbas, talking to 24newsHD, alleged that the PPP government was trying to divide the city on linguistic lines. It started with the creation of Malir district, he recalled.

Similar fears were expressed by Farooq Sattar who said Karachi required a single governing authority for better management of the city.

On the other hand, Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar announced that he would move the court against the decision and added that the city should be a single district.

Similarly, the PSP said if Sindh could not be divided then Karachi too couldn’t be bifurcated as the party chairman, Mustafa Kamal, is expected to announce future course of action at a press conference.